Dell Latitude E6420

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The Dell Latitude E6420 aims to be your best business buddy, offering various security options and a sturdy shell. Sadly, it doesn't seem to care as much about performance or good looks.

The model we were supplied with contains an Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and, for some ridiculous reason, is apparently only available over the phone directly from Dell. The company also told us that this laptop retails for around £900. That seems implausible, though, as the Core i5 and i7 models, which are available as normal through Dell's online store, start at £890 for the base i5 model up to around £1,250 for the base i7 model. We'll treat our review sample as a preview model until more definitive details emerge concerning the laptop's availability.

Performance

The E6420 isn't a machine designed for high-performance media editing, or for chewing its way through the meatiest of games. Instead, it's better suited to handling spreadsheets, running presentations and all kinds of other business stuff we don't understand.

Our sample ran on a 2.1GHz, dual-core Intel Core i3-2310M processor with 4GB of RAM. Annoyingly, it used the 32-bit version of Windows 7, so the machine could only actually take advantage of about 3GB of RAM. If you're thinking that the additional 1GB of RAM is therefore money wasted, you'd be absolutely right.

Those extra buttons above the trackpad are meant to be used in conjunction with the pointer in the middle of the keyboard.

We fired up the PCMark05 benchmark test and the E6420 returned a score of 5,978, which is acceptable at best. The laptop will handle all the office-type stuff without breaking much of a sweat, but, if you were hoping to fire up Photoshop and tweak those high-res holiday snaps, you may find yourself turning as red as you looked on that beach in Spain.

We trotted over to YouTube and fired up some 1080p video, which the E6420 handled fine. We didn't notice any freezing or jumping in the video and it only started to slow down when we tried opening more browser tabs. The screen's resolution means it can't actually display 1080p content, but it's good to know that the laptop can at least cope with playing it back, since you might want to output 1080p footage to a bigger display via the HDMI port.

We didn't expect the E6420 to welcome much in the way of gaming challenges, but that sure didn't stop us from busting out the 3DMark06 benchmark test to see how it handled the polygons. The E6420 delivered a rather unimpressive score of 4,588, which means you aren't going to be busting out demanding 3D games on this guy.

When we ran our battery benchmark test, the laptop managed to hold out for 1 hour and 52 minutes. The test runs the CPU at a constant 100 per cent, so it's incredibly demanding. You'll get better performance with more cautious usage. If you're mostly performing office tasks on the go, you should be able to get 3 or 4 hours of life out of the battery like [url="http://www.laptop-battery-stores.com/laptop-battery/DELL/Dell-Precision-M50-battery.htm"]Dell Precision M50 battery[/url], [url="http://www.laptop-battery-stores.com/laptop-battery/DELL/Dell-Inspiron-700m-battery.htm"]dell Inspiron 700m battery[/url], [url="http://www.laptop-battery-stores.com/laptop-battery/DELL/Dell-Inspiron-710m-battery.htm"]dell Inspiron 710m battery[/url], [url="http://www.laptop-battery-stores.com/laptop-battery/DELL/Dell-F5136-battery.htm"]dell F5136 battery[/url], [url="http://www.laptop-battery-stores.com/laptop-battery/DELL/Dell-312-0306-battery.htm"]dell 312-0306 battery[/url], [url="http://www.laptop-battery-stores.com/laptop-battery/DELL/Dell-312-0305-battery.htm"]dell 312-0305 battery[/url], [url="http://www.laptop-battery-stores.com/laptop-battery/DELL/Dell-Inspiron-500m-battery.htm"]dell Inspiron 500m battery[/url], [url="http://www.laptop-battery-stores.com/laptop-battery/DELL/Dell-Inspiron-510m-battery.htm"]dell Inspiron 510m battery[/url], [url="http://www.laptop-battery-stores.com/laptop-battery/DELL/Dell-Inspiron-600m-battery.htm"]dell Inspiron 600m battery[/url], [url="http://www.laptop-battery-stores.com/laptop-battery/DELL/Dell-Latitude-D500-battery.htm"]dell Latitude D500 battery[/url], which isn't too bad for this type of machine. If you think you're going to be playing plenty of video, make sure you keep the plug nearby.

Screen

While the E6420 packs a 14-inch screen, it seems somewhat smaller due to the massive plastic bezel. We don't like bezels here at CNET UK and this one's a humdinger. While bright and clear, the screen definitely doesn't deliver the contrast levels and deep blacks we like to see, but it will handle spreadsheets and presentations just fine.

With a 1,366x768-pixel resolution, the screen falls short of 1080p support, but you'll have no problem reading small text on Web pages, or viewing documents side by side.

Connectivity

Around the edge of the laptop, you'll find an Ethernet port, three USB 2.0 ports, an eSATA/USB 2.0 combo, an integrated headphone/mic jack, a 54mm ExpressCard slot, and a smart card reader. The smart card reader will go down well with your IT department -- it allows you to use a key card to access your computer, as well as a password. That makes for double the security.

There are VGA and HDMI ports too, which is great news if you want to hook the machine up to a projector so that you can give a presentation about crisps or something.

Conclusion

The Dell Latitude E6420 may satisfy your business needs with its configurable security options and sturdy shell, but our sample's underwhelming design and performance mean it won't impress anyone in conference room B. Unless you're forced to by company policy, we wouldn't recommend you splash your cash on this machine.