Dell Latitude C640 Reivew

Dell's Latitude C640 series has long been one of our favorite thin-and-light corporate notebooks, thanks to its smart design, long battery life, speed, and terrific tech support, not to mention its thrifty accessories, which work across the entire Latitude line. We're not alone. According to Dell, the Latitude C600 line is the company's best-selling notebook line ever. The latest update to the line promises more of the same, including faster P4-M processors, ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 graphics chips, and--new to the thin-and-light category--blazing 5,400rpm hard drives, all in the customary great, slim case. Even though the C640's ValueWatch rating is only average, businesses looking for thin-and-light notebooks won't find a better combination of speed, battery(compatible Dell 6000 battery) life, features, and support.

The good: Fast; long battery life(Dell inspiron 6000 battery); reasonable price; excellent warranty; has modular devices that are compatible with other Latitudes.

The bad: Ho-hum looks; only one USB port; high-end models are expensive.

The bottom line: The Dell Latitude C640 thin-and-light notebook offers an unbeatable combination of speed and features.

General

• Width: 12.5 in


• Depth: 9.9 in


• Height: 1.4 in


• Weight: 5.4 lbs


• Color: Black


• Notebook type: Thin-and-light (4-6 lbs.)

Processor

• Processor: Intel Pentium 4-M 2.0 GHz

RAM

• Installed Size: 256 MB / 1024 MB (max)


• Technology: DDR SDRAM

Storage Controller

• Storage controller type: EIDE

Storage

• Floppy Drive: 3.5" HD


• Hard Drive: 30 GB


• Hard drive type: Standard

Optical Storage

• Type: CD-RW / DVD-ROM


• CD / DVD write speed: 24 x


• CD / DVD rewrite speed: 10 x

Display

• Display Type: 14.1 in TFT active matrix


• Max Resolution: 1024 x 768


• Color Support: 24-bit (16.7M colors)

Input Device(s)

• Input device type: Pointing stick

Telecom

• Modem: Fax / modem


• Max transfer rate: 56 Kbps


• Protocols & Specifications: ITU V.92

Networking

• Data link protocol: Fast Ethernet

Battery(Dell 75uyf 851UY 5081P)

• Installed Qty: 1 (max)

Manufacturer Warranty

• Service & support type: 3 years warranty


• Service & Support Details: Parts and labor - 3 years

Operating System / Software

• OS Provided: Microsoft Windows Server 2000


• Software: Microsoft Office Small Business with Adobe Acrobat 5.0

The thin-and-light category is the sweet spot of the notebook world: a great mix of features, speed, portability, battery life, and price. The Latitude C640 series is a brilliant example of why that's so. It's larger than the ultralight Dell Latitude C400 but not as big and heavy as the desktop-replacement Latitude C800 series. But the Latitude C640 still has enough drive options for business users and won't strain your shoulder when you tote it.

Dell 1691P battery Care

please take care of your laptop battery like your digital camera batteries

Please read the precautions listed below

1. Do not modify or disassemble battery.


2. Do not incinerate or expose dell latitude c600 battery to excessive heat, which may result in an exposure.


3. Do not expose battery to water or other moist/wet substances.


4. Avoid piercing, hitting, crushing or any abuse use of the battery.


5. Do not forget to take away your battery from the device if you will not use it for a long time.


6. Avoid short circuit of the terminals by keeping your battery pack away from metal objects such as necklaces or hairpins.

dell latitude c600 battery

Processor manufacturer: Intel

Processor model: Mobile Pentium III

Clock speed: 0.85 GHz

RAM installed: 128 MB

Wireless LAN: integrated antenna for wireless 802.11b networking via a Mini-PCI card

Hard drive size: 10 GB

Graphics processor: ATi Rage Mobility 128 AGP 2X

Graphics RAM: 8 MB

Display diagonal size: 14.1 in

Dimensions (W x H x D): 31.9x3.5x25.4 cm

Weight: 2.7 kg

Operating system: Windows 2000 Professional

The Dell Latitude C600 is a straightforward corporate laptop with excellent battery life and some special touches, it's oranginal battery code:dell 1691p.

One aspect that is unique among the machines we tested (and worth copying by others) is the inclusion of both a touch pad and pointing stick. Those who are comfortable with both features can switch back and forth, depending on the task (both are active concurrently), and those with a preference can choose between them, turning one or the other off.

The C600 has an internal antenna for wireless networking, and Dell offers, for an extra $199 (direct), an internal Mini-PCI 802.11b adapter. Unfortunately, that card needs to be plugged into the same slot as the wired Ethernet Mini-PCI adapter. So to toggle between wired and wireless networking, you'll have to use a PC Card for one of them. This is an unexpected omission, especially when the similarly priced Acer and Toshiba models include standard internal wireless network and Ethernet capability.

Hot-swapping modules to and from the single bay worked like a charm: We just clicked an icon on the System Tray, ejected one module, and popped in the new one. Another highlight is the high-resolution display. Although its 14.1-inch size is the same as most others, the screen's 1,400-by-1,050 native resolution lets you see more of a document or Web page without scrolling.

As for the audio capabilities, the speaker volume was very low: For presentations, you'll need an external pair of powered speakers. The keyboard layout, spacing,Dell latitude c600 battery and feel were all comfortable. One notable keyboard feature is the Dell AccessDirect button, which calls up the on-disk documentation. You can also program this button to launch a frequently used application or—even more useful for IT managers—to preconfigure each machine with a specific support resource.

Dell's Inspiron 4000, Inspiron 8000, and C-series Latitude notebooks now integrate wireless networking--a first for the company. The Pentium III-750/600-based Latitude C600 includes a TrueMobile wireless LAN mini-PCI card that connects to an antenna (which Dell has been building into the three notebook lines since last fall),dell 1691p. Add an access point and you have 802.11b-compliant wireless local-area networking. Dell offers the $899 TrueMobile 1150 Wireless Access Point for the office and the $299 Wireless Network Hub for the home. In addition to hassle-free wireless networking, the handsome, lightweight C600 has features designed to appeal to companies whose employees share notebooks. It boasts an easy-to-remove hard drive, eraserhead and touchpad pointing devices, and an internal bay that can hold one of seven different devices. Dropping a dummy module into the bay cuts the notebook's weight to a svelte 5.5 pounds. Rear connections sport color icons that allow you to hook up peripherals quickly but good as the dell 1691p

Unfortunately, you can't have built-in wireless networking and built-in standard networking, too. The TrueMobile wireless network interface mini-PCI card occupies the internal mini-PCI bay normally used by the combination modem and network adapter. To add standard connectivity, you'll have to add a PC Card, such as the Xircom RealPort modem/NIC combination that was bundled with our review unit. (You can also order your notebook with a modem/NIC mini-PCI card and add a TrueMobile PC Card for occasional wireless networking.) Dell's documentation could be better: The C600 ships with a thin printed manual, leaving you to fish for most information in a difficult-to-search HTML user's guide.

The C600 is a sedate-looking, dark-gray laptop with a keyboard that's designed well but is somewhat noisy. The single bay, located on the front, accommodates either the 10X-24X CD-ROM drive or the floppy drive you get for its as-tested price, or any one of five optional devices--an 8X DVD-ROM drive, an 8X/4X/24X CD-RW drive, a Zip drive, a second battery, or a second hard drive. You can use the floppy drive alongside other devices by attaching it to the parallel port with an included cable. Aside from an S-Video port, the C600 is short on multimedia features; the 1691p is well,its sound is only so-so and it has no extra audio buttons. The Latitude's PC WorldBench 2000 score of 164 is slightly above average for a Pentium III-750/600 notebook running Windows 2000.

The C600 offers almost everything a company would want in a portable, highly flexible business laptop: wireless networking, both eraserhead and touchpad pointing devices, and the ability to rotate a wide range of add-in devices, including a second battery. The $2486 price looks high for a Pentium III-750/600 laptop, but seems reasonable considering everything else you get.