Before leaving matters power related, the Latitude Z also supports inductive charging but you have to buy the combined desktop-charger-cum-stand from Dell, which at £244 is not cheap. A more handy accessory is the £162 wireless dock which allows for over-the-air connection to remote monitors, keyboards and other USB devices.
Designer laptop, designer price
When you include VAT and delivery a basic 1.4GHz Latitude Z is going to set you back £1,471 and that's a lot when you consider that Lenovo will sell you a T510 ThinkPad that will blow the Z's socks off when it comes to performance for a lot less. Toshiba's Portégé R600 and Sony's Vaio X are probably the nearest things to an alternative that we have looked at recently but both have smaller screens and the Toshiba higher price, which makes the the Z look like good value in comparison. But making cost and specification comparisons is to rather miss the point – like the MacBook Air the Latitude Z is all about style, and style always comes at a premium.
Verdict
Targeted at the well-to-do executive who places more of an emphasis on form than function the highly desirable Latitude Z is an impressive combination of style, quality and performance which is slightly let down by its poor battery performance though the optional 8-cell power pack goes some way towards ameliorating that for a minimal outlay. ®
More Notebook Reviews... |
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 Toshiba
Ducati Satellite U500 |
 Asus
Lamborghini VX5 |
 Lenovo
ThinkPad Edge |
 Sony
Vaio CW |
Dell Latitude Z
COMMENTS
oh my god...
how much for a laptop that looks like it was designed in 1992 by a blind man???
you are having a laugh, dell where is your head at?
Review of a 6+ months old machine?
Sorry, but epic fail:
You did not mention Lenovo X301 as an alternative - it does have smaller screen, but not much smaller screen real estate (1440x900), plus a DVD-RW drive & weighs 30% less.
Why you chose to review a laptop released in Sep 09 (and reviewed in Oct 09) only now I do not understand. You did not even test the one innovative feature - induction charging.
Why not rather review the new Latitude E6510 or E6410?
Or perhaps get some info from Dell:
- The E6510 at least has a Full-HD 1920x1080 screen option @15.6"; is this coming to z600 too?
- will there be a Z lineup = 14" z400, 15" z500?
- when will backlit keyboards be available with with Exx10 series in EU?
PS: sorry for this, looks like I have a bad day :)
TGIF!
@ PinkFreud
So your objections to this review are the spelling of the word 'matt' and the use of benchmarks?
Well, I hate to piss on your parade but you can spell matte (my preference it has to be said) in three ways - mat, matt and matte - when talking about a dull or non-reflective surface and all three are equally good so can I suggest that you buy a bloody dictionary before next spouting off?
Next up, how else would you suggest magazines and web sites try to illustrate comparative performance between different machines other than with a system like PCMark Vantage?
On balance I'd day this is a pretty fair review, and I actually have a Latitude Z. OK, it's a company machine so I didn't have to cough up the £1,800 but I've had the thing for four months and so far I am pretty impressed.
In short you sir, are a twit.
No compromises?
Erm, no compromises you said? 2 USB ports?
I was waiting for you to say "and another two on the other side" or something, but no ...
No compromises?
Then there's the price: 1800 quid? That's crazy money!
