Dell's Latitude Lineup Gets A Makeover

Dell rolled out its new Latitude E series notebooks and Precision notebooks at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art on Tuesday, bringing to market its first collection of business notebooks that come in multiple colors.

The line-up, which Dell says is inspired by collaboration with 4,000 IT professionals and end users, includes an array of notebooks ranging from a 12.1-inch, 2.2 pound ultraportable to the Latitude E6400 ATG 14.1-inch semi-rugged laptop.

The Latitude E Series comes in colors for the first time.

While some may still choose the Mica-Brushed Metal finish, the Latitude E4200, E4300, E6400 and E6500 come in Regatta Blue, Regal Red and Quartz Pink (E4200 only), and the E5400 and E5500 can also be Matte Black.

The notebooks feature new technologies from Dell like "all-day" battery power, up to 19 hours on the E6400, full-frame magnesium alloy construction and back-lit keyboards.

The Latitude E6400 and E6500 are capable of being desktop replacements and are Dell's mainstream notebooks in its Latitude release.

The E6400, pictured here, and the E 6500, are 14.1- and 15.4-inch notebook PCs that start at $1,139 and $1,169, respectively.

The E6400 notebook comes in both a 14.1-inch business model as well as this semi-rugged version, the E6400 ATG.



Built to meet Military 810F standards for dust, vibration and humidity, the E6400 ATG will hit the streets next week and starts at $2,399.

Dell's E4200 (pictured) is the lightest commercial notebook the company has launched to date. With a 12.1-inch screen and weighing in at as low as 2.2 pounds, the ultraportable notebook PC is designed for the world's road warrior types.

Dell also launched the E4300, with a 13.3 inch screen weighing in at 3.3 pounds.



Dell, which met its goal of being carbon neutral on August 6, is offering the E4200 with a motherboard with halogen-free laminates and halogen-free chassis plastics and fan housings. It also ships the wee PC in 99 percent recyclable packaging.

These systems will be available in a few weeks, Dell said.

The Latitude E5500 15.4-inch notebook computer, pictured here, and the 14.1-inch E5400 are available today for $1,169 and $1,139 respectively.

Dell also brought two new notebooks to market in its Precision family, aimed at the engineering, graphics and biotech verticals.

The Precision M2400 is the company's lightest 14.1-inch notebook PC weighing in at 4.77 pounds.

It is available today and starts at $1,449.

The Precision M4400, a 15.4-inch notebook that can be configured with cutting-edge graphics capabilities and up to 8 GB of RAM, starts at $1,569.

Dell also previewed its Latitude ON technology which it says will give users near-instant access to email, calendar, attachments, contacts and the Internet without having to boot the computer's main operating system.

It's expected to ship first on the E4200 and E4300 notebooks.