[Merged] Dell Latitude Z600 - 4.5lb, 16", 0.57" thick ultraportable

[thejadedmonkey]

I know, I know... mac forum. But still, this has got to be one of the sweetest laptop's I've ever seen.

16" screen, induction charging, ARM co-processor, oh yeah, and it's less then 1" thick. I know we all love Apple, but their hardware is seriously light-years behind this.

Seeing as it's Dell, I'm sure it'll get some flack here, but you can't deny it's sexy

Engadget link (http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/29/dells-latitude-z-600-is-a-16-inch-thin-and-light-makes-overcom/)

[thegoldenmackid]

Decent specs, but thats a wonderful battery in the back..

[yanquis]

dell seems to have really stepped up their game lately. they really seem to want to take on apple at the high-end side of the market, which is great for everyone.

[rhett7660]

I know, I know... mac forum. But still, this has got to be one of the sweetest laptop's I've ever seen.

Are you saying it is sweet as in looking or sweet as in the spec's that it is coming with?

I for one do not think it looks better at all.

And you really think it owned the MBP?? Come on now. But then again your name says it all.

[Eidorian]

HP Envy 15/17" and this, yikes.

[tooz]

it's still ugly plastic. not nearly as stylish as a MBP

[yanquis]

Inside the case
What will make or break the Latitude are its own features. It includes a 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor (upgradeable to 1.6GHz) and a separate low-voltage ARM-based processor -- the Texas Instruments OMAP 3430 -- for its Latitude ON alternate boot environment (more about that in a moment). Also standard are 2GB RAM (expandable to 4GB) and an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD [dont know what that is, but it doesnt sound good].

While most notebooks and even netbooks still shy away from the more durable but more expensive SSDs in favor of traditional hard drives, Dell has decided that its Latitude Z will accommodate one or two SSDs. The base model has a 64GB SSD, with an option to expand to 128GB or 256GB; the secondary SSD is available in the same three capacities.

The notebook has two battery options: Dell says the standard 4-cell battery is good for about 4 hours, while the longer-life 8-cell battery ($69 as a replacement for the standard battery, $150 as an additional battery) lasts for 8 hours. While the standard battery fits snugly between two rather snazzy silver metal holders, the longer-life battery extends out a bit from the back of the chassis and adds about half a pound to its weight, but it could be worth it for the additional computing time.

Also included: 802.11a/g/n wireless networking, Bluetooth, a fingerprint reader, a contactless Smart Card reader, two USB ports (one of which is also an eSATA port) and an Ethernet port. (Unusually, the Ethernet port is behind the notebook's hinge, on the side of the battery.) It comes with Windows Vista Ultimate or Business, or Windows XP Pro.

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The right side of the bezel (the frame around the display) responds to pressure from your fingers and brings up a customizable icon menu on that side of the screen; press the bezel near the icon and you can launch the associated application. I don't know how useful a feature like that will be in the long run, but it certainly looked cool.

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stuff about featuers that have been standard for MBP for years now

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instant on feature (cool)
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looking at it some more, it has a couple cool features, but in terms of specs + looks, it is far behind the MBP -- which is not only not brand new but pretty old (design & guts) & due for a nice refresh. if they were selling this for 1K, thatd be one thing, but its priced comparable to MBP w/ way less power, no OSX, less durability, inferior aesthetics, etc etc. maybe im missing something but i dont see what the big deal is.

[mac2x]

1.6 GHz? Intel graphics? What is this? A joke? Seeing as you can get 2.8 GHz and 8 GB of RAM in the MBP's now I don't know about "owning"...mistyped perhaps?

Looks pretty nice though.

[Gadgetman99]

Looks like Dell is upping the ante. The videos show some REALLY compelling features:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/29/dells-latitude-z-600-is-a-16-inch-thin-and-light-makes-overcom/#continued

Just to name a few:

1. Inductive charging.
2. 16" screen in a thin and light package.
3. Instant on. Instant "no boot" access to email, web, contacts etc, with multi day battery life!
4. Webcam that "reads" business cards, scans documents and has face recognition.
5. Touch bar on edge of LCD.
6. Wireless dock. Just place your laptop someplace close to your external monitor, keyboard and mouse.
7. Backlit keyboard.

I can't wait to see the price...

[adamjackson]

Saw this.

The wireless charging seems to be a big hit. The thing is, it only works when you're plugged in (sitting on) that big huge dock. That dock is the key to this whole equation. w/o that (like on a trip or away from the office) it's back to the old fashioned way.

plus the thing, design-wise is a monstrosity! oh and it runs Windows.

[Gadgetman99]

Saw this.

The wireless charging seems to be a big hit. The thing is, it only works when you're plugged in (sitting on) that big huge dock. That dock is the key to this whole equation. w/o that (like on a trip or away from the office) it's back to the old fashioned way.

plus the thing, design-wise is a monstrosity! oh and it runs Windows.

Agreed, the dock is not portable. Similar to my Palm Pre. But just dropping it on a dock to charge is nice for most users. I disagree on the design. I thought it was appealing. As far as Windows, about a month ago I would have thought that was a silly statement given that the majority runs windows. But now that I have had my MBA for a about a month, I now agree. It was PAINFUL getting all my data from the PC to this new Mac. It was slow to boot up, slow to wake up, slow to navigate and just plain cumbersome. But, this new Dell is quite impressive in many ways.

[pvmacguy]

Who ever designed that and said " people will love this big giant battery stocking out the back so it can't fit in anyones bag" was an idiot. With it being "wireless" there seems to be more big stands and little boxes and wires than just hooking it up to the computer.

[gooddeal]

"The Dell Latitude Z600 ships immediately with various flavors of Windows Vista, and it starts at $1,999.":rolleyes:

[AdeFowler]

I don't understand what Instant On is. Is it the same as Wake Up on a Mac?

[MacModMachine]

z600 is a pos.

1.4ghz cpu , sub par battery life unless you want a brick hanging out of the back.

[stockscalper]

Let's not lose perspective here, it's still a Dell and it still runs Windows :eek:

[mhnajjar]

UGLY, but has some nice features.

[mysterytramp]

it's really a pretty tight design from Dell, and oozes quality.

Really?

mt

[mac2x]

I just find it amusing that a notebook that definitely has some cool stuff on it but with really rotten specs is all of the sudden owning MBPs. If Dell would give it some real specs, it could definitely competitive hardware-wise.

[Gadgetman99]

I don't understand what Instant On is. Is it the same as Wake Up on a Mac?

Basically, it is a small extra motherboard with low power CPU that boots up in a couple seconds (basically a cell phone CPU). It allows an alternate embedded OS (probably windows CE) to run email, web, contacts etc quickly. They say it runs for "1 day or two" on a charge. The mac wakes up quickly, but at full power and functionality. Nice, but kills the battery. So, lets say you are on a trip and wan to check email or web. You hit the instant on key and dive right into email etc, instead of full wake up or booting into windows.

[iPhone 62S]

It's a Dell laptop. 'Nuff said.

[TuffLuffJimmy]

Wow. What's with people praising the specs? Yeah, it's great for a netbook. But seriously? 1.6GHz arm? Intel Graphics? POS. With those specs I'm sure Apple could have made the machine even thinner and without the huge ass in the back.

[cjmillsnun]

Ummm, is it me or is a 2007 whitebook a better laptop than this?

[pvmacguy]

I just can't get over how much of a big ugly terd it really is.

[rhett7660]

^ No I agree to.

[Cask]

Let's not lose perspective here, it's still a Dell and it still runs Windows :eek:

it's always fun when fanboys bash Windows, when I doubt most of them have even seen Win 7. It ship with Vista now, but it will ship with 7 as soon as it is available.

[GeekOFComedy]

I suppose it's a good computer IF Your color blind and negetive 8 eye sight so you wont see how damn ugly it is.:eek:

[sushi]

Nice to see Dell improving their lineup. :)

Interesting approach. Large screen.

However, I would prefer an MBA or MBP13 or 15.

[Kennedy]

No, it doesn't hold up to the MBP, design-wise or spec-wise. Nor does it particularly intend to; it is still marketed to the business-chic crowd, as the Adamo is.

Yes, it does improve on everything Dell is doing.

Yes, it does have some pretty cool features that may hint at what is to come in computing.

Hopefully it drives the competition for Apple up a bit, and it certainly doesn't hurt to have Dell (and HP, etc.) stepping up their game.

[stockscalper]

it's always fun when fanboys bash Windows, when I doubt most of them have even seen Win 7. It ship with Vista now, but it will ship with 7 as soon as it is available.

I have seen Vista Service Pak, I mean Windoz 7 and it's still a turd.

[gunraidan]

"painfully sky-high $2,000+ pricetag."

Maybe that's why.

[dpinchot]

I believe that some here are a bit confused when it comes the speed of a computer. The rates CPU GHz is not a accurate indicator of overall speed.
There are many factors that affect speed:

1) Processor Architecture (number of cores etc)
2) Processor speed
3) Bus speed
4) Amount of memory, type of memory and speed of memory
5) Graphics
6) Hard drive formatting, speed and type (ssd vs sata etc)
7) 32 vs 63 bit OS
8) The chip set being used

The point here is that any one component can slow down all of the others. Overall hardware speed relies on how well entire architecture performs, and where the weakest link is.

You think that just because the Latitude z600 uses a SU9400 @ 1.40GHz,(or SU9600 @ 1.60GHz) processor that it is slower than a 2.0 + GHz machine? Think again.

Check out these PCMark benchmark scores:

Lenovo ThinkPad X301
Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 @ 1.40GHz, Intel 4500MHD
4,457 PCMarks

Apple MacBook Air
1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7500, Intel X3100
2,478 PCMarks

Apple MacBook Pro 13
2.26GHz Intel P8400, Nvidia 9400M
4,136 PCMark

It look like the 1.4 GHz Lenovo X301 outperforms the 2.26GHz MacBook Pro 13".

I own a MacPro with 16GB memory (for work), a 15" MacBook Pro and a 1 year old iMac for home, I love my mac's. I just think they need to be pushed like any other company to continually innovate. I like the z600. It has a lot of very innovative features that I would like to see in a future MacBook Pro.