Dell takes business laptops to new latitudes

Inspired by close collaboration with nearly 4 000 IT professionals and end-users, Dell announced a complete new line of Latitude and Dell Precision laptops, ranging from the lightest ultra-portable in the company's history, to the most powerful mobile workstation. More details are available at www.dell.com/latitudepresskit.

The new Latitude systems provide breakthrough battery life, brilliant new design and style -- including a choice of five colours.

"Since 1995, we've shipped more business laptops worldwide than anyone," said Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell. "This, and our five million-plus conversations a day with customers, gives us real insight into the needs of the digital nomad. Today we're translating that insight into breakthrough productivity, portability and design. The new Latitudes are breathtaking."

Dell's re-engineered Latitude line-up answers a wide range of user profiles:

* Ultra-portable - Dell Latitude E4200 is a 12.1-inch laptop that starts at 1kg, making it the lightest commercial notebook in the company's history. The 13.3-inch Latitude E4300 has a starting weight of 1.5kg.
* Designed for road warriors and executives who demand maximum performance and light weight, the systems will be available in the coming weeks.
* Mainstream - The Dell Latitude E6400 and E6500. The systems are ideal desktop replacements for high-performance users.
* Essential - The Latitude E5400, a 14.1-inch notebook, the systems include everyday features at a cost-effective price.
* Semi-rugged - The Latitude E6400 ATG is a 14.1-inch semi-rugged laptop that starts at 2.5kg. It is built and tested to meet Military 810F standards for dust, vibration and humidity.
* Desk-based - From new port replicators to full docking solutions that fit any usage scenario with smaller footprints and streamlined cabling, users can "hot undock".

Dell will offer colours for the first time on Latitude laptops. In addition to Mica-Brushed Metal, the Latitude E4200, E4300, E6400 and E6500 will be available in Regatta Blue, Regal Red and Quartz Pink (E4200 only) in the coming weeks. The E5400 and E5500 are available in Matte Black.

"The new Latitude laptops and Dell Precision mobile workstations represent the largest client product development effort in the history of Dell," said Gavin Slevin, client product brand manager, Dell South Africa. "We've invested more than one million engineering hours and the result is a family of head-turning products that are as solid on the inside as on the outside, with features that enable better security, manageability and productivity."

Incorporating a wide range of new technology, Dell's new Latitudes feature:

* All-day computing on the E6400 with breakthrough battery life of up to 19 hours;
* Full-frame magnesium alloy construction and all-metal hinges;
* Sophisticated keyboard design;
* Ease of use with Dell ControlPoint, centralising control of user settings for power management, connectivity configurations and security management in a single application;
* First business-class laptop with an intelligent backlit keyboard that automatically adjusts to ambient light levels;
* Exclusive ControlVault solution - intelligent security sub-processors with embedded non-volatile storage that centralises and helps protect user credentials and security keys in a single hardened security "vault" away from the systems main drive;
* The E6500 is the only laptop with both a contact-less smart card reader and a fingerprint reader that comply with Federal Information Processing Standards; and,
* Simplified IT with compatible peripherals, adapters, docking and robust manageability features across the entire portfolio.

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The company also previewed Dell Latitude ON, a new technology that will enable near-instant access to e-mail, calendar, attachments, contacts and the Web without booting into the system's main operating system (OS).

Expected in the coming months on the Latitude E4200 and E4300, Dell Latitude ON uses a dedicated low-voltage sub-processor and OS that can enable multi-day battery life.

Dell, the world's number one workstation supplier, also unveiled a new line of ISV-certified Dell Precision mobile workstations targeted at performance-oriented customers in the engineering, media, entertainment and biosciences industries. The details include:

* Dell Precision M4400 - the 15.4-inch mobile workstation features leading-edge graphics and supports up to 8GB of RAM.
* Dell Precision M2400 - Weighing 2.16kg, the company's lightest mobile workstation is a 14.1-inch system.

The company also introduced a 17-inch mobile workstation concept that revolutionises mobile performance. Housed in an orange, anodized aluminium chassis, it supports up to 16GB of RAM, a 1GB graphics card, upcoming quad-core processors and up to a terabyte of storage on two drives.

This doubles the amount of memory and processor cores, and triples the storage available on competitors mobile workstations today. More details can be found at www.dell.com/nocompromise.

The new Latitude mainstream and ultra-portable laptops, as well as Dell Precision mobile workstations, are available with Energy Star 4.0-compliant configurations and meet EPEAT "Gold" rated configurations.

The Latitude E4200 is Dell's first notebook offering a motherboard containing halogen-free laminates, as well as halogen-free chassis plastics and fan housings. The ultra-portable laptop also ships in packaging that is up to 99% recyclable by weight.

All of the new products are also available with Dell's ProSupport Mobility Services, a suite of modular services that help companies protect assets and data. To protect confidential company information, Dell can also automate data encryption on all laptops and centrally manage company-defined security policies in a way that is transparent to the end-user.

Dell's Desktop Manager service allows IT to track dispersed systems, distribute software, manage patches and enforce IT policies. For more information, visit www.dell.com/services.

Coinciding with the introduction of Dell's new laptops, the company launched a new community site called Digital Nomads. It is designed for individuals who are not defined by the four walls in their office or home, but by a desire to always be connected for work and play no matter their location. Community members can come together to read about other digital nomads and share ideas, tips, tricks and best practices. Twitter users will be able to follow live updates from Dell's press conference and ask questions by following @Digital_Nomads (www.twitter.com/Digital_Nomads).