Anyone here have a Dell ATG?

I am looking to talk with anyone who has a Dell Latitude ATG. Anyone own this?

 

I dont think you will have much luck in this. The ATG is a very very specialized notebook which interests a minute portion of the market and thus will have very few sales.

 

Take a look at this thread.

 

Thanks, I had already seen the review, I am interested in someone who owns the ATG. I would guess they sell enough units to be profitable, but mostly businesses or consultants will be using these, and those people may not be on a forum like this. But it's worth a try.

 

Andrew, who wrote the review has/had access to that notebook; at least he has first hand experience. That is why I gave you the link .

 

I think they shouldve made the casing as carbon fiber. i will surely like it more if it is.

 

Carbon fiber will crack if they sustain too much pressure (i.e. drop from a certain altitude).

 

I prefer the Dell Latitude D620 over the D620 ATG. The only major difference is the screen. I know it has other advantages, but most of them are minor. The screen is extremely bright to compete with the the sun. WARNING. NO laptop can withstand direct sunlight for an extended period of time.

 

hmmm... are you sure about this. i thought carbon fibers are more sturdier and denser than magnesium alloys. any official article or links on your statement would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

 

What are you intending to do with your laptop to want to purchase a rugged one? Perhaps you should try taking the "What Should I Buy? FAQ" locating in the "What Should I Buy Forum?" my friend. It may be worth while to look at some of the Thinkpads, the Toughbooks, and some of Durabook's line (granted most of these are two generations behind now).

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i'm not quite sure if i get this right. in my opinion, ruggedness or durability should be one of the main concern on buying a laptops even if you just work on your desk. accidents are always there at the corner. flying glasses and spoons when you have to block your girlfriend throwing them at you and you have that laptop to protect you. LOL.

 

I thought I'd add my 2 cents. I just saw a review for Dell Latitude ATG D620 laptop in the April 24, 2007 issue of PC Magazine. It got 3.5 out of 5 rating and the reviewed unit priced out at $3,126. Here is the online url version -- http://go.pcmag.com/dellatgd620

 

I am not interested in the ruggedness at all. I am only interested because the screen is so bright you can use it outdoors. My old NEC Versa Daylite can be used outdoors and even in direct sunlight (but unusable indoors, and is way slow). I work on my deck when it is warm enough. I have had Acer, HP, and Thinkpad laptops, none of them can be used outdoors for work - sure, you can squint and make out an email or two, but you can't use them for 8 hours of work. With the ATG's screen brightness of 500 nits, it can supposedly work fine outdoors.

As for Toughbooks and Durabooks, they are slower and even pricier than the ATG with screens that are not as bright, so don't look like good options for me, especially since I don't care about ruggedness at all (they will only be going out on my deck, not in the field someplace).

The only other option appears to be PortableOne's transflective option, but one reviewer said the screen is glossy and showed a photo with some wicked reflections - a real problem outdoors.

 

Thanks, I saw that. One of the things they listed as a negative is the slow hard drive, but Dell offers a 7200rpm hard drive option which is much cheaper than the 4200rpm ruggedized drive. I will only be taking this out on my deck, so I don't need the ruggedized drive, and the other negative the review listed is battery life - I will be keeping this plugged in at all times so that won't bother me.

The big thing - can it really be used outdoors for work? (not squinting trying to read a few emails)

 

Here is a review page:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3449&review=Rugged+Dell+Latitude+D620

 

Thanks, I saw that review, and the photo of it outdoors looks promising, just hard to tell how bright the day was on that shot.

I was hoping to get a second opinion, but it looks like many of the people on this board are gamers, and gamers would probably not be interested in the ATG - it only has integrated graphics (fine for VisualStudio work, but not really usable for gaming I would guess).

I saw a review on InfoTech where the columnist has been carrying the ATG around for a couple of weeks and she says it is usable outdoors. So I pulled the trigger. Got my fingers crossed!

 

To answer my own question (can it be used outdoors to do work?) - yes. Bright enough not to squint at all. For anyone who wants to use a laptop outdoors, this is worth the price of admission. If you are interested in this for the screen but want top performance, choose the non-ruggedized 7200rpm drive over the ruggedized 4200rpm drive (not only faster but a few hundred cheaper).