Dell Announces New Latitude Business Laptops

"Consumerization" or "Bring Your Own Device To Work" is a trend among businesses with traditional IT departments where employees are increasingly dictating what types of computers and related devices are being used at work (think iPads, iPhones, and MacBooks). Most people don't want business laptops that are thick, heavy, and boring ... but most IT managers need business electronics to offer easy manageability and data protection. This is the battleground where Dell thinks it can make a difference.

Meet The New Dell Latitude E-Family

Building upon the previous generation of Latitudes, the new E-series saw more than 100 refinements of fit, finish and "consumer-inspired appeal" with the following enhancements:

The Latitude E6430s is a new design that balances portability and go-anywhere productivity in a lightweight, 13.3-inch chassis paired with a broader 14-inch display. The Latitude team took that "14-inch screen in a 13-inch body" from the very consumer-appealing Dell XPS 14z.

The Latitude E6230, E6330, E6430, and E6530 laptops come with 12.5-inch, 13.3-inch, 14-inch and 15.6-inch displays, respectively, and are designed to support a mobile workforce with a durabile chassis, long battery life, and seamless connectivity with a high-performing antenna and the latest wireless and mobile broadband options.

The Latitude E5430 and E5530 laptops with 14-inch and 15.6-inch displays, respectively, are designed for professionals looking for Latitude series durability and functionality in a budget-friendly package. The Dell Latitude E5 series laptops are also now offered with Intel VPro systems management.

The ruggedized Latitude E6430 ATG laptop is designed for extreme temperatures, vibration, dust and high altitude environments. This system features a reinforced 14-inch display and an optional easy-to-carry handle, making it the laptop you deploy to boost workforce productivity regardless of location or terrain.

Despite the design changes inspired by consumerization, the new Dell business client solutions offer the traditional goodies that IT professionals care about when deploying a new laptop at work:

Durability: All the new Latitudes come with "StrikeZone" shock absorbers, a Fast Response Free-Fall Sensor, and newly-added rubber hard drive isolation to help protect data from drops and vibration;

Productivity: Long battery-life with up to 32.7 hours with an optional 9-cell battery plus slice battery plus bay battery replacing the optical drive, integrated graphics, Third Generation Intel® Core™ processor technology, and  optional 128GB* SSD* and ExpressCharge for 80 percent recharge in an hour (select configurations);

Manageability: The latest Intel™ vPro systems management Intel Active Management Technology 8.x with Dell?€™s unique vPro extensions that support remote BIOS management and remote hard drive wipe enabling IT to remotely manage Latitude E-family laptops and OptiPlex desktops, including easy out-of-band management;

Protectability: The Latitudes offer high-level data protection in the form of Dell Data Protection/Encryption which offers the highest level of FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards) 140-2 Level 3 certification commercially available with the optional Dell exclusive Hardware Encryption Accelerator;

Connectivity: Available with optional LTE Mobile Broadband and Bluetooth 4.0; and

Performance: Third Generation Intel Core processor options (Ivy Bridge), as well as increased memory and discrete graphics options. The new Latitude laptops also feature USB 3.0 for faster wired data transfers for local storage and sync (up to 10 times faster than USB 2.0).

Pricing and Availability

Availability information (including full specs) and pricing for the Latitude systems will be released in the coming weeks (most likely timed with Ivy Bridge announcements from Intel).