Dell Latitude 2100 Review

Dell has come out with yet another netbook, the Latitude 2100 which has the same common specs with the Inspiron Mini Lineup including same Atom Processor, 1 GB RAM, onboard graphics and a 10 inch display. It diffrentiates itself with its rugged design made for the students and road warriors alike. It is not the cheapest netbook available in the market but does its performance and ruggedness justify its price? We have made a review to find the answer.

Design and Build Quality

The laptop is built for kids who can be rough on their lappies. The system is covered with rubber casing that makes it easy to grasp and protects it from the scratches and bruises. The build quality feels very good with thick plastic exteriors which show minimal flex under heavy pressure. The keyboard is also very firm and screen hinges are excellently robust. Measuring 10.4 X 7.4 X 1.6 inches, the laptop feels larger and heavier than its competitors. However, this rock solid netbook does not feel like a cheap $400 netbook and it would be able to survive those little drop-offs from the desks.

Processor, RAM and HDD

Like other standard netbooks available in the market, this system also comes with a standard 1.6 GHz Intel Atom 270 CPU and 1GB of RAM with Windows XP. The performance was slightly better than average and there was no hangups while conducting video calls over Skype and having several tabs open. The system can be configured with a 250 GB 5400 rpm hard drive or a 16 GB SSD. The SSD is only enough for a student laptop and if you want to use the laptop for any other purpose you have to go for the hard drive option.

Graphics

The Intel GMA Integrated Graphics with 128 MB of shared memory is nothing new in a netbook. Don’t expect to play 3D games on it but it is nicely capable of playing full HD videos in its screen without any problem.

Display

The display is nice and bright 10.1 inch LED backlit LCD with 1024X576 resolution. While 1024X600 resolution has become quite a standard for the 10 inch netbooks, the lack of 24 pixels is not noticeable. I got reminded that I was running a non standard screen when I received a notification in the windows taskbar. The vertical viewing angles were not so good. It looked good only at a specific angle. The horizontal viewing angles were satisfactory though. The colors started to get inverted only at a large viewing angle.

Touchscreen

There is an optional model that incorporates a touchscreen which is the first time I see in an education notebook. The resistive touchscreen is nice and shows very good sensitivity to pressures. The accuracy is satisfying but I think the low resolution screen would be difficult for selecting things on screen for those having large fingers. As there is no touchscreen specific software included by Dell to make intelligent use of touchscreen, you have to use it only for some clicking or selection actions that you had to do with the touchpad or mouse otherwise. Also there is no swivel-able action possible for the touchscreen like tablet PCs which makes it more useless.

Keyboard and TouchPad

The keyboard is nice and robust with no flex at any point. The textured finish of the keyboard also feels good while typing though I can’t understand what they mean when they say it is an antimicrobial keyboard. Though the size of the keyboard is not enough for the grown ups but students under 16 years will have no problem typing on them.
The touchpad is also small sized for a netbook like this. The sensitivity of the touchpad is good and the click buttons also provide good feedback with cushioned clicks.

Ports

The port selection is very basic and only sufficient for a student. On the left side, there is a Security Lock Slot, VGA Out, an USB Port, microphone and headphone jacks. On the right side there are Two USB ports, Ethernet, Power Jack and another Security Lock Slot. There is a 3 in 1 media card reader slot on the front side. Two security lock slots lets you attach a handle or strap for the students to carry them to the classes.

Battery

The standard system comes with a 6 cell Lithium Ion Battery that delivers reasonably good battery life. The system runs for about six hours on normal tasks and at least four hours on heavy usage. This is above the average of standard netbooks available in the market.

Pros

• Rugged Build Quality to survive drops from desk
• Good Battery Life
• Good Educational Features

Cons

• Heavier than average netbooks
• Low resolution display
• Touchscreen have very low utility

Conclusion

At the end of the day, the Dell Latitude 2100 is a nice durable laptop which is also comfortable to use. Though it is made to be carried around, its heavier weight lets you think twice before making a final decision. If you don’t need a rugged netbook, the price of $499 may seem too high for you. But if you want one that is also packed with educational features and ruggedness, this should be the one and only choice for you.