Awesome Power and Features
Written: Dec 15 '00
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Pros: Sleek Design, Speedy, Excellent Screen, Ease of use, Excellent Accesories, Great Battery Life.
Cons: Price (hits the $3800 mark), Could be thinner as the IBM T20 or X series (about 4 pencils thick!!)
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| fhiga's Full Review: Dell Latitude CPx |
I have the following specs:
- Latitude CPxJ-650GT model
- Mobile Pentium III-650MHz with Intel Speedstep Techonology
- Integrated ATI Rage Mobility M1 AGP Video, with 8Meg Video RAM
- 256MB RAM option
- Integrated 12GB Hard disk option (Fujitsu)
- Modular 24X CD-ROM drive
- Xircom CardBus 56K + Ethernet
- For office use, a C/PORT-II Docking station
- Dell Trinitron UltraScan P991 19" inch monitor.
- Windows 2000 Professional.
I work 100% of my time under Windows 2000 Pro. I previously had a Compaq Armada 1575DM, and got this one at work about 2-3 months ago.
I also worked with several desktop computers (an old HP Vectra VL/5) with a big 17" HP monitor. Good enough, the Latitude was an enourmous upgrade over previous systems I had.
Key features I found in this notebook (the ones for which I would strongly recommend it):
- Desktop Replacement: With or without its docking station, this machine can be your only machine at work, and you can easily leave behind your desktop computer away. Its 14.1" Active screen is the best I've seen, either among others I've seen, such as the IBM Thinkpad T20 (awesome big screen, but not as good as the Latitude's), the Toshiba Satellite CDS-210 (poor screen, but you cannot compare it as it is a passive backlit screen). The huge screen easily readable under all lighting conditions gives it a top-box score. Use it with its docking station, and instantly converts to a desktop computer - no hassles. Even with integrated USB, and Infrared ports (both in the docking station and in the notebook computer).
- Speed: The difference between this Mobile Pentium III and its previous predecessor, the Latitude CPiA, makes a big difference (Pentium II-400MHz vs. Pentium III-650MHz). You cannot feel the speed if you mostly use a Word Processor, but you can feel the difference in its RESPONSIVENESS; applications loaded quickly, task switching is immediate. But memory is also a key factor for system responsiveness, though. So don't get fooled: a Pentium I 133MHz with 128Meg RAM under Windows 98 will perform almost the same as a Pentium III 650MHz with only 8Megs RAM (more or less!). So always consider memory as a speed advantage. Intel SpeedStep's Technology slows down the CPU speed down to 500MHz (150 MHz down-step), but you cannot feel the speed difference. But this speed step will help you gain about 10-15% more battery life - so that's the big deal behind it.
- Battery Life: No compromises. You can make about 3.6 hours with a 70 minute charge on its Sony Lithium-Ion Smart Battery. Take two batteries (load them both in its dual modular docking bays) and you can easily make 6-8 hours (depending on screen brightness and CPU speed).
- Sleek appearance and design - Smoke gray colored. Opened up, looks extremely sleek and low-profiled, the screen is very thin indeed, but not as thin as the magazine-thick IBM T20 or X series.
- Dual Pointing capabilities: Dell did a great job here (integrated Alps-branded pointing stick and touch-pad). You can use both the touch pad and the stick at the same time. You also get 4 buttons, 2 for the stick, and 2 for the touchpad, so you get comfortable enough while using them on the road, or airplane. If you attach an external mouse, you can easily switch between all three of them - great!. I also had a Micron TransPort XPe, that had dual pointing devices as the Dell (but only one set of buttons for both), too bad it only let you use one at a time, and you had to enter the BIOS setup to choose which one to use - so unintuitive.
-Great keyboard feel: This is very, very important for mobile users. Keys feel a bit mushy when new, but they get better with use. Keys are well positioned and shaped, although the Page Down, Page Up, Insert keys are in the top hand corner of the keyboard. It may be difficult hitting the correct key while in low-light conditions (the Windows - Property key is next to them, which could lead to confusions). But I still think IBM notebook keyboards are still among the best.
The downside? I am pretty happy with my Latitude. I had some glitches with the integrated serial port, and had some problems while pressing the 'Eject PC' under Windows. But that's no big deal.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 3999.91
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: 601-700
Screen Size: 14"
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-ROM
Hard Drive (GB): 9-12
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Epinions.com ID:
fhiga
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Member: Fabio Higa
Location: Schaumburg, IL, USA
Reviews written: 37
Trusted by: 2 members
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