Latitude E Series: Dell ThinkPad?

[pxa270]

Apart from the W700, the big laptop news today appears to be Dell's new Latitude E Series:
http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/ ... usual.aspx
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4553

Most people probably know that Latitudes are generally pretty well regarded business laptops, and probably the most direct competitors to the ThinkPads. These new E series seem to have taken black no-nonsense design even further than IBM/Lenovo. I'm especially interested in the E4200/E4300 series, which might give the X200(s) a good run for their money. Can't wait for the reviews.

What do you guys think, could Dell have outThought/outPadded Lenovo?

[AIX]

Finally an interesting design from Dell!

[Harryc]

I like the look of the E4200. Agreed on the reviews...can't wait.

[ekincam]

The E4300 definitely piques my interest. The design is much improved over the D630 and D430 laptops IMO. I didn't like the silvery-gray casing with a huge Dell logo plastered dead center.

One reason I'm slightly hesitant on replacing my T23 with a X200 or X61 is lack of optical mainly. Also the price premium of the X-series for better portability is a bit hard for me to stomach so I've been looking at the new T-series.

If the X300 would come with something other than SSD and drop the price point about $1k, I would seriously consider it over any Dell.

I love my T23, but I have D630s at work and they are very solid laptops but a bit plasticy. I much prefer rubberized matte black with metallic flake on my T23. The brushed metal look on the Dell E-series Latitude is very interesting. Not digging the silver on the back much, but I could live with it.

The E6400 has discrete graphics, but only workstation graphics - no Radeon like IBM.

[mattbiernat]

that E series could really be my next laptop. i really love that clean black design... how come lenovo can't get it right?
update
is there any store that i could actually check out the new E series dell laptops?

[mattbiernat]

bump

[Miller88]

The only dells that I have ever seen in stores are the Inspiron and Studio lines. Even in Staples.

[Andrew T]

I haven't been a fan of the late Inspiron series' designs. Everything out of dell lately has been to commercialized. But I saw this Latitude in a magazine and I was pleasantly surprised. I can't wait to hear more about it.

[sparta.rising]

The Dx20 and Dx30 Latitudes were a huge improvement from earlier designs and not the bad, not quite on par with Thinkpads, but not something I'd try and persuade someone from buying. I'm excited about the E series. Its kind of funny that the E4200 seems to be competing with the X300 and the E4300 with the X200 (as far as processor and options comparison). I think I side with dell and prefer my 12.1" ultra-portable and 13.3" just-portable. Also interesting, compare the dimensions of the E4300 and X200... they're almost the same, except the E4300 is THINNER.

[mattbiernat]

Besides the looks, these laptops feature full-frame magnesium alloy construction and all-metal hinges.

i guess dell did learn something from ibm. one more reason for me to carefully look into those new machines and consider them as an option.

Latitude ON. It is an application that gives you access to your e-mail, contacts, calendar, attachments and the Internet without the need to boot into the system's main OS. The Dell Latitude ON mode will enable multi-day battery life since it utilizes a dedicated low-voltage sub-processor and operating system

and another interesting thing

(reference of course: http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/ ... usual.aspx)