New Latitude Series? Current models just don't cut it...

Last good Latitude line was the D series, IMO.

 

Happy with my E6420 in general.

- You tend to ignore the orange trim after a while.
- The rubber on the palmrest area is going to be a concern in the future.
- The limitation on the 16:9 1600x900 screen is a bit of an annoyance, but it's still workable.
- Had I gotten the E6520, I probably would've been driven up the wall by the off-centered touchpad... the position on the 14" model is "just right".

 

Personally, I like the newest Latitude look, especially when compared to Lenovo. But if I had to pick a current generation Precision or W series, I'd sacrifice the IPS panel for a HD+ resolution screen (FHD is too much for me) and better battery management of the W520.

 

Newest generation T series (T420/T520)? I don't like the Tx10 palmrest and keyboard as much as the Tx00/_60/61 generation keyboards. They changed the material or something, so now it is sleek/smooth plastic.

Can't you buy the FHD screen and just turn down the screen resolution and you would still have an RGBLED screen?

 

Sorry, have mistaken the Latitude for Precision.

 

I found a video that explains some of Dell's design decisions on the new E series. Looks like they were built with a focus on being rugged and having high performance. An example would be all of the extra space around the screen bezel so that they could use higher performance antennae.

Most people with negative comments don't like the physical design of the machine. It is either too heavy, too big, or has too much orange stripe. These people would likely do better with a machine that is more focused on fitting in style-wise with your coworkers and having a lighter or lower performing design.

Everything is a tradeoff. Think about it - you can finally have a 14" chassis E6420 with a quad core processor and nvidia graphics that does not throttle. You can't get a Lenovo T420 with a quad core. You can get a T520 with a quad core.

I personally like the Latitudes, but I care about performance more than anything else. I respect that other people have differing priorities.

Anyhow, here is the link to the video Dell Latitude Video | Dell

 

Well the way I see it, Latitudes are Dell's main workhorse, they sell the most. Most IT professionals don't need anything more than a dual core and integrated graphics.

If you are doing specialized work (CAD, rendering, compiling code) you should be getting a mobile workstation. Of course you can get away with a Latitude.