Dell Latitude D630 Review Discussion

The Latitude D630 is Dell's latest update to the D620, a light-weight business class machine. The Dell D630 comes with the very anticipated Santa Rosa platform but is visually the same as its predecessor. The machine starts at $899 (as of this writing) and most upgrades are reasonably priced. The following is an in-depth review.

Read the full content of this Article: Dell Latitude D630 Review

 

The battery life really is impressive!

Thanks for a great review!

 

Hi, how do you calibrate the screen?
Thanks.

 

That calibration tool is NICE. Despite how well of a job it did, do you know of any lower cost ones for us poor college kids?

Congrats on the new machine...that battery life is really really good.

 

Nice review. Battery life seems to be a key feature here, which is significantly improved from the D620 - the reviews of that seemed to only hit somewhere around 3:30 with a 9 cell.

 

An excellent and informative review.

On the RAM issue, I presume that if you ordered the computer with 1 x 1GB then Dell would put that module in the slot under the keyboard, which would leave the easily accessible slot empty.

John

 

I will point out one correction. In the section for the 3DMark06. You label the table 3DMark05.

EDIT: Sorry, if I sounded like a pain in the butt. I was trying to proof read it before you set up the review in the review section.

EDIT EDIT: Thanks for the review. I am glad to hear this laptop has a realistic battery life. I can actually take it outside for the day and type. With the modular bay battery, this laptop could get over 8 hours of battery life. Very happy

 

Nice review. A few things I wanted to add personally about my D630.


I noticed in the review you said you had to push really hard to get ripples on your LCD.

I pushed really really really really hard on the back of my LCD (I guarantee much harder than most of you would dare push) and my screen made no ripples at all.

Second, what is wrong with the keyboard? I wouldn't compare it to consumer line laptops. The D630 keyboard is very nice, sturdy, minimal flex (only slight flex on the upper right), and quiet.

Installing RAM is not that difficult and I would highly recommend it over purchasing from Dell.

Great review and it's an awesome machine!

 

Great review! Well done!

 

I would never install RAM because I do not know enough about computer hardware. I would break something. I will let the experts at Dell do it. If you buy the "Smart Value" option. The 2 GB or ram is only about $135.

 

I'll answer all the questions as best as possible.

I used a hardware calibration tool, my personal favorite is Spyder2 Suite. You stick the little device to the screen and let it do it's thing.

If you use Adobe Photoshop, you can use that. It is software calibration but it does something. The other option would be to fiddle with the gamma and color settings under the Intel control panel. For the record, most monitors that I've calibrated, the red was usually under-powered.

Actually, I ordered it with 512MB x 1. Andrew cut out the story because it was so long but I will include it in a different post.

Thanks everyone, it was my first review of anything and I worked on it for days.

 

The following is the original story, it is a bit difficult to know what is going on but at least it will help you know what happened.

 

Mine had some ripples but they were difficult to make out. I had to say this even with the smallest of ripples.

After playing with a Lenovo keyboard for a few hours, there is no possible way the D630 could ever compare to one of their keyboards. Granted, the D630's keyboard is nice and somewhat better than a consumer line but it still felt consumer-like.

Installing the RAM has always been easy for me, even with laptops. This was, however, my first attempt in cracking open the entire laptop. I was just frightened as hell doing it, I might break a brand new $1,500 laptop.

 

I actually think that F.E.A.R. will run with your laptop when intel releases better drivers
With the recently released pre-beta, someone's got over 1200 on 3dmark05

 

Freeware monitor calibration tool that I use:

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/downloads/Monitor%20Calibration Wizard.exe

Works quite well, you can create profiles etc, only takes 10 mins to set up.

 

wow that 80gb hitachi hard drive is insanely fast. Most people only get around 27-28MB/s with that spec. Yours scores as much as a 80gb 7200rpm!

Nice review!

 

Man, that Spyder2 stuff is something. It clam to your LCD monitor and calibrate?

I know big screen LCD/Plasma TV all need calibration.

I cant afford it.

Thanks for the great D630 review.

 

the com port is not for old stuf as you say. The Latitudes are for buisness use and if you work in the IT field you will see that most if not all high end routers modem etc like CISCO an and many others have a com port to access them and config them

I have a D810

 

And seeing how 2GB of RAM runs for about only $60 these days, you'd be paying about $75 in labor, which consists of pushing a RAM module into its slot WOW talk about a career. You'll lose even more money if you fail to sell whatever paltry amount of RAM the laptop came with for a decent price.

 

Well done on the review, great pictures and comparisons. The battery life is very impressive, I actually really like the front placement Dell is giving to all the notebooks across the Latitude line now. And while you do have a few complaints about the screen, at least it seems that the major issues with the Latitude D620 (washed out dim screen) will not be an issue.

 

Not a Lenovo keyboard? Lol.

I find it interesting how ExpressCard has still not been adopted for the line, while the proc+mobo is Santa Rosa...

 

I am not sure what that means? Are you saying Lenovo makes the best keyboard and everyone already knows that or because is a myth about Lenovo keyboards?

 

Doh! I forgot about that stuff, even my military friends told me they sometimes use serial ports for their gadgets!

 

Thanks for the review. I have a few questions and comments...

Could you be more specific about the keyboard? Is there any keyboard flex on your unit? Which Lenovo keyboards are you comparing it to (Thinkpad or 3000?) and in what ways do you consider this inferior?

I'm disappointed the screen wasn't calibrated as shipped, but at least it seems fixable. I would have liked to see a photo next to your desktop monitor after the calibration. (Desktop LCDs are generally better though.)

For the RAM, it sounds like an option would be to order it with the 1 GB, 1 DIMM option and install another 1 GB module in the easy-to-access slot.

Finally, what does GPX stand for?

Nice review overall.

 

dell makes it very expensive to go just 1 gig in one slot. Just keep in mind that 2 gigs of good ram from newegg is $80.

 

Well, I should be more careful with I wrote, or at least more specific. The keyboard is good, I'd give it an 8/10, the Lenovo Thinkpads (what I was comparing it to) get a near perfect 10. There is no flexing at all with the D630 but I wish the keys were a bit stiffer. Essentially, it's about the feel of the keyboard and I have been accustomed to a Thinkpad before this machine.

As far as calibration, VERY few monitors come pre-calibrated. The only ones I know are the really high end, thousands of dollars, monitors. I ran into the same issue with my desktop monitor before calibration.

Competing with a desktop monitor is extremely difficult for this screen. Even though the colors are all there, the contrast ratio nearly kills photo-editing options.

I'm not sure if Dell installs the first 1GB stick into the bottom of the keyboard or the laptop, you might need to contact them for that. Again, I HIGHLY recommend you NOT to do this unless you truly know what you are doing! Check my little story on the second page to find out what happened.

GPX usually stands for graphics, mostly video cards and a game's graphics.

 

Pretty much where I bought my sticks from. I would go with Dell this time and order the sticks from them as 1GB stick cost $44, 2GB would total about $90. Granted, you save about $10 but if the RAM fries the laptop at least Dell would cover it.

 

Thanks for the clarification about the keyboard and screen.

Where did Dell install the 512 MB stick it came with? Under the keyboard or in the easier-to-access panel on the bottom?

 

The original RAM was installed under the keyboard. It's usually a good thing as the easier slot is open for upgrades.

If you are upgrading, don't forget to go into the BIOS and check to make sure everything is correct. Afterwards, save/exit.

 

What is contrast ratio? In what way it could be better?

Is contrast same as brightness?

 

Is the lcd screen size not mentioned in the review or did I miss something?

 

The D6xx is Dell's 14.1" version of Latitude notebooks.

 

Contrast ratio is the difference from color's brightest shade to it's darkest shade. If the contrast ratio is low, the colors tend to look bland and similar. In an extreme case, dark green, blue, or whatever dark shade will simply look black.

It is not the same as brightness. Brightness is how much light is emitted from a screen. Usually, the brighter the better because some situations require a truly bright monitor. It is not uncommon for laptops in the military to have screen brighter than 500 or more nits, the D630 is 220.

 

Thanks for the clarification.

The problem when I had my D620 last year is that it doesnt look bright. So when I put it bright, the screen looks kind of wash out.

I just cant seem to find the sweet spot between contract and brightness when I had the D620. It was frustrating.

My eyes hurt really bad and I have to return my D620.

 

Funny thing, my configuration is now $177 cheaper, I'm talking to Dell to see if they can refund me the difference. I can't ignore that much money.

 

And that's the biggest reason (besides the look and dedicated graphicscard) that I have ordered a T61.

They should be punished hard for not adapting the future.

 

I've removed about every single thing from my laptops and nothing is really hard at all. I really really would recommend it, if need be, I'll post a to do it yourself guide. Is there one already?

 

Well, there should be a service manual on the Dell site, but I think a user-contributed DIY guide would be cool.

I removed the keyboard from my Inspiron 1150 to clean out all the crumbs and stuff. The only problem is, I lost a screw, and the particular kind of screw it uses is not easy to find. (I went to like 6 hardware stores.) So be careful not to lose any screws.

 

Not that I known of. I was about to ask you how to recover the Wave Security software (the most important thing on this laptop aside from the drivers) but I've found it on Dell's website.

A guide would be very much appreciated if you have the time. If you need help, I'll see what I can do for you.

 

Sure thing bud, I'll get started on the guide today, should be done by the time the night is over.

 

this is a really nice machine. if only dell put latitude quality into their inspiron line, id probably have a dell.

 

If Dell placed the 512 RAM under the keyboard (and hopefully they do for all D630 machines), would it not have been better for you to have purchased a 2Gig Stick instead of 2x1Gigs. Sure it may be more expensive ($20-$30 more) but then you will have 2.5 Gigs AND in the future, if you want to add another 2 Gig, you won't have to throw away the 2x1 Gigs. I believe this laptop can take up to 4Gig.



Or am I missing something?

 

here is the guide as promised:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=130014

 

I was thinking about doing that but people should buy the laptop for what they need as of now. Two or even three years down the road, there will be a quad core laptop with maybe 10 hours of battery with a LED screen and maybe 2GB standard RAM, could be 4. The point is, laptops become obsolete very fast and no amount of RAM will make it any faster than it is now. 4GB is essentially useless unless you have a HD and CPU that can accompany that much memory (unless you do a TON of databases).

 

So much for the whole T61 bashing:
"OMG the D630 screen is probably sooooo much better because it has X nits"
or
"OMG the D630 has so much more battery life" (which isn't necessarily true given that this is using a 9-cell battery)

This isn't to say that the D630 is worse than the T61, just that 1. we shouldn't jump to conclusions based on crappy cNet and PC Magazine reviews and 2. don't jump to conclusions about laptops that no one has even thoroughly tested and compared yet. The D630 is not leaps and bounds better than T61 and people need to calm down.

 

Now a review with a 6-Cell battery and Quadro dedicated graphics would be in order
As I've heard, Dell makes the NVS 130/135M available in july/august in D630/830 but the T61 has a even better 140M available right now. What gives?

By the way, IMO the usual abbreviation for graphics is GFX.

E: Does the DVD+-RW drive also read/burn DL media? Future proofing, you know

 

Umm... It's available to order right now. Try actually getting it shipped before August.

 

Hahaha, good one swarmer. I'd kiss you if I could.

 

Shoot, I knew it ended in a X and started with a G! Sorry folks, my bad...

 

Serial interface is very useful for industry users and it supports much better than USB interface in time-sequence-critical application. Software engineers even prefer desktop computer because it has two serial ports which can support one diagnostic interface and another emulator interface simultaneously. If Thinkpad still has serial port, we wouldn't have to switched to HP or Dell. Many "ancient" devices do not support USB diagnostic interface. If you insist USB interface, engineers would have to produce an USB to serial gateway. It may cost around $100-200 from outsourcing manufacturers.

For people who loved Thinkpad keyboard, you may need to find particular models with keyboards made by NMB (Panasonic). Unfortunely, Lenovo do not provide such information, you need to do some homework before your purchase. Other keyboards are just as sticky as other brands.

It is very wise to order only 512MB RAM in the system, because Dell charges so much for the factory installation. You could always buy additional memory from Dell, Newegg, or any other computer stores after the original purchase. RAM price is falling every single month.

Although Dell provide excellent telephone support or onsite repair service, I would be appreciated if they could post their own hardware maintenance manuals on their fancy support website. Lenovo or IBM post these documents for every models even before they're available in the retail stores.