The D620 and D820 machines are both part of the Round Rock, Texas-based company’s Latitude range of business laptops and mark the introduction into its mobile computer range of Intel’s i945 dual-core chipset, which has been in its enterprise desktops since May last year.
They are also the first of a series of new dual-core laptops in the Latitude range, with a new ultra-portable device to replace the D410 and a more basic one to substitute the D510 planned for in mid-year (no prizes for the probable nomenclature on the new machines).
The D620 replaces the D610, which is the flagship in the range, representing 55% of Latitude sales worldwide. The D420, if indeed that is the name chosen, will not only be an upgrade from the D410, but will also replace the X1, an even more portable device from Dell which, in the name of weight saving, had no PMCCIA slot. It also had no docking pin, which the new machine will. The replacement device will be slightly heavier than the X1, but still lighter than the D410.
The range brings a number of innovations, such as the adoption of the widescreen as standard on all but the future D520, the logic being that it’s more convenient for use on planes, when the seat in front can push back, and is also better for viewing Excel and email, said Bob Bennett, Latitude brand manager at Dell UK. The move to widescreen also means the devices are somewhat lighter than their forbears and both toggling and scrolling become more ergonomic, Bennett argued.
Then there is the introduction of authentication technology such as biometrics and smart card readers as optionals, as well as the coding of a Computrace tracking file from Absolute Software Corp into the machines’ BIOS for guaranteed trackability, even if the HDD is reformatted, Bennett explained. The new machines also bring support for Cisco Extensions such as PEAP and LEAP, as well as WPA2, for enhanced on-board security.
Still, it is the additional connectivity that will draw most of the attention for these devices. For the time being the on-board cellular connectivity will be only for Vodafone, so subscribers to other mobile networks will have to resort to data cards. We’ve signed exclusively with Vodafone, but not forever, Bennett acknowledged.
The reason the devices aren’t immediately shipping with the HSDPA 3.5G chipsets in them, by the way, is that Nortel, which is providing the radios to accompany Dell’s own antennas and Vodafone’s SIM cards, is reworking the driver stacks. And given that HSDPA is only just rolling out in the countries covered by the Vodafone deal, the chipsets will be backward-compatible with both 3G (W-CDMA) and 2.5G (GPRS).
In the US, where Vodafone has no direct presence beyond its 45% in CDMA operator Verizon Wireless, Dell has either Cingular or T-Mobile as potential partners for these laptops, in that they are offering on-board connectivity to the mobile data iterations of the GSM standard.
While no formal announcement has been made in this area, it is worth noting that Dell has already shipped on-board connectivity for Cingular’s 2.75G (i.e. EDGE) network Stateside.
