Executives searching for a very light business notebook could well consider the Latitude X1. The Latitude X1 replaces the Latitude X300 as Dell's lightest laptop. The AU$3450.70 price for the test unit (prices starts at AU$2,988 as of April 2005) included an additional 256MB RAM and MS Office 2003 Small Business Edition. Though not the most affordable ultraportable available, it's certainly one of the most portable and good-looking laptops out there.
The ultraportable's frame holds a 12.1-inch screen and measures a very compact 286 x 196.8 x 25mm and tips the scales at a mere 1.14kg (including the tiny 3-cell battery). The adapter is just as tiny, weighing an additional 325g. The X1 has a sturdy plastic build similar to the chassis of other Dells which gives the notebook its desired business-like form.
The keyboard gives good tactile feedback though the depth is a little shallow. The keys are well-spaced for an ultraportable though Dell still hasn't learned how to add a separate switch to activate Wi-Fi access or a dedicated volume control. Although the touchpad is pretty large, we found the mouse buttons a little too small for comfort. There is a good range of expansion options including an SD reader at the front and CF slot on the right. The mono speaker lies on the underside which doesn't speak very well of its audio capabilities. There's also no option to swap RAM modules should you need to do so.
The test unit included the Pentium M processor ULV 733 (1.1GHz), 256MB RAM and a 30GB hard drive. As per most lightweight notebooks, integrated graphics are used. Though there's no inbuilt optical drive, we're provided with an external modular bay with DVD/CD-RW support. Interestingly the docking bay comes with a cable that fastens around the housing's exterior. The cable connects to the X1 through a USB 2.0 port and fairly large power pin outlet. The unit features a useful shock absorber feature named Strike Zone which Dell claims will reduce the head vibrations and aftershock of impact by an average of 34 percent as compared to those without this attribute.
Equipped with 802.11b/g wireless LAN and Bluetooth, networking is a blast. The standard connectivity options such as USB ports, FireWire, VGA-out and audio jacks are included. However, there's no PC Card slot or S-video out options though the SD and CF card slots are commendable.
After using the system for about an hour, we found that the bottom of the laptop got hot, likely due to the fact that the Latitude X1 does without a cooling fan. In addition to keeping the laptop quiet, the lack of a fan also helps conserve battery life: the Latitude X1 ran for 3 hours, 2 minutes in our drain test, enough to work during shorter flights but way short of the 5-plus hours offered by the LifeBook P7010 and the Sony VAIO VGN-T150P/L. If you're often away from a wall socket, we recommend Dell's high-capacity battery pack, which will bolster battery life and add 140 grams to the Latitude X1's travel weight (CNET did not test this battery). Our benchmarking software, MobileMark 2002, failed to run on the Latitude X1 due to a software failure. As such, we tested out various applications such as Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 and Microsoft Office 2003. Though Photoshop ran with few glitches, we experienced quite a bit of lag time when starting the application.
Battery life was tested by running Run Lola Run as a Windows Media Player file. The volume and brightness was set at 50 percent and the Portable/Laptop scheme was run. Wi-Fi was turned off and the optical drive was unplugged. The movie ran for 1.57 hours (94 minutes), a tad disappointing considering an Ultra Low Voltage processor is used though the capacity is limited by the 3-cell Lithium-ion.
Update: Our sister site, CNET US reported a decent MobileMark 2002 score of 167, similar to the Fujitsu LifeBook P7010 (171). The X1 clocked 182 minutes (approx. 3 hours) of battery life which falls way short of the other notebooks with ULV 1.1GHz processors such as the Sony VAIO VGN-T17GP/S (332 min) and the Fujitsu LifeBook P7010 (300 min).
The default option on Dell's Web site is a three-year onsite limited warranty which covers parts and labour including phone support and battery coverage and international support in over 90 countries. A great array of other warranty options is offered, such as three years of complete coverage (including non-intentional accidents) in the Asia-Pacific region. You can also access Dell's online support site to find additional help such as FAQs and downloads for your notebook.
Loaded with Windows XP Professional Edition with Service Pack 2, the Dell comes with a software bundle which includes Power DVD and Sonic RecordNow!
Dell Latitude X1
Company: Dell
Price: AU$2,988
Phone: 1800 812 393
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