- CNET Editors' Rating 7.9/10 Very good Editorial policies >>
- Average user rating from 33 users 5.2/10 Average Read user opinions >>
The good: Respectable performance; light, well-designed case; DVD+RW drive; 802.11b/g wireless; long warranty and comprehensive support.
The bad: Mediocre battery life.
The bottom line: With a well-rounded combination of speed, features, and service, Dell's Latitude D600 remains among the most versatile enterprise laptops available.
Specs: Processor: Intel Pentium M (1.60 GHz); RAM installed: 128 MB DDR SDRAM; Weight: 4.6 lbs See full specs >>
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 07/21/2004
- Released on: 05/01/2004
Smaller and sleeker than Dell's older, gray C600, the Latitude D600 measures 1.2 inches thick, 12.4 inches wide, and 10.1 inches deep, and it weighs in at an easy-to-tote 5.5 pounds. It still includes a comfortable keyboard, a pointing stick and touch pad, and an internal swappable bay that houses the included DVD+RW drive, plus an optional second battery or one of various optional drives: CD, DVD, DVD/CD-RW, floppy, or a second 40GB hard drive. Three handy buttons for turning the volume up, down, or off sit in the upper-left corner above the keyboard.
The Dell Latitude D600 offers all of the standard ports and slots required for everyday business applications. The best of them include two USB 2.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet jack, and one Type II PC Card slot, which features an embedded smart-card reader; removable smart cards, which are available in a number of sizes and prices from various third-party manufacturers, are handy for storing passwords and other sensitive info. The Dell Latitude D600 also features the latest in integrated wireless technology: 802.11b/g.
The laptop's new 1.8GHz Pentium M 745 (a.k.a. Dothan) processor and 512MB of memory served up respectable, if not outstanding, speed in CNET Labs' tests. Although Dell has not upgraded the Latitude D600's aging 32MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 graphics chip, the system kept up with the Dothan-powered IBM ThinkPad T42. The Latitude D600's smallish 11.1V, 4,700mAh battery took a beating in our drain tests, lasting up to 1.5 hours less than a battery overachiever such as the HP Compaq nc6000. Part of the blame for the Latitude D600's shorter battery life lies with its power-hogging 14.1-inch screen, which features an impressive 1,400x1,050 native resolution.
Dell continues to shine in the corporate software department, offering its long-standing OpenManage remote-manageability software for administrating assets (that is, your laptop and its associated hardware), performing remote BIOS updates, and more. Dell also supports its big-business customers with a three-year parts-and-labor warranty that includes onsite service beginning the next business day after reporting a problem. Finally, toll-free, 24/7 telephone support is available for the life of the laptop.
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BAPCo MobileMark 2002 performance rating |
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BAPCo MobileMark 2002 battery life in minutes |
System configurations:
Compaq nc6000
Windows XP Pro; 1.8GHz Intel Pentium M; 512MB DDR SDRAM 333MHz; ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 32MB; Toshiba MK6022GAX 60GB 5,400rpm
Dell Latitude D600
Windows XP Pro; 1.8GHz Intel Pentium M; 512MB DDR SDRAM 266MHz; ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 AGP 32MB; IBM Travelstar 80GN 80GB 4,200rpm
IBM ThinkPad T42
Windows XP Pro; 1.7GHz Intel Pentium M; 512MB DDR SDRAM 333MHz; ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 32MB; Fujitsu MHT2040AH 40GB 5,400rpm
- See more CNET content tagged:
- Dell Latitude,
- DDR SDRAM,
- ATI Technologies,
- Intel Pentium M,
- BAPCo
User opinions
WRITE YOUR OWN REVIEW How would you rate this product?
-
6/10 Good February 3, 2005
"Good style, less substance" Read more >>
-
2/10 Terrible June 21, 2005
"Dellisterrible because Dellisterrible" Read more >>
-
4/10 Mediocre July 19, 2008
"it's good if your not a gamer and you don't want high performance" Read more >>
- WRITE YOUR OWN REVIEWSee all 33 user opinions >>
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