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Dell Latitude E6220 Laptop Review

The revamped Latitude E-family is a series of laptops and subnotebooks aimed in two directions, like Janus of Roman religion and mythology: towards the upscale market, dominated by Apple's MacBook and the lightweight MacBook Air, and simultaneously towards the rugged business computing market, currently shared with Lenovo's ThinkPad and HP's Elitebook line. Dell 0C852J battery

This particular model, the Latitude E6220, lends itself naturally to comparison with Lenovo's ThinkPad X220 and HP's EliteBook 2560p, both ruggedized business laptops; therefore, much of this review will reference those two (sub)notebooks.

Case

Dell 0F310J battery For a 12-inch subnotebook, the E6220 is a little on the chunky side (over 3 pounds), but for good reason – the thing is built like a tank, thanks to its "Tri-Metal construction", which we took to mean its liberal use of anodized aluminum, ABS plastic, and powder-coated magnesium alloy. There is absolutely no flex in the keyboard, palm rests, touchpad, or screen hinges. Unfortunately, although the LCD screen is protected by a half-inch thick, matte-black padded bumper, the screen can still be flexed by a millimeter or two when grasped on both sides and flexed back and forth, causing distortions in the LCD's image. Dell 312-0944 C852J battery For a laptop intended to be rugged enough for everyday use on the move, one would have thought that Dell would have better protected perhaps its most important component. Additionally, the brushed-metal screen lid looks great, but tends to scratch easily and trap fingerprints, and requires a good scrubbing every now and then to keep clean. That being said, the overall aesthetic is restrained and functional, with gray and black punctuated with keyboard accents of white and burnt orange. Dell F310J battery

As far as weight is concerned, the Latitude E6220 represents a happy medium between its closest competitors, the ThinkPad x220 (<3 pounds) and HP EliteBook 2560p (4.3 pounds); mind you, part of the reason the HP weighs so much more is the presence of an optical drive.

An excellent design choice on the part of Dell's engineers was to place the exhaust slot on the left side of the laptop; this prevents the notebook from roasting one's legs when it sits in the lap, and gives it a handy advantage over the ThinkPad x220, which features a rear-facing exhaust ventilation slot. Dell H134J battery However, there are three other choices Dell should have made:

Incorporating a brushed-metal palm rest below the keyboard; the default plastic palm rest is good, and tends to remain cool in most use scenarios, but tends to warm up one's hands uncomfortably during long typing sessions.
Adding some way of keeping the display locked while closed; this adds security during transportation, and is used on most of the higher-spec Latitude E-family.
Allowing the laptop screen to be folded fully back when the 6-cell battery (installed on our review model) is used. Currently, the screen can be opened up to an angle of about 140° with respect to the base; although adequate for most working conditions, it becomes a liability in cramped spaces (such as the inside of a train car, for example), where elevating and angling the laptop towards oneself means that the poor vertical viewing angles of the LCD washes out content onscreen. Dell BTYAVG1 battery

Performance

The Dell Latitude E6220 comes with several CPU choices: The Intel Core i5 2520M, at 2.5 GHz with 3M cache, Core i5 2540M, at 2.6 GHz with 3M cache and Core i7 2620M, at 2.7 GHz with 4M cache

While it may not be new information to some readers, it's important to make a distinction here. Intel's Core i5 series of processors, along with Core i7, is intended for the mainstream desktop and notebook markets, and therefore has Turbo Boost enabled -- a formal explanation of this Intel feature follows a few paragraphs below, but a short description is that it is a power-saving feature that dynamically clocks the CPU. Dell 90NITLILD4SU1 battery

Technical jargon aside, the review model given to us was equipped with the middle child of the above choices, the i5-2540M. My professional opinion? There's not enough of a difference between the i5 2520M and 2540M to justify a $50 price bump and a separate tier among the E6220's CPU selection, for what is essentially a slightly faster processor with the same cache size; the better move on Dell's part would be to jump straight from the i5 2520M to the selection of Intel Core i7 processors, preferably the i7 2620M and the i7 2640M. Dell 906C5040F battery On the other hand, if Dell wants to capture the lower end of the CPU power spectrum, it would behoove them to start offering the newly-launched Core i3 2330M (2.3 GHz), which has no Turbo Boost.

That being said, the one constant among all of the Intel offerings provided for the Dell Latitude E6220 -- is the onboard graphics unit, the Intel HD Graphics 3000. Packaged on the same silicon as the rest of the Sandy Bridge CPU, the integrated graphics, powered by technologies like Intel Quick Sync Video, enable fast, hardware-accelerated video encoding and transcoding. Dell 90NITLILG2SU1 battery Unfortunately, while the HD Graphics 3000 is clocked at between 350 and 1300 MHz (thanks to Intel's Turbo Boost technology, which dynamically under- or overclocks the CPU depending on temperature and workload), RAM becomes a bottleneck under highly intensive graphics applications like computer games; since the graphics unit has no memory of its own, it instead dynamically allocates up to 1720MB of system memory as video memory, which slows productivity on a computer with 4GB of RAM and multiple programs open. Dell 906C5050F battery

There are plenty of choices for hard drives for the Dell Latitude E6220: 250GB to 320GB 7200rpm Hard Drives (FIPS Encrypted available) and 128GB to 256GB Solid State Drives.
Our review model was equipped with the last option on that list, a 256GB Samsung SSD (Samsung PM810). Having used many a laptop with traditional disk-based hard drive, I can safely say that the SSD option needs to be standard on a laptop of this size and intended mobility. Dell 908C3500F battery The speed given by the quick read/write time on an SSD (e.g., 15 second boots into Windows 7) more than pays for itself in productivity, and enables the computer to be quickly moved from place to place without too much danger of overheating or hard drive damage (from sudden drops, falls, etc.).

As can be seen from the Windows 7 Experience Index values for this subnotebook, the two strongest points of the Latitude E6220 are its powerful processor and its solid-state hard drive. The remaining three entries are interconnected; as stated earlier, Intel's integrated graphics unit allocates virtual graphics memory from the existing pool of physical RAM, causing a bottleneck in both RAM and graphics performance -- not to mention that the HD Graphics 3000, while certainly powerful, is no real match for a discrete graphics card with dedicated memory. Dell 90-NFY6B1000 battery

That being said, the Windows 7 Experience Index doesn't necessarily correspond to the day-to-day experiences of running the Latitude E6220. Our review device, equipped with a Core i5 2540M at 2.6 GHz, the integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics unit, and a 256 GB solid-state drive, is a charm for everyday use, thanks to the ample RAM and the presence of the SSD. Boot times are fast, applications load even faster, and copying/moving/saving files and folders throughout the filesystem is orders of magnitude more pleasant to sit through. Dell 90NFV6B1000Z battery

The first, most important benchmark to run on this notebook is a test of CPU capabilities. Does the use of the Core i5 2540M bottleneck the ability of the Latitude E6220 at all to crunch numbers? Cinebench R10 will determine that:

Battery Life

Dell 90-NFY6B1000Z battery The Latitude E6220 comes with two possible battery options, a 3-cell lithium-ion battery weighing 177g and a 6-cell lithium-ion battery weighing 349g. Although the 6-cell battery, which came equipped in our review model, virtually guarantees 5 to 5.5 hours of battery life under typical mixed usage, the downside to this is that the battery protrudes from the back of the laptop. During normal everyday usage (surfing on a wireless connection) on the battery, Intel's Turbo Boost feature automatically downclocks the processor and GPU in order to reduce power consumption. Dell BATFT10L61 battery

Thankfully, charging the battery takes much less time than discharging it; for example, charging from 5% to a full 100% can be accomplished in as short as 30 minutes on outlet power.

The freeware Battery Eater Pro was used to run down the battery under controlled scenarios. Under heavy, continuous load (classic test), the Dell Latitude E6220 depleted from full charge to 0% in 1 hour 18 minutes. Obviously, average usage is nothing like the simulated conditions that BatteryEater provides, but it's useful as a baseline minimum of battery life with the 6-cell battery. Dell BATEL80L9 battery

Under the Reader's Test, which simulates going through a text document continuously until battery depletion, the Latitude E6220 achieved a time of 2:25, with the display brightness set to maximum.

PS: to the makers of Battery Eater Pro, you make great software, but please make a fully compatible 64-bit version, please! I shouldn't have to load up 32-bit Windows in a VM just to find out my computer's discharge rate. Dell 90-NFV6B1000Z battery

Verdict

In short, this subnotebook is a pricey but feature-packed powerhouse.

It has all the benefits a field worker would ever desire: fast processor, plenty of RAM, ergonomic design, blazing-fast solid-state drive, and a good selection of ports and connectivity.

The one downside? It costs just a wee bit too much to beat out its competitors, the ThinkPad x220 and the HP 2560p, given some of the compromises in its featureset (screen, for one) and some expensive components (the 256GB SSD, versus the HP or Lenovo's 320GB HDDs). Dell BATE80L6 battery

This pricing selection -- given the Latitude E6220's features -- is what makes the laptop slightly out of reach for the single office-minded customer. That being said, the E6220 is still very much a desirable option for volume purchases at the enterprise level.

Review HP ProBook 5330m-LG724EA Notebook

HP just delivered an update to the smallest notebook of the ProBook series. The new HP ProBook 5330m sub-notebook's design matches its larger brothers from the 47xx series. Aside from the new aluminum skin, there's also new components, of course. The current generation Intel Core processors has been introduced to these little notebooks. In regards to the rest of the fittings, this 13 inch unit has no need to hide from its larger siblings. Dell 1ZS070C battery

Our test unit is equipped with Intel's Core i5 processor and 4 GB RAM. While the 128GB hard drive may seem a little small, its of the fast SSD drive variety. There is an integrated finger print reader as well as a UMTS (3G) radio aboard. As before, HP delivers this model without optical drive.

Dell 312-1242 battery Even though there are certain similarities between the HP ProBook 5330m and the HP ProBook 4730s, the end result differs too much to claim HP had simply copied the design. The new model doesn't have much in common with its predecessor, the HP ProBook 5320m. The previously used glossy surfaces have been completely replaced by aluminum. The display lid consists of a brushed aluminum back with a surrounding aluminum frame. The wrist rests are also made from brushed aluminum, and a second aluminum frame surrounds the entire base of the sub-notebook. In spite of the simple rectangular design, it has style. Dell M5Y0X battery

Workmanship matches the looks, the display is resistant against torsion, you have to use a lot of force to twist it noticably. The same goes for the base unit. The notebook also scored in our pressure tests; wrist rest and edges are resistant against selective pressure. The keyboard only gives a little bit in the center, you have to press significantly harder than you would while typing. Dell NHXVW battery The hinges are very tight, if you try to open the sub-notebook with one hand, the base of the unit follows up. The positive effect of this is, that the display hardly bobs.

The entire bottom consists of two large hatches. One of them can be removed by opening a latch, exposing the battery and the SIM card slot. The other hatch requires removal of a few screws to offer access to the rest of the components.

Performance

The installed Intel Core i5-2520M is a current generation high end dual core processor. Dell PRRRF battery With a base clock speed of 2.5 GHz, it provides pretty good performance, further amplified by Turbo Boost technology, which boosts clock speed up to 3.0 GHz or 3.2 GHz as needed. The automatic performance increase depends on sufficient cooling and your application's usage of just one core or both cores. With a TDP of 35 Watt, the processor's power draw is reasonable, but in spite of that, Intel only recommends it for notebooks with 14 inch displays and up, because the cooling system needs to have sufficient size to handle the heat this CPU emits. Dell T54F3 battery Performance of this processor suffices for the usual office applications, but also for video editing and current games, so long as the GPU can handle it.

The HP ProBook 5330m has no dedicated GPU, just the integrated Intel HD 3000 GPU. Using an integrated GPU helps reduce power consumption and also eliminates the need for additional components in the cooling system, since you only need to cool one processor, not two. Performance is about equal to the Nvidia GeForce 310M entry level GPU from the year 2009. With this, you can only play newer games fluidly at low detail settings. Dell T54FJ battery For more demanding applications or games, the GPU falters pretty soon as the HD 3000 was not designed for games but for basic office applications or browsing the internet. For these tasks the GPU is amply sufficient.

To better judge the notebook's processor performance, we use the CineBench software. The CineBench R10 Rend. Single (64 Bit) benchmark only uses one of the processor's cores. The HP ProBook 5330 reached a score of 5073.0 points, placing it rather high in our benchmark list. HP's ProBook 5330 came very close to the Apple MacBook Pro 15 inch 2011-02 MC723LL/A (2720QM, HD 6750) with 5150.0 Points. Dell X57F1 battery In the CineBench R10 Rend. Multi (64 Bit) benchmark using all processor cores, the HP ProBook 5330m scored 10584.0 Points. This result isn't quite as high in the list, but still a good ranking. Compared to other notebooks using the i5-2520M processor, the ProBook 5330m is in the upper middle field. The fastest 2520m notebook is the Dell Vostro 3550 (Vostro0112) (2520M, HD 6630M) with 10797.0 points. Slowest is the ultralight Sony Vaio VPC-SB1Z9EB (2520M, HD6470M) with 10128.0 points. A satisfying overall performance for the HP ProBook 5330m. TurboBoost could be used without problems and raised clock speed to 3.2 GHz and 3.0 GHz. Dell 312-0762 battery

Gaming Performance

Given that the HP ProBook 5330m is in no way a gaming notebook, we will only consider games as a side note. In our big comparison test "Computer Games on Laptop Graphics Cards", we have a sufficient number of entries for the Intel HD-3000 GPU to give a good idea about its performance.

We still tested out Blizzard's StarCraft II real time strategy game "Wings of Liberty", to see how the HP ProBook 5330m does and we got what we expected from the Intel HD-3000. At lowest details and resolution, everything ran fluidly, but the next higher settings brought it to its knees. Dell 312-1007 battery

Battery Life

Even though HP chose to rely on Intel's integrated HD-3000 GPU for graphics, power consumption is comparably high: 9.4 Watt – 13 Watt were the results of our measurements. Under load, consumption rises to 39.6 Watt – 53.4 Watt. When loading only the CPU (with Prime95 test software, for example) the notebook consumes 54.6 Watt. Putting the GPU under load (with FurMark) resulted in consumption of 41.9 Watt. The provided 65W power supply shouldn't have any trouble supplying the notebook with adequate power, even during extreme use. Dell 50TKN 7W5X09C battery

The power draw already pointed to the fact that the HP ProBook 5330m won't be a battery life champion. We used Battery Eater Pro to test battery runtimes of this subnotebook. In the Reader's test, the laptop remains at idle, with WIFI turned off and the display at low brightness. In this mode, the unit's battery lasted 5 hours and 43 minutes. This value is more like a theoretical maximum; a more realistic test consists of surfing the internet over WIFI with medium display brightness, resulting in a battery runtime of 3 hours and 50 minutes. This value should be easily reachable in real world use. Under full load, run-time drops to 53 minutes. Dell GRNX5 battery

Verdict

The HP ProBook 5330m convinced us in many areas and proved itself as an excellent business companion. Regrettably, there are also a number of things that spoiled the positive impression.

Design and workmanship were not one of the problems though - on the contrary: the HP ProBook 5330m really scored here. Workmanship was consistent on a very high level and the design succeeded with quality materials and style. The keyboard continued the winning streak and offered much for the money. Very pleasant typing feel, splash-water resistance and back-light helped it score very positively. Further, the subnotebook offers very good performance and numerous security features. Dell NF52T battery

Touchpad and mouse buttons received the first negative marks; the touchpad is pretty small and the cheaply done mouse buttons look out of place and fail to match the quality of the rest of the notebook. As for interfaces, HP could have offered something more: USB 3.0 is completely missing, even though there is ample room left on the sides. The 3G radio doesn't quite make up for that. Dell 0F965N battery

The worst part of this notebook is the poor display. Brightness is meager in comparison to competing notebooks. Making matters worse is the uneven illumination and low contrast. Maybe not that many people use a business notebook to edit images, but a brighter display would certainly not hurt and have a positive effect during outdoor use.

Dell J399N battery Overall, the HP ProBook 5330m is still a decent and above all good looking subnotebook. Regrettably, HP gives up points thoughtlessly. The HP ProBook 5330m could have done considerably better if HP had just used a better display. The elementary prerequisites for a very good result were in place.