Dell Latitude

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A Dell Latitude laptop running Ubuntu Linux

Dell Computer's Latitude laptop brand is specifically targeted at the business market which means that standardized parts are used throughout the line and available for several years for support purposes, as opposed to the Dell Inspiron which is aimed at the consumer market and whose specifications change regularly. Whereas Dell may switch vendors on components several times over the course of a single model, the Latitude line generally retains identical components throughout its production. For large corporations, this simplifies maintenance and support tasks.

Dell Latitude computers are also built with more durable casing and internal metal frames; many offer hard drive protection systems in case the computer is dropped or suffers a severe impact.

1 Current models
2 System Configuration
3 Improvements over the "Dx00" series (ie. D600, D800, etc.)
4 Battery recall of 2006
5 Tech Specs
6 History
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Current models

Current Latitude models include the ATG, X1, D420, D520, D620 and the D820. Select models based on the Intel Core Duo, Core Solo and Core 2 Duo are now available. The D420, D620, and D820 feature Wide Aspect LCD screens: 12.1", 14.1", and 15.4" respectively. All of the Dx20 line will also feature Intel Core Duo, Core Solo or the new Core 2 Duo.

The Latitude D620 weighs 4.7 pounds, and the base model includes a 1.67GHz Intel Core Duo T2300 processor (667MHz front-side-bus) and 2M of L2 cache. There is an option to upgrade to a Core 2 Duo T7X00 processor (667Mhz font-side-bus) with 4M of L2 cache. It comes standard with 512M of DDR2 RAM, expandable to 4G, and four USB ports. For graphics, it offers the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950, and an option to upgrade to NVIDIA discrete graphics at the expense of lower battery life.

[edit] System Configuration

Processor: Pentium M, Intel Core Duo, Intel Core Solo or Core 2 Duo
Screen: Depending on the model selected screen size varies from 12.1 inches WXGA on the X1 to a 15.4 inches WUXGA on the D810. Widescreen models available for D420, D620 or D820.
Operating System: Choice of Windows XP Home or Professional and Windows Vista Home or Ultimate (previously Windows 98/ME and Windows 2000)
Hard Drive: Range from 40 GB to 120 GB hard drives (previously 4-8GB).
Ports: Features a wide range of ports including: two to four (Only for D620 and D820) USB 2.0 (including one via D/bay connector); IEEE 1394; VGA; Fast (10/100) or Gigabit (10/100/1000) Ethernet via RJ-45 port; modem; Audio; SDI/O, CF card slots.
Previously: PS/2, VGA, parallel, audio in/out, USB 1.1, two PCMCIA slots, two front bays: one usually used for main battery, one usually used for CD drive. A floppy disk drive could be used in the modular bay or externally on a cable to the parallel port.

The Latitude C-series notebooks covered the range of processors from the Pentium 166 MHz to the Pentium 4-M. Models in this series included the CP (Pentium processors), CPi (Pentium II processors), CPx, C600 and C800 (Mobile Pentium III processors), CPt, C500 and C510 (Celeron processors), C400, C610 and C810 (Pentium 3-M processors) and C640 and C840 (Mobile Pentium 4 processors).

C series laptops were notable for their consistent and interchangeable accessories across this wide range of processors. The series was one of the first to offer the UXGA 1600x1200 resolution display and included a NVidia GeForce MX400 32 MiB video accelerator to complement the display requirements. A robust design made it a favorite in harsher climates; however, this design lacked the visual appeal of many of its competitors. The most popular of the C-series included the C800, C810, C840, and later the C640.

An interesting note on the C840 is that it was the last Dell notebook (along with its sister models the Inspiron 8200 and Precision M50) to have both a "fixed" optical drive as well as a modular bay, making it a "three-spindle" notebook. The modular bay could also be used for a second battery identical to the primary battery rather than a special modular bay battery. It used a Pentium 4 Mobile processor and DDR SDRAM.

[edit] Improvements over the "Dx00" series (ie. D600, D800, etc.)

Two extra USB ports on the side, next to the module bay.
Stronger, more durable tri-metal chassis
D-dock is actually a USB device, and only has drivers for Windows beginning with Windows 2000 and currently XP.

[edit] Battery recall of 2006

Dell posted notices to many of their laptop customers on August 14, 2006, saying that the Sony batteries on these models were prone to bursting into flames, or even exploding[1][2]:

Latitude: D410, D500, D505, D510, D520, D600, D610, D620, D800, D810

The batteries on any of these computers purchased between April 2004 and July 18, 2006 were supposed to be removed and the computers run on AC power until replacements arrived.[3] Problematic Sony batteries led to battery recall programs at other laptop companies, including Hitachi[4], Toshiba [5], Lenovo (IBM)[6] and Apple[7].

[edit] Tech Specs

Product Line	Model	Chipset
C-Family
	C400	830M
D-Family
	D400	855PM
	D410	915GM
	D420	945GM
	D500	855GM
	D505	855GME
	D510	915GM
	D520	945GM (Core Duo), 940GML (Celeron M)
	D600	855PM
	D610	915PM
	D620	945GM (Intel), 945PM (NVIDIA)
	D800	855PM
	D810	915PM
	D820	945GM (Intel), 945PM (NVIDIA)
L-Family	120L	Intel 910GML
L-Family	131L	ATI RS485M / SB600

[edit] History

[edit] D-Family

20 June 2006: D420 announced
2 May 2006: D520 announced
29 March 2006: D620, D820 announced
26 April 2005: D510 announced
1 February 2005: D410, D610 and D810 announced
12 January 2004: D505 announced
19 May 2003: D400 announced
10 April 2003: D500 announced
12 March 2003: D-family (D600, D800) announced

[edit] Ultra-Portables

[edit] Value

[edit] C-Family

11 July 2002: C640 announced
12 November 2001: C400 announced
25 September 2000: C600, C800 announced
25 October 1999: CPx H500GT and CPt V466GT announced

Some of the earlier Dell laptops lacked a built-in Ethernet network adapter well into the Internet age, CPx H500GT was one such model.

23 August 1999: CS-line (R400XT) announced
14 June 1999: CPi R400GT, CPi A400XT, and CPi A366ST announced
4 May 1999: CPt-line announced
5 January 1999: CPi A366XT and A300ST announced
CPi D266XT (BIOS Ph 7/30/98-2001): PII-266, 512KB cache, Intel i440BX; 13.3 XGA 1024x768 TFT; 256MB max, 2 EDO SoDIMM slots; 4 - 20+ GB, two PCMCIA, two modular bays, PS/2, VGA, parallel, USB 1.1, audio in/out. Windows 98.
CP-line
1997: C-family announced