Overview

The Dell Latitude D830 is the successor to the Latitude D820 (apple a1175), a mid sized business notebook with a 15.4″ screen and the new Santa Rosa platform. Weighing in at nearly six pounds it tips the scales at the upper end of the thin-and-light category. Pricing as of this writing starts at $899, and like most Dell notebooks there are plenty of customization options available.

My Latitude D830 is configured as such:

• Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, 2.00GHz
• 15.4 inch Wide Screen WUXGA LCD
• 2.0GB, DDR2-667 SDRAM, 2 DIMM
• 256MB NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M
• 80GB Hard Drive 9.5MM 7200RPM
• 90W AC Adapter
• 8X DVD+/-RW w/ Roxio Creator and Cyberlink
• Intel 4965 WLAN (802.11a/g/n)
• 9-Cell/85 WHr Primary Battery
• 6-Cell/48-WHr Modular Battery
• Vista Business, with media English
• Dimensions are 1.39″ x 14.2″ x 10.34″
• Weight is 6.5lbs with 9-cell battery and optical drive

Reason for Buying

When I began looking for a laptop (dell latitude d620 battery )nearly a month ago my primary objective was to find a solid machine that would last me through four years of college. My last notebook was an old Inspiron 500m which I deemed sufficiently thin-and-light for heavy travel and light tasks so I began looking into a larger, more powerful machine though I did not want a full-out desktop replacement. As this notebook would also be a graduation gift, price was not an object and I wanted something that was really something!

Being a long time Dell user, my initial inclination was towards a Dell, but I looked into machines of other brands as well. HP (dell latitude d820 battery )and Asus dropped out early on due to cosmetic preferences, but I put some consideration on the 14 and 15 inch Lenovo T60 series.

A few of my friends own older Thinkpad models and have nothing but praise for them. Indeed, Lenovo is known for superior build quality though typically at a price. By all means the T60 is a beautiful machine, but I was put off by a couple of small details. My biggest qualm is that I cannot stand having a battery stick out. Apparently that seems to be the current trend with a lot of smaller machines sporting bigger batteries and the 14-inch T60 was no exception. I wasn’t terribly fond of the port configuration either, particularly the positioning of display and telecom ports on the side of the chassis and the lack of an S-video output. The small touchpad and some very minor aesthetic points also put me off. The 15 inch T60 was a bit better but it still lacked an s-video output and was a tad bit too heavy.

Subsequently I went to Dell. After deciding against Inspiron and XPS notebooks – I hated those big white Inspiron bumpers and there isn’t a 14 or 15 inch XPS – my choices came down to the Latitude D630, D830 and Precision M65. The D630 was the thin-and-light of the group but suffered from the same issue as the 14 inch T60 in that the battery stuck out and it was missing an S-video port. Reviews I read about the D630 (dell xps m1530 battery )also mentioned poor sound and a loose battery. The D830 addressed most of my concerns with the D630 but I fretted over the weight of a 15 inch notebook. After changing my mind several times, the D830 finally won me over.

Shopping

After deciding on a machine I poked around the Internet for coupons and discounts, though I did not find many for the Latitude line. I did discover that Dell (dell latitude d600 battery )was offering $400 off the price of each Latitude configured over $1,600 and figured it wouldn’t get much better than that. Dell’s customization and order process is very straightforward and I made sure to spend plenty of time agonizing over choices like integrated versus discrete graphics or 9-cell versus 6-cell batteries. All in all it was a smooth and pleasant shopping experience. The machine arrived just over a week after I ordered it.

First Impression

The computer shipped with everything shown here. The container was divided into two sections, a cardboard container for the power supply, media bay battery, resource disks and documentation and a styrofoam crate for the actual computer. I was actually somewhat surprised that the notebook came with printed documentation; the last few Dell machines my family bought came with a short pamphlet telling you how to plug in the computer in several different languages.

When I first pulled the D830 out of its protective envelope boy was I impressed. Things have changed since the days of my 500m. I expected the build quality to be good, but it was unexpectedly good. It’s really quite solid. It’s also very pleasant to look at it; I think the rather subdued appearance is much nicer than the flashy white-bumper Inspiron.

When I first opened up the machine I found the hinges quite stiff with pretty much no play. The outer shell of the notebook is made of a magnesium alloy though the inner surfaces are still made of plastic. The chassis has no flex whatsoever; I can pick it up by a corner without a problem. Unfortunately though there is a bit of flex in the screen and palmrest, but it is much less than that of older Dell machines. The latch is a bit loose but the travel is very small. The overall build quality might not be on par with that of the Thinkpad series but it is getting close.

Like I said before, I’m very fond of the somewhat simplistic Latitude design. Save for the small curves that make up the corners of the machine the lines of the laptop (ibm thinkpad t60 battery )are straight and parallel forming a nearly rectangular solid. I think this gives it a more rugged and balanced appearance than wedge shaped notebooks which seem to be appearing more and more these days. The two tone color scheme also contributes to the smart appearance of a business laptop.

Input Devices

The keyboard looks like a typical Dell keyboard; it’s very similar in appearance to the keyboard on my 500m (dell inspiron 1720 battery ). I found that the keyboard is generally more pleasant to use; the keys have a slightly greater travel and a greater amount of feedback as well. There isn’t any flex in the keyboard as far as I can tell, though I am not a terribly hard typist. Overall it’s a decent keyboard, good, but nothing special.

The touchpad feels the same as the one on my 500m(dell KD476). It’s responsive and easy to use, but again, nothing terribly special. I really like the buttons under the touchpad. Instead of having a short, hard click the D830 has buttons that have a longer, softer click to them which I just find to be rather nice. The same can be said for the power button and media buttons.

I don’t use a pointing stick very often; in fact there isn’t one on my 500m (Dell gd761), but I found it to be less responsive than the touchpad and harder to use. I tended to overshoot where I was aiming much of the time. It may just be because I don’t have much experience with the trackpoint. The buttons for the trackpoint are the same as those for the touchpad with that same long, soft click.

I don’t like having a bunch of multimedia buttons cluttering up the front of my computer, so I am glad that the D830 only has three. There are three buttons to control the speaker volume: higher, lower and mute.

Sound

One of the reasons I turned down the D630 was a that speaker quality was reported to be pretty bad. I usually use headphones when listening to movies or music but I’d like to have a decent set of speakers for the rare times I don’t. That being said, the speakers on the D830 (12″ 15″ 17″ apple powerbook g4 battery )are pretty good as far as laptop speakers go. Being set on the sides of the keyboard means they are quite clear when I am sitting at machine and the sound carries itself pretty well even across the length of a living room. The sound does start getting fuzzy at really high volumes, but my ears usually start to ring before it gets to that point.

Processor and Graphics

In high school I did quite a bit of CAD work on my 500m for my school’s robotics team. Autodesk Inventor 8 took more than a minute to load. Inventor 10 took twice that and ran at a crawl once it started. It was rather frustrating. As I would be majoring in engineering in college, I figured I could use a discrete graphics solution which led me to select the NVS 140 GPU as I read that it was optimized for “business” applications such as CAD. I have not done anything GPU intensive since purchasing this machine so I’m not certain about the real world performance of the NVS 140.

The single core AMD Barton processor in my desktop is clocked at 2.3GHz and I have not known it to really struggle with anything I threw at it. Subsequently I did not think I’d need the fastest processor I could get and went with the 2.0 GHz Intel T7300 because it was a nice round number. Recently I needed to do a fair amount of video encoding and I split the task between the D830 (dell latitude d600 battery )and my desktop. I daresay I was somewhat surprised as to how much faster the T7300 was compared to the older AMD processor. Encoding a certain video file was nearly twice as fast on the D830. I guess there’s no doubt that multiple cores are the wave of the future.

Operating System and Software

I’ll come right out and say that I’m not very fond of Vista. I’m even less fond of the fact that Microsoft really isn’t giving me a choice as to what OS I want to use. I bought my D830 with Vista in the event that I would be forced to upgrade in the near future but with the intention of using XP until then. I chose Vista Business because it is supposed to be the Vista equivalent of XP Pro which I have been happily using for a long time.

Vista came preinstalled along with Roxio Creator and Cyberlink, neither of which I need or use.

While waiting for my D830 I learned that Dell’s stock drivers for the NVS 140 (15″ 17″ apple macbook pro battery )were rather poor. Indeed, there was a noticeable amount of lag every couple seconds when opening and closing tabs or moving windows around. It was recommended that I should use Nvidia’s Forceware drivers in place of the stock drivers, so I looked around for a compatible version. Revision 160.05 did not officially supporting the NVS 140, but it definitely improved my system’s graphical performance. It was not free of problems though; I noticed that standby stopped working properly after the driver update and I’m sure there were bugs that I did not notice.

Afterwards Vista ran quite smoothly. A cold boot took just under a minute.

Installing a fresh copy of XP was a pain. My XP installation CD cannot recognize SATA drivers. I had to switch the HDD controller to ATA mode, install the OS, install the SATA drivers and switch the HDD controller back to its default setting. Dell’s resource CD only included drivers for Vista so I downloaded XP drivers for the D830 (dell xps m1730 battery )from Dell’s technical support site. Some of these XP drivers did not want to work with my machine and I had to use the corresponding Vista drivers. All in all the installation process took a full morning, but I eventually got the system in working order with Windows XP.

Heat and Noise

When the laptop is idling it is very quiet. I can only hear it if I try to. When going about my normal business, it’s very easy to ignore. Under a heavy load such as video encoding or benchmarking, the fan will start running at higher speeds. At this point a significant amount of noise is generated, but I believe it is from the moving air rather than the fan itself. Also, the optical drive makes a bit of noise when it is running, though that is pretty typical for optical drives in general.

When the laptop is idling it is also quite cool. The lower half of the keyboard and palmrest stays at room temperature while the upper half just gets a tad bit warmer. Under a heavy load the upper half will heat up a noticeable amount, but the fan does a good job of keeping the temps at a reasonable level. The bottom of the laptop and the air coming out the back can also get pretty warm under these conditions.

Battery Life

I did a simple test to emulate light use of the D830 under battery power. I turned the screen down to half brightness and let windows media player play music at a relatively low volume. This test was also done under the default Vista setup, prior to the installation of ForceWare drivers.

The 9-cell primary on its own reached 10% in a bit under three hours. Together with the media bay battery it reached 10% in just over four and a half hours.

Considering that my 500m could do three and a half hours on its one primary battery, I was a bit disappointed with the battery life at first, especially when owners of D620s and D630s were claiming battery lives of up to five hours. But considering I have a 15 inch WUXGA screen and discrete graphics I guess a drop in battery life is expected.

TheLatitude D630 is Dell’s latest update to the D620, a light-weight business class machine. The Dell D630 comes with the very anticipated Santa Rosa platform but is visually the same as its predecessor. The machine starts at $899 (as of this writing) and most upgrades are reasonably priced.

D630 configuration:

• Processor: Intel T7300 Core 2 Duo (2.0GHz, 800MHz FSB, 4MB Cache)
• Graphics: Intel GMA X3100
• Operating System: Windows Vista Business 32-bit
• Display: WXGA+ 1440 x 900 (matte)
• Hard Drive: 80GB 540RPM
• Memory: 512MB (512MB x 1), up to 4GB max
• Ports:
  • 4 – USB 2.0 (two in the back and two on the right)
  • FireWire (left)
  • Security lock (left)
  • Headphone out & microphone in (left)
  • VGA out (back)
  • 56k modem (back)
  • Gigabit Ethernet (back)
  • Power (back)
  • Serial (back)
• Slots:
  • 1 PC Card Slot
  • Smart Card Slot
  • Docking station
• Optical Drive: DVD +/- RW
• Battery: 9-cell 85WHr
• Security: UPEK fingerprint reader
• Pointing device: Touchpad or Track Stick
• Intel 3945 WLAN (802.11a/g) mini Card
• Dell Wireless 360 Bluetooth Vista Module
• USA keyboard
• Dimensions: 13.3″ x 9.37″ x 1.09 – 1.27″ (337mm x 238mm x 27.6 – 32.3mm)
• Weight: 5.1lbs with DVD drive and 6-cell, 5.8lbs with 9-cell, 6.6lbs with AC adaptor and 9-cell
• 3 Year warranty, In-Home Service, International

Total Price As Configured: $1,372

Some of you are probably wondering as to why I chose so little RAM and a rather small hard drive. Like I said, most upgrades are reasonably priced. I purchased 2GB from Newegg for $80, Dell’s upgrade would have been $200.

Battery

I need my machine to last as long as possible. I chose the nine-cell dell latitude d630 battery despite the fact it sticks out from the battery site. I truly believe I made the right choice because this thing lasts a very long time. With Firefox, Office, Wi-Fi, and screen at max (8/8) the battery lasted (I ran it until the laptop shut off) an astounding 5 hours and 15 minutes. Same test bed but no Wi-Fi landed me with 5 hours and 45 minutes.

I did not have enough time to test it with the screen at a medium level but Vista tells me I can safely say it can push a little over six hours with Wi-Fi. If you get the Media Bay battery to go along with the nine-cell, I would venture about 7.5 or more hours. Of course, this is assuming you are using it for lightweight programs and you have 1GB or more of RAM.

At the bottom of the battery there is a button that allows you to check the battery level.it is same as the dell d620 battery and dell latitude d820 battery It goes by five levels, giving you an estimate of how much charge is available. I consider it helpful because you don’t need to turn the laptop on to check the battery level.

Build and Design:

This thing feels like a tank and is extremely sturdy. The hinges on the machine are stiff but not difficult to open and the screen will not wobble. There is no flexing of the screen and you truly have to try to press the back to see ripples. When closed, a small, shiny hinge holds the screen locked. The top and bottom of the machine are made of magnesium. I still wouldn’t recommend dropping the machine in order to test if the material is durable.

The speakers are (I think) inside the laptop because I saw no openings for them. The battery sticks out in the front rather than the back. You are also able to add another battery to the DVD bay or replace the drive with something updated down the road. It is very simple to replace the drive in case something happens.

I do have one complaint: I frequently use my USB slots and I dislike having the other two ports in the back. I prefer them on the side. The USB slots are also a bit stiff. Sometimes you have to try to jam the connector into the slot.

Screen

Many people complained about the terrible brightness level of the D620. Unfortunately, I don’t have a D620 (dell inspiron 1520 battery )to compare it to. I do, however, have a Viewsonic VX2025wm desktop monitor that has been color calibrated with a Spyder2 Suite. This seems like an apples to orange type of comparison but if I am to compare it, I must use something that has been in my possession for at least one full year. The added benefit is that this comparison shows how far the colors differ from a screen that has near-perfect color reproduction.

I am happy to report the 14.1-inch, 1440×900 screen is surprisingly brighter than I expected. I was able to easily see it indoors with the sun behind me. This was tested with highest screen brightness level (8/8).

Speakers

The speakers output at about two watts and are under the left palm (I could feel them vibrating). There are the quick mute and volume buttons on the top of the keyboard, all very handy to have. The speakers are loud … much louder than I expected. Depending on what is being played they might be able to fill a small room. Unfortunately, a loud speaker does not always equal quality output. At high and sometimes even medium levels distortions start occurring. Granted, this is a business machine that was primarily designed to just output warnings and the like. It’s like Dell bought out all the extra Gameboy speakers and super sized them.

If you like to listen to music, bring your own external speakers and possibly your own sound card.

Processor and Performance

CPU: My machine came equipped with the new Santa Rosa platform. Upgrades to the processor include a faster front-side bus and a new level of power state. According to an Intel rep (I used to work in retail), I was told these new chips are about 10-15 percent faster and equally consume less battery life than the previous Centrino generation. This will not, however, make minor application usage (office programs) run any faster. The design behind this is most likely for the battery use and people that need a faster processor (multimedia users).

HD: The hard drive is an 80GB SATA drive running at 5400RPM. My plan was to buy a 160GB drive and a notebook enclosure from Newegg, replace the 80GB drive, and convert the machine’s original drive to a portable HD. Due to financial reasons, I did not go through with it. The faster transfer speed (higher density) and larger storage are nice ideas but we can’t have everything.

GPX: I’ll be blunt, this machine was not built for gaming. Intel upgraded this generation’s integrated graphics but it is still no match for a dedicated card. Essentially, the X3100 can run old games but don’t expect F.E.A.R. or an equally graphically intensive game to be playable.

RAM: If you wish to run multiple applications, get the 2GB. Vista recommends (read: needs) 1GB to run the OS and any other application(s) smoothly. Before I upgraded the machine with 2GB, it came with 512MB. It was crawling and nearly always accessing the hard drive (and consuming more battery in the process). After the upgrade to 2GB, it ran as smooth as a hot knife through butter. I needed 2GB because Photoshop is a huge memory hog. If you plan to use this machine for office use, 1GB will most likely be enough to accommodate your needs.

Wireless

My machine came pre-equipped with the Intel 3945 Wireless card offering a/b/g wireless reception. I did not opt for the 802.11n because it is still in draft mode and the G reception will be around for a while. Chances are, when I get my next laptop (years from now), a new standard will be accepted for wireless and the N reception will be rendered obsolete.

I was able to test the connection with my Linksys WRT54g router, a somewhat common router. I was able to go anywhere in the house and pick up a signal. No matter where I went, I could not get the laptop to drop the connection, I had to go outside and walk all the way towards the opposite side of my neighbor’s yard to kill it. To put it in perspective, that is about 150 feet.

My D630 (dell inspiron e1505 battery ) came configured with Bluetooth. I tested it with my PDA and was able to synchronize it with no issues.

Operating System and Software

I ordered my machine with Windows Vista Business. The machine came with practically zero useless software. In fact, aside from the amazing bundled security software, it only comes with Roxio Creator 9 and Cyberlink PowerDVD 7. The only thing that I uninstalled was Google Desktop and Google Explorer Bar.

Security and others

The machine came bundled with a security package by Wave Systems. The software comes with a wizard that assists you in selecting what level of security you wish to implement. You are granted the option to ask for a password and /or fingerprint at boot-up. You can even encrypt the hard drive with the same password/fingerprint.

Trying to make use of the fingerprint reader, I opted to prompt for my fingerprint at boot up. The interesting thing about this option would be that if you don’t have either the password or a fingerprint, you cannot even access the BIOS. Essentially, if the laptop is stolen and if the BIOS is properly configured, the thief will have a hell of a time trying to access your data. Business users take note, if you tend to lose laptops, you must purchase this device. I’ve heard one story too many about how company X lost a laptop with employee and/or other sensitive information.

I tried setting the machine to go to sleep only to find out that it asked for both. Basically, if the laptop ever logs-off or goes to bed, you will be asked for both or either types of security, depending on your choice.

Even though the machine is externally very well protected, there are very few firewall programs for Vista. The one bundled with Vista is pretty useless. Just be careful checking important information on an unprotected connection; common sense, people.

Warranty and Customer Support

I chatted with Dell (dell xps m1530 battery )customer support several times to get a feel for the support they would provide. I am extremely happy to report all the customer support reps that I talked with were very knowledgeable. They all answered my questions without hesitation and correctly, all are very polite if you too are polite. The longest I was on hold was for five minutes.

I’ve heard of horror stories from the consumer line of Dell but the business line is unbelievably good. I know I made the right choice by paying for the $100 for in-home service. If some of you are more “butterfingered,” get the Complete Care package.

Upgrading

Upgrading the machine was an interesting journey. The machine originally came with a stick of 512MB and it was upgraded to a matched pair of 1GB sticks (2GB total).

The RAM slots are in two places, under the keyboard and under the laptop. I decided to start with the most difficult, under the keyboard. Let me warn you right here, it was difficult for me to do it and I’ve built more computers than I have fingers and toes. I had to remove the hinge, which felt like it could crack at any given second, followed by the keyboard. After many sweaty but careful minutes, I was able to replace the RAM. The other slot, on the other hand, was extremely easy: one screw and I was done.

Traditionally Dell has had two primary sections in the notebook department, one for business and one for consumers. The business section, unsurprisingly, would consist of notebooks right for business, a spartan or basic configuration containing only those options truly needed to do your work. Consumers, on the other hand, had more choices in terms of options for multimedia enhancements, different designs, or maybe even more cutting edge technology built-in. But now times have changed and both selections have overlapping configurations for each notebook flavor.
The business section is basically divided into two series, Precision and Latitude. Precisions are more cutting edge technology, sacrificing some stability for the latest features, which might have some instability possibly caused by new drivers. Latitudes are the more conventional choice for businesses offering increased stability due to being built on a proven platform.

Today we have the pleasure of reviewing the Latitude D820 (dell latitude d820 battery)series which falls into the high-end of the Latitude range and it’s our very first of many new notebook reviews here at TweakTown. While this notebook is listed under Dell’s business section it actually boasts some nice features for an entertainment system, including a WUXGA display (that is 1900×1200 pixels to you and me) and HD audio.

Is this a perfect all round notebook for work (boo!) and fun (yay!)? Let us get cracking on this review and find out

As a high school graduation gift, my parents bought me a Dell Latitude D820 15.4″ widescreen notebook. While Dell’s Inspiron line is squarely aimed at the consumer market, the Latitude line is geared more towards the academic, small business, and corporate user. This is evidenced by the Latitudes’ superior build quality, sober styling, lack of media-centric features, and higher price. Price-wise and size-wise, the Latitude D820 (dell latitude d620 battery)sits atop the thin-and-light 14″ widescreen D620 and the budget oriented 14″ standard-aspect D520 in the Latitude lineup. The D820 is an updated version of the D810 and features the Intel Core Duo processor to replace the D810’s Pentium M as well a significant weight reduction from the D810. According to CNET Labs

Features Overview

While the HP had the nicest graphics card of them all (ATI Radeon x1600) and would have allowed me to play the latest games, I ruled it out because of price (>$2,000). My budget was limited to ~$1,500 max.

The IBM ThinkPad has long been legendary in the corporate world for its durable portability, excellent support, and strong management software suit. I came to the decision, however, that I did not want to pay the significant premium for the ThinkPad’s class-leading ruggedness, which I probably had no use for anyway. The ThinkPad T60 was aimed more towards the road warrior. I, however, was not going to be traveling much with the laptop save for the occasional trek from the dorm to the library and back.

That left me with the perennial value-king Dell. For hundreds of dollars cheaper than a similarly spec’d 14″ ThinkPad T60, I was able to price out a 15.4″ Dell Latitude D820. A comparably equipped D620 checked in at about $150 less. I settled on the D820 because I figured I wouldn’t be traveling much with this notebook and would not be carrying it to class on a daily basis. Thus, I thought I would benefit more from the increased productivity of the D820’s 15.4″ screen (and higher resolution) than the increased portability of the D620.

Shopping Experience

When we purchased my machine, Dell was having a sale which involved a $350 instant rebate on all Latitudes, sweetening the deal some more. I configured the machine on the Dell Small Busines website. Almost every component of the machine was highly configurable, something that IBM/Lenovo and HP could learn from, and the online shopping experience was, overall, very pleasant. After having pulled the trigger, I realized that I did not select the option for the Bluetooth card. I called up Dell Small Business and asked them to add the card. It was too late to modify my original order but the associate was very helpful. Though the sale price was no longer in effect for the new order, she let me add the discount retroactively. The wait times to speak to an agent were negligible (definitely not the case with my past experiences with Dell Home) and the agent herself was polite and helpful. The total price for my D820 (after adding the Bluetooth card) came to $1496.25, which I felt was a good deal, especially since the Latitude line rarely goes on sale.

First Impressions

When I first uncased the D820 from its Styrofoam packaging, I was impressed by the solidness of its build. It felt sturdy and the laptop casing didn’t flex when handled. The case is billed as being magnesium alloy and most of the notebook’s body looks as if it is. The laptop was about as thin as I expected but it was a bit heavier than I thought it would be. It’s not an uncomfortable heft but one that implies a certain quality of build. At first glance, the notebook is not awe-inspiring but it is pleasing to the eye with an understated charcoal gray finish. At first blush, a tastefully styled (though by no means beautiful) and well-built notebook. Also included in the packaging were the user manual, software and OS CDs, and the AC power adapter.

Build & Design

The D820 has a magnesium alloy body that is supposed to protect the laptop from flexing and the wear-and-tear of corporate travel and use. The whole underside and lid of the laptop feel like metal but, unfortunately, the wrist rests are plastic. Thus, there is some amount of flex when handling that area but by no means is the amount of flex disturbing. The rest of the notebook, however, is very rigid.

Screen

The screen is most likely the Achilles heel of the D820, if it has one. The screen is 15.4″ diagonal and is matte, not glossy. The trend in most consumer notebooks is towards the glossy screens which feature vivid colors and higher brightness for the benefit of gaming, movie-watching, and photo-viewing. Most business machines, however, still come with the old-style matte screens which are more suited for office rather than multimedia tasks. Unfortunately, the D820’s matte screen is not very bright and the higher brightness settings drain the battery quickly. A cool feature is the automatic light-sensor which adjusts screen brightness based on ambient light conditions. This is useful when running on battery power or when using the notebook in different settings but I ended up turning this feature off because it oftentimes results in an unacceptably dim screen.

My D820 came with the WSXGA+ (1680×1050) screen. The other options were the base WXGA+ (1280×800) screen and the ultra-high resolution WUXGA (1900×1200). I am used to the WSXGA+ resolution on my Dell monitor and I chose it because I thought it was a good balance between screen real estate and legibility of fonts and icons. I could have gone with the highest resolution option and increased the Windows DPI and font sizes (indeed the WSXGA+ and WUXGA models ship with 120 DPI setting out of the box) but browsers and other applications do not always adhere to Windows settings. I changed the 120DPI setting to 96DPI because it made Windows fonts too large and screwed up graphics on web pages. I think I made the right choice here because the WUXGA display would have yielded fonts and icons too small for even my young eyes.

Sound & Multimedia

It is no secret that laptop speakers are bad. They usually feature tinny sound, distorted highs, and nonexistent bass. The Latitude D820’s speakers are no exception though admittedly not the worst I’ve heard. The D820 (dell inspiron 1520 battery )being a business machine, I didn’t expect any better. At least on the D820 you get stereo sound with a speaker on either side of the keyboard; on its cousin the Latitude D620 there is but one speaker. The volume is adequate for me but I don’t like to listen to music at high volumes. Using Sennheiser HD-202 headphones plugged into the side-mounted headphone jack, the sound improves significantly and is clear, accurate, and mostly distortion-free. The sound subsystem on the D820 is controlled by the Sigmatel audio chipset.

The D820 provides just volume control and mute buttons above the keyboard as opposed to the various media buttons found on most consumer laptops. While not absolutely necessary on a business notebook, it would have been nice to have a few more control buttons like play, pause, etc. for controlling Windows Media Player, PowerDVD, or WinAmp.

Processor & Graphics Performance

My D820 came with a 1.83GHz Core Duo processor and by all measures it’s a speed demon. I choose two 512MB sticks (total 1GB) to take advantage of dual channel memory capability which in theory doubles the bandwidth of the pipe from the RAM to the memory controller. I also chose the 667MHz RAM over the standard 533MHz. I wasn’t sure of the utility of this faster memory but my logic was that the Core Duo has a 667MHz front side bus and I would need the RAM to match that speed if I were to maximize performance. Startup times on my D820 (dell inspiron b120 battery )(dell inspiron b130 battery)are fast but not as fast as I expected. The machine takes 28.34 seconds to reach the login screen from a cold boot. Thus far the laptop has been snappy in every day usage such as internet browsing and word processing as well as during benchmarking. Applications load quickly as do Control Panel and My Computer and there’s a good degree of responsiveness to all user inputs. I have not had a single hang, lockup, freeze, or BSOD so far. I haven’t installed any games on this machine so I cannot attest to the performance of the Quadro NVS 120 graphics solution, the workstation version of NVIDIA’s consumer GeForce 7400 graphics solution. Do not expect stellar game performance out this card however my D820 received 670 3DMarks on the 3DMark06 benchmark.

Heat & Noise

For the most part I was very pleased by the amount of heat and noise emitted by the D820 ,When idling or performing everyday tasks the fan speed is very slow resulting in relatively silent computing. When performing more demanding tasks (such as during the Battery Eater Pro burn-in and battery life test or rendering 3D graphics) the fan speeds up but it is not at all offensive. The only caveat is the Philips DVD-RW drive. Compared to the rest of the notebook, it sounds like a turbofan engine spooling up when it reads a CD or DVD. Moreover, the drive is not well damped causing the whole notebook body to shudder as the drive spins.

Dell has designed the D820 for excellent heat dissipation. There are two exhaust vents: one on the side and one on the rear. The left wrist rest heats up a tiny bit after a long period of operation and the right wrist rest stays completely cool throughout. Touching the underside of the laptop after the ~2 hour Battery Eater Pro stress test I found that the laptop was warm but certainly not hot enough to preclude lap-top usage for an extended period of time. The power brick stays cool even after days of keeping the notebook plugged into the wall. In short, Dell has done a superb job of managing the heat emitted by the D820’s high performance components.

Conclusion

In summary, the Latitude D820 is a very nice choice for the desk jockey professional or student. This machine, with its 15.4″ widescreen, is not meant for world travel but for flexibility, productivity, and a little bit of portability. At a pinch it can be used on a plane or on a lap but, for the most part, I would not travel extensively with the D820. For its form factor, however, I do not think you will find a better balance between portability and build quality than the Latitude D820. I would wholeheartedly recommend this notebook to anyone looking for an effective tool to get some serious work done.