It has been a year since I started my new job as a Senior Systems Analyst running the Microsoft Exchange 2003 installation for a mid-sized Mid-West financial company. And when I started the job I was issued a Dell Latitude D600 light weight notebook computer. Over the ensuing year my D600 has served me well, but it has not been without its performance problems, so when the company offered to refresh all of the D600’s with new larger Dell Latitude D820 PC Notebook's, I jumped at the chance. After all who wouldn’t want to replace a 14" screen with a bight 15.4" WXGA screen?

Although large than the Dell D600 the Latitude D820 doesn’t feel any heavier, which makes carrying the portable desktop replacement everyday easy on the shoulders and back. And because the Latitude D820 is just as slim as the D600, it fits rather handily into my existing laptop case.

The Laptop

The Latitude D820 comes very close to being a full fledged, full feathered desktop replacement; the unit houses Intel Centrino T2300 Core Dual processor running at 2.16GHz with 2MB L2 cache, on a 665MHz FSB, with 1.0GB of DDR2 SDRAM. And while the D600 only sported (2) USB 2.0 ports, the Latitude D820 has 4 including a combo USB/Power port. The additional USB ports more than make up for the inclusion of only (1) PC Card slot, and no 9-pin mini-din (keyboard/mouse) or printer connections. Dell did include an ExpressCard/34mm slot, 4-pin mini-Firewire port, and Port Replication port to round out the expandability of this slat gray laptop.

Checking in at some 6.5-pounds the D820’s overall dimensions are as follows: 1.4 inches thick, 14.2 inches wide, and 10.3 inches deep, making D820 the largest system in the Latitude lineup; it just doesn’t feel like it. It does feel comfortable typing on the broad full featured keyboard (though I had to have it replaced right out of the box) that is complemented by a pointing stick and a touch pad; both of which have their own sets of mouse buttons. The feel of the keyboards’ keys reminds me of the IBM keyboards of old that felt good on the fingers and felt almost metallic and strong.

And both can be set up to disable themselves automatically when an external pointing device is added to an available USB port. You can optionally configure the D820 to use biometric security (fingerprint reader), which reduces the size of the mouse buttons to accommodate the fingerprint sensor between them.

On either side of the keyboard sit two rather average-sounding stereo speakers; three buttons for volume up, volume down, and mute lie above the keyboard. To the right of these buttons sit the power button, while on the left are status lights for number lock, caps lock, and computer lock.

The Latitude D820 features a bright, crisp, 15.4-inch wide screen with an ultra-fine, 1900 x 1200 native resolution that renders great graphics, but makes the text and icons difficult to read; I have my screen set to 1280x768, which proves to be a very workable setting for me. At the base of the screen, which is anchored by steel hinges, are status LED’s for system power, HHD activity, battery charging, Express Card insertion, WiFi on, and Bluetooth.

And speaking of wireless networking, this is an area where the Latitude D820 excels. Unlike other laptops I have used that integrate wireless into the case—usually in the screen housing—the D820 incorporates a switch on the left edge of the laptop that functions turns the wireless adapter off and on: slide the switch forward, and the built-in 802.11 b/g wireless card automatically searches for available networks, displaying those available on the screen and indicating whether the network is 11Mbps or a faster (G) network. The D820 further alerts you to the presence of a security-disabled network by illuminating the green LED status light next to the switch, though the one on my laptop failed to illuminate, despite the presence of such networks in my area.

And the system is supposed to work whether the computer is on or off. The light did illuminate when I shut the computer down however, leading me to believe this feature in superseded by the software when the computer is on, which make perfect sense. Other networking options include EV-DO wireless WAN and integrated, latest-generation Bluetooth EDR; my D820 shipped with neither installed.

In addition the ports I mentioned above the Latitude D820 also features a standard VGA, infrared, serial, 56Kbps modem, Gigabit Ethernet, headphone, and microphone jacks. Because the D820 is built for the business user, the unit lacks multimedia features such as S-Video, S/PDIF audio, a media card reader, and more USB ports that might typically be found on consumer/multi-media-oriented laptops. The D820 does house a DVD/CD-RW drive, which together with the included CyberLink PowerDVD software can used to view movie while on the road.

The bottom of the unit houses the usual access panels: a large removable battery, hard drive, and memory; there is one user installable slots left open for the installation of additional memory. At the rear of the Latitude D820 is a 280-pin port for attaching the laptop to a port replicator, or expansion station.

First Impressions:

I like my new Dell Latitude D820. The unit is light weight, sturdy and performs quite well thanks in larger part to the ultra-fast Intel Core Duo processor (a 2.16-GHz T2300) under the hood. This makes the D820 markedly and noticeably faster than a single-core system it replaced. Add to this the D820's battery life, rated at over 5 hours, and excellent 15ָ” display and 1GB of memory and you have a real business-class winner in my book.

My unit came standard with 512MB of DDR2 SDRAM, but there is an additional 512MB installed in the only the user up-gradable slot on the bottom of the unit. The 60GB hard drive delivers sterling performance, although it is only a 5400Rpm drive, it is certainly adequate for the work I will be doing with the unit.

The best feature of the Latitude D820 is the WXGA display. The 15.4 inch screen is bright, crisp and clear. It is not the best LCD display I have ever used, but it is more than adequate for business use, and for playing the occasional DVD.

Heat Dissipation & Noise

Dell designed the D820 to optimize heat dissipation; after all those Core Dual processors must run hot. There are two exhaust vents (one on the right side and one on the rear) tied to an exhaust fan which sits in a bay at the bottom right hand side of the unit. Another exhaust vent is cut into the bottom of the unit, and still another adorns the remove memory slot door.

I have noted that after prolonged use the left wrist rest heats up a bit, while the right wrist rest stays completely cool; this must be where the Intel processor sits. When working from home I typically leave the laptop running on my desk for eight hours and I have yet to hear the exhaust kick in for prolonged periods, and when it does turn on, it is very silent.

The one caveat to the noise equation is the DVD-RW drive; it is noisily, but not as noisy as some of the drives that ship with Dell workstations. You definitely know its spinning, but the drive noise is not overly distracting.

Conclusion

Hands down, the Dell Latitude D820 is a performance winner. I like the increased processing power, the increased batter power, and increased screen real estate. And the laptop is handsome to look at! Though I doubt I will ever have cause to use the 4-pin Firewire port, it is nice to know its there just in case, and (4) USB ports has certainly come in handy.

Features and Specifications:

Processor: Intel T2300 Core Dual Processor @ 2.16GHz, 667MHz FSB, 2.0MB L2 Cache
Screen: 15.4" WXGA Active Matrix (1400 x 1050 maximum resolution) display;
Memory: 1.0GB DDR2 SDRAM @ 533MHz, Max 2.0 GB; (1) user accessible memory socket on system board;
Video Card: 32MB 4X AGP; ATI Mobility Radeon 9000;
Removable Storage: 8X/24X/24X/24X DVD/CD-RW multifunction drive;
Fixed Storage: User removable 40GB 5400 rpm hard drive;
NIC - Wired: Broadcom 570X Gigabit 10/100/1000 Ethernet;
NIC - Wireless: Intel 3945 Wireless 802.11b/g
Modem: V.92/56K Modem;
Ports: 1x Parallel printer port; 1x four-pin Firewire, 4x USB 2.0 ports; 1x SVGA; 1x Type II PC Card (PCMCIA) slots; 1x ExpressCard/34 slot, 1x headphone & microphone jacks; IrDA (Infrared);
Docking: 280-pin connector for the Latitude D/Port-Family, Advanced Port Replicator, or D/Dock-Family Expansion station;
OS: Windows XP Professional SP 2.



Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 1996.00
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: Greater than 15 inches
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50

Write a Review