Dell Latitude 6430u review
The toughest Ultrabook on the market. But has Dell had to sacrifice performance?
With military grade design and excellent battery life, the 6430u will satisfy the need of most business users. The only weakness is the screen. The low-quality means it's not ideal for graphical work.
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Military-grade design; Good performance; Quick SSD; Decent battery life; Lengthy warranty; Customisable
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Poor quality screen; A little chunky and heavy for an Ultrabook
Upgrades
The Latitude can be customised with an extensive selection of different components. Trading up to a 2.1GHz Core i7-3687U processor costs an extra 54. An extra 49 doubles the RAM, and paying a whopping 147 sees 16GB of memory crammed into the machine. A 256GB SSD costs a further 125, and fitting a self-encrypting 256GB SSD adds 244 to the price.
A Dell Wireless 5630 card adds 3G, and paying 68 extra sees the chip fitted alongside an O2 SIM card. A fingerprint reader costs a meagre 4, and free downgrades to various versions of Windows 7 are also available. The 1,600 x 900 costs an additional 32.
Most of these changes add cost, but a cheaper Latitude 6430u is also available. The entry-level model costs 699 and drops down to a slower Core i3 chip rather than the Core i5 model installed in our review sample.
Support
The Latitude is packed with a generous three-year warranty out of the box, but various options improve this deal. The same deal for five years costs 55 extra, and adding ProSupport and on-site servicing for three or five years costs 91 or 200 respectively. Other available services include accidental damage protection, data recovery, system tracking and anti-theft options.
Verdict
With military grade design and excellent battery life, the 6430u will satisfy the need of most business users. The only weakness is the screen. The low-quality means it's not ideal for graphical work.
OS: Windows 8 64-bit Processor: 1.8GHz Intel Core i5-3427U RAM: 4GB DDR3 Storage: 128GB SSD Screen: 14in 1,600 x 900 Connectivity: Dual-band 802.11n WiFi, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth 4.0 Ports: 2 x USB 3,eSATA, HDMI, D-SUB, SD card slot, audio jack Dimensions: 338 x 230 x 22mm (WDH) Weight: 1.6kg/2.1kg Warranty: 3yr RTB warranty
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