Dell Latitude E6420 XFR

Most consumers and business people have a vast number of choices when it comes to laptops. But when your work requires a certain level of security to protect the data within, there are far fewer options available. Dell has manufactured such a laptop, a special line of fully-ruggedized notebooks outfitted with bumpers on every corner and a chassis that's dust-tight. Simply put, the Dell Latitude E6420 XFR ($5,612 direct) is a fortress in a clamshell form factor. It meets the standards of a suite of drop and military tests, and its list of components includes a fast combination of an SSD and Core i7 processor that will help you not only boot your system quickly, but make quick work of any productivity tasks. And even if you're out in the field all day, the Latitude E6420's battery will last you over half the day and with the extra 30Wh battery handy, you'll easily be able to make it through the whole day without worry.

Design
Like most rugged laptops, the Latitude E6420 XFR is quite thick, measuring 2.2 inches. It sports a design that resembles a briefcase, with a handle protruding just underneath the palm rest. Its hefty weight of 9.38 pounds comes as no surprise, given its black PR-72 ultra polymer exterior and magnesium alloy interior. Similar rugged laptops like the Getac V200 ($5,177 direct, 3.5 stars) weigh 6.6 pounds, twice as much as other 12.1-inch notebooks. . Breaking up the matte plastic is a rectangular swatch of soft rubberized plastic on the lid. If your business requires you to make appearances, the Dell Latitude E6420-ATG ($3,348 direct, 4 stars) has more of a board-room acceptable appearance that will survive some in-the-field bumps.

The laptop's 14-inch screen has a 1,366-by-768 resolution and has a feature unique to its category: a screen that can be used in direct sunlight so you won't have an issue reading email or typing up documents in the field. Other displays, like the semi-rugged Panasonic Toughbook CF-S10 ($2,449 direct, 3.5 stars) sport a similar anti-glare coating for outdoor use. The size of the display is perfect for working with two windows or programs open side by side, as opposed to smaller 13.3- and 12.1-inch screens that might feel cramped.

The full-sized keyboard offers up a wonderful typing experience. Its backlight function will help if your field work requires you to work at night or in dimly lit environments. The touchpad has a textured feel under finger and, likewise, offers up a wonderful navigating experience. The mouse buttons are made of rubber and had a lot of give, requiring too much effort for my taste in order to register a mouse click, but these things are subjective.

Features
Upon first glance, the Latitude E6420 XFR looks like a port-less laptop, but that's only because there are plastic covers over all of the ports to prevent dust and small particles from getting into your laptop and destroying it from the inside out. There's an SD card slot, headphone jack, serial port, VGA and HDMI video output, Ethernet, two USB 2.0 ports, ExpressCard reader, SmartCard slot, and a DVD burner. On the underside there's space to hook the laptop up with a docking station accessory (a $120-$200 option), perhaps to secure it in a company vehicle. The Latitude E6420 XFR also comes equipped with Clear WiMAX, so you can stay connected through wireless broadband (as long as your city actually supports WiMAX), 802.11n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth to connect your wireless devices.

The 128GB SSD will help protect your data from the usual vibrations and cracks that a spinning 5,400rpm or 7,200rpm hard drive usually suffers. It also has some special programs installed on it to protect your data from potential theft like Dell Data Protection, which provides encrypted hard drive options, and Dell Backup and Recovery. The Latitude E6420 XFR comes with a three-year basic hardware service and three years of onsite service.

Performance
The E6420 XFR was built to perform, with a 2.7GHz Intel Core i7-2620M processor and 6GB of DDR3 RAM. In our day-to-day performance test, PCMark 7, the Latitude E6420 scored 4,035 points?94 points better than the Asus G74SX-A2 ($2,000 street, 4 stars), a gaming laptop equipped with a slightly superior Core i7-2630QM processor. In media creation tasks, the Latitude E6420 flourished, encoding a video in Handbrake in 1 minute 38 seconds, and running through our Photoshop CS5 test in 3:32. It should be noted that while running these tests, there was quite a bit of heat emanating from the laptop: 109 degrees measured by our Fluke thermometer.

The E6420 XFR's 6-cell 60Wh battery lasted 4 hours 56 minutes on our MobileMark 2007 test. Dell has also thrown in an extra 30Wh external battery to help it get you through a most of the day. The Getac V200's bigger 87Wh (9-cell) battery lasted 16 minutes less (4:40) than the E6420 XFR.

The Dell Latitude E6420 XFR is made for the off-roading field worker. Its screen is readable in direct sunlight, and the inclusion of smart features like a backlit keyboard and WiMAX?not to mention its rugged form factor?make this a must-have. However, you'll want to make sure a wealthy enterprise is backing the payment, as $5,612 isn't exactly a consumer-friendly price-point.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Dell Latitude E6420 XFR with several other laptops side by side.

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