Dell makes widescreen business move
Published: 29 Mar 2006 09:35 BST
Dell introduced business notebooks with mobile broadband connections and wide-screen displays at an event on Tuesday evening in New York.
Notebook enthusiast sites have been buzzing with talk about the new Latitudes for weeks. Dell officially unveiled the Latitude D620 and D820 in the evening and will formally announce them on Wednesday, according to sources familiar with the company's plans.
The new notebooks have been updated with Intel's Core Duo processor. In addition and as expected, they will be available with a choice of connection options through Vodafone in Europe, or Cingular or Verizon in the US.
Notebooks with built-in connections to mobile networks have been launched by several vendors as business travellers — or their bosses — increasingly demand a constant connection to the Internet.
Wide-screen displays have been a prominent feature on consumer notebooks for several quarters, but they are starting to find their way into Dell's mainstream business notebooks. The 2.0kg D620 comes with a 14.1-inch wide-screen display, while the 2.5kg D820 features a 15.4-inch-wide display.
Business customers will appreciate the ability to see larger portions of a spreadsheet without moving the cursor, as well as the full-size keyboard that can be included on smaller notebooks that previously required a compact keyboard, said Roger Kay, an analyst at Endpoint Technologies. Of course, they'll also like watching a movie on a wide screen during a long flight "without the guy in front of you in [economy] crushing the lid," he said.
Dell declined to comment before the official launch. In the US, the D620 will start at $1,149, while the D820 starts at $1,289, sources said.
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