Next generation Latitude

I'm sort of in the same boat...I appreciate that they tried to make it more modern looking but I thought that it looked too "monochrome" and *cough* boring like a StinkPad *cough* even with the brushed metal look cover.

One thing I do love is the color options, esp. the Regatta Blue.

Example: http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Latitude-E...6:2|39:1|72:1234|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50

Too bad it's pretty rare so your pretty lucky if you find one in the outlet.

 

Actually if you come close to a E-series black, it looks freaking nice.
It's not just black... the cover has a a nice design, all LED's are blue which goes very well with black and being discreet and not look like a Christmas tree.
Also under low light, the palm rest is 30% reflective so the light of screen reflects on it, and offer a nice look. Then when you type the keyboard illuminate white, which really adds a very modern feel to it. Plus add the metallic color battery and real metal screen hinge. It's VERY nice! I love the design. When I looked at Dell pictures, because they are computer generated, they really look like Thinkpads.

 

Sweet! it's nice to know that they kept the "metalflake" plastic/paint finish for the inside of the laptop. (screen bezel/palmrest) I knew that the Regatta Blue and Royal Red colors have that, but was unsure if they took it away for the standard model.

It was one of many little things (soft touch/rubberized plastic on the front mounted 9-cell battery, gunmetal painted lid latch, etc.) that made the latitude D-series look and feel special and unique. These details made it stand out among the Thinkpad's of the business laptop market when i was looking for a new computer, and it's nice to know that Dell still incorporates stuff like that (the keyboard lights you mentioned, blue LED's, etc.) to make the user/owner feel that they've gotten something special

I agree that the web photos look pretty dark, they should also highlight the color availability even though corporate buyers prefer more conservative machines, make it a stand alone option instead of bundling it with stuff you might not need.

 

My vote is for USB 3.0 and multitouch trackpad.