E6220 - massive disappointment

I've been holding off from ordering additional E4200s for a couple of months waiting for the E6220 and now the specs are released it looks completely pointless. Let's look at the weights, according to Dell:

E4200 - Starting weight 1KG
E6220 - Starting weight 1.44KG (!)
E6320 - Starting weight 1.65KG

Seriously?? 44% heavier? Can it even be considered a subnotebook any more? The E6320 is only 14% heavier, and I don't imagine the difference is much more if I add an optical drive. It's also 23% thicker!

I see that you can now put mechanical drives in it, which would explain the extra bulk a little. It appears Dell have given up on competing in the business subnotebook area. I just do not see the point in this machine at all.

This leaves me with a bit of a conundrum - I need dockable subnotebooks, and I have loads of other latitude E series machines and the corresponding docks and other peripherals.

Dell, PLEASE give us a proper business subnotebook again - this doesn't compare very well with the ancient D420 let alone the superb E4200.

 

The E4200 used an ultra-low voltage processor (SU9400, 1.4Ghz with a TDP of 10W). The E6220 can take up to a i7-2620M 2.7Ghz with a TDP of 35W. There's just no way to fit it in such a small package.

Also, Dell is still selling the E4200 as far as I can tell. I'm not sure the E6220 is considered a replacement for the E4200.

 

yea, you have to compare the E6220 to the lenovo X220 as that is its direct competitor. The E4200 was a ULV machine, similar to the X201s or X200s

 

In that case, fingers crossed for an ULV Sandy Bridge replacement for the E4200.

 

1.45kg Lenovo X220 with an IPS LCD and mSATA or the 1.40kg 13" Toshiba R830 look to be better choices. Remove the 150gm optical drive on a 13" E6320 and it's only 140gm heavier than a E6220.

I'd extend your invitation to HP as well. Their 2560P adds a optical drive. In a 6-cell configuration it weighs a hefty 1.92kgs, 30gms less than a E6320. Successive generations saw it pack on the weight starting at 1.63->1.64->1.81->1.92kg.

I've list many thin-and-light systems with their weight and thickness at Sandby Bridge notebooks for an eGPU.

 

Yes, it looks like Dell aren't going to give me what I want. It's just a shame, as the common parts and accessories are a big plus for the Latitude range - using the same docks for every model across multiple generations is one of the things that keeps me going back to them. We also have loads of spare mains packs, car chargers, extended batteries, optical drives, battery slices etc

I'll see if they can do something special for me with E4200s if I buy a pile now.

 

Are you buying the E4200 via Outlet? Brand new prices are ridiculously overpriced, yesterday's technology at yesterday's prices.

As it's been stated the E6220's main competitor is the x220, but even then I think it is a turkey shoot as x220 offers IPS. If you consider the x220, I would opt out of the i7 as there are very bad throttling issues when using a 65 watt adapter or on battery. Also there is an issue with it not recognizing mSATA drives (supposedly there is a BIOS fix next month).

Unless your needs are very demanding, I've seen plenty of E4200's for dirt cheap in Outlet. I've seen 520 after coupon for Windows 7 + Dell's 64 GB Mobility SSD (though only 1 GB RAM)

 

they still have stock. if you call them they'll give you a massively discounted price.