Dell's Enterprise Windows 8 Rollout Begins
by Dustin Sklavos on September 19, 2012 3:22 PM EST- Posted in
- Dell
- Atom
- Ivy Bridge
- Mobile
- Windows 8
- Enterprise
- Tablets
- Ultrabook
While today we already have a review up of Dell's enterprise all-in-one, the OptiPlex 9010 All-in-One, our meeting with them in San Francisco bore fruit with two additional pieces of hardware absolutely worthy of your attention.
The first generation of ultrabooks from vendors focused primarily on the 13.3" form factor, but this generation has seen a lot of hardware taking advantage of the expanded definition. Dell announced the new Latitude 6430u, a 14" ultrabook that starts at just 3.7 lbs with dimensions of 13.3" x 9" x 0.82", or roughly 20.9mm thick.
.jpg)
I had a chance to talk with Dell reps about the Latitude 6430u, and it was an enlightening conversation. Hardware-wise the 6430u is pretty much what one would expect, with Ivy Bridge ULV processors, a pair of DDR3 slots, and mSATA storage along with support for Intel's vPro (pretty much bog standard on an enterprise-class notebook). Unfortunately we're still stuck on a 1366x768 TN panel.
Two major points stand out about the 6430u, though. First, it features a removable battery, and Dell will be making it available with both 3-cell and 6-cell batteries. Second, Dell made a conscious effort to avoid making one of the major sacrifices often made with ultrabooks: shallow key depth. Ultrabook keyboards are adequate for some users but poor for others due to how shallow they have to be to manage the form factor, but Dell decided to go the opposite route of most ultrabook vendors (save HP and their Folio 13) by maximizing the z-height under the ultrabook spec in order to fit in a more usable keyboard. I'll admit I'm still not a huge fan of the 6430u's keyboard, but that has less to do with depth and more to do with the style and feel of the keys themselves.
The other piece of hardware on display was Dell's Windows 8 tablet, and like most vendors we've met with they're pushing Intel's Clover Trail Atom to deliver "the complete Windows 8 experience."
.jpg)
The Latitude 10 employs a 10.1" IPS display and features both a full-size USB 2.0 port and full-size SD card reader alongside a docking connector, headphone jack, micro-USB charging port, mini-HDMI, and micro-SIM for WWAN. It weighs in at 1.6 lbs and interestingly, like the Latitude 6430u also enjoys a user-removable battery.
Availability for these is expected around the Windows 8 launch.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
21 Comments
View All Comments
momoX52 - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
Yeah.. this title doesn't make sense to me.TheJian - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
ROFL. Seriously? While most of us just image them the second they get in the door, why even fake it? Just ship then with win7 and forget it. Win8 will bomb in IT. Not like it matters, most Ent IT dept's are on SA or the like anyway and just put on whatever they want, so still a sale just not what Bill & company wants you to use.Win8 is useless at work or at home if not on a tablet/phone perhaps...Though I'd say just tablet. I'm thinking that's why they have win 8 phone coming no? I have no intention of ever touching my monitor (and would likely kill anyone who fingerprints it...ROFL), so have no need of a touch os on my PC and have no desire to support all the calls it will cause. I don't need that kind of job security, I need to get other work done. I have no desire to get carpal tunnel from all the extra clicks either (to do the same stuff I used to do in xp/win7).
damianrobertjones - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
So... how long did you use/test Windows 8?I replaced Windows 8 with the full TechNet version a few weeks back and, frankly, I haven't looked back. Get with the times. You can either ignore the new interface or use it. Searches are fast and I still have access to every single last thing that was with Windows 7.
Extra clicks? I haven't noticed any extra clicks other than clicking 'desktop'.
Use it for longer and adapt otherwise you might just get left behind. As a company we're embracing the changes and staff, so far, are excited. (Might have something to do with adding their favourite football team to the sports app)
Dug - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
No company will change to Windows 8 just because it's coming out.Maybe for testing purposes, and that's about it.
But the labor for installing 8, training users how to use it, costs too much and is not something done in a business setting, especially when there's absolutely no benefit.
Most businesses skipped Vista, and they were right to do so.
Same thing will happen with Windows 8.
killerclick - Tuesday, September 25, 2012 - link
The market decides who gets left behind, not Microsoft, and they're in for a rude awakening this autumn.B3an - Tuesday, September 25, 2012 - link
Dream on troll.NeBlackCat - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
I'm writing this on a lovely 15" 1920x1200 panel on an 7 year old Dell laptop.Did the human race go half blind since then? Why else would display resolutions have moved backwards and stayed there, while CPUs, HDDs (->SSDs), memory, external interfaces, OSes and battery life all leaped forward?
cptcolo - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
At 0.82" thick it really is not an Ultrabook, but more of a smaller laptop.jbwhite99 - Monday, September 24, 2012 - link
14" screen, thinner (0.74" thick), 1600*900 resolution, i5 ULV, backlit keyboard, built tough like a Thinkpad. The only thing this box has an easily removable battery. I may have missed it, but glossy or matte screen?Orvtrebor - Monday, September 24, 2012 - link
The entire review should have just been this..."Unfortunately we're still stuck on a 1366x768 TN panel."
The end.