Dell Latitude E-series leaked

We've got a bit of preliminary dirt on Dell's new, soon-to-be-announced Latitude E-series machines, and we're liking what we see. So far we know there will be a 4.25 pound / 14.1-inch and 5 pound / 15.4-inch version, both with WXGA and WXGA+ LED backlit displays, as well as a 12-inch (pictured above) and 13.3-inch version for road warrior types. Expect DisplayPort, eSATA, plenty of USB ports, and PC or ExpressCard slots in the larger models. More on these as we get it in.

[weshickey @ Feb 1st 2008 12:29PM]

PLEEEEASE tell me it has a DVD drive...

PLEEEEASE tell me it didn't go the way of the Crapbook Air...

[kyle @ Feb 4th 2008 4:12AM]

why wouldn't it have a dvd drive? this is a real laptop, not a fashion accessory.

[Armada @ Feb 1st 2008 12:29PM]

SEXY!!!

[Seoultrain @ Feb 1st 2008 12:30PM]

wow, that's a nice looking latitude. It's like a m1330 without the awkwardness.

[Kay @ Feb 6th 2008 12:47AM]

Not sure what "awkwardness" you're talking about. The m1330 is pretty sleek too.

[anon @ Feb 1st 2008 12:34PM]

If it runs Linux and is Dell-cheap, my curiosity is piqued.

[aguiluz @ Feb 1st 2008 12:33PM]

Nice Laptop!

But, Let me ask, I was reading engadget and everyone was replying using "@" stuff like that. Why wouldn't you guys use the convenient reply button... Wait... I clicked it and it shows nothing! What gives?

[jd @ Feb 1st 2008 12:34PM]

latitude is such as tease just like th big tit blonde with fat lips working at my office.

[marc @ Feb 1st 2008 12:34PM]

How about throwing in a Penryn, graphics card, and a firewire port? Looks good so far...

[MikeLong @ Feb 1st 2008 12:36PM]

@ JD,
My aren't we classy now huh?

[AdamR @ Feb 1st 2008 1:17PM]

It's very annoying to see announcements like this when I just ordered an XPSM1330 :sadface:

[Phil Perman @ Feb 1st 2008 12:38PM]

@ aguiluz

Wow, you're right, replies don't seem to be working at the moment. I know most of the time, when I use @ its because I'm replying to a reply, which you can't normally do.

Back on topic, thats a very nice looking laptop, something I would expect from the XPS line, not a Latitude. Hopefully a sign of things to come

[Allen @ Feb 1st 2008 12:41PM]

@MikeLong:

He's being civil, I was going to say it looks sexier than this woman at work who likes wearing short skirts all the time. inch after inch of smooth chocolate legs just cause my entire office to be on giant release valve with kilo-tons of back pressure waiting to open day after day.

Someone once tried to get her to change her attire, but of course not a single male mind wanted that to happen, so it didn't (and we were rewarded with low cut V-necks, exposing most of what have to be C-cups at least).

[MikeLong @ Feb 6th 2008 12:31PM]

You should write erotic novels.

[syadasti @ Feb 1st 2008 12:42PM]

Hopefully it has a docking station like the d-series. Way better solution than buying an overpriced 17/19/20" laptop that weighs 10-15 lbs and has a smaller, inferior screen compared to a decent LCD monitor. Apple notebooks would be better if they made docking stations again too (don't want some crappy overpriced port pass-through joke).

[Alan Partridge @ Feb 1st 2008 12:44PM]

Is it actually carbon fiber like the VAIO's or has it just got a carbon fiber look?

[Sean @ Feb 1st 2008 12:49PM]

I have owned both Inspiron and Latitude laptops. The difference is night and day.

The Latitudes are incredibly well made and sturdy. I am very pleased with my D430 and these look even more impressive. I'm curious to see more specs about the 13.3 and 12 inch models.

By the release date, I think it is quite obvious these will use Penryn. I expect the 13.3" model to have an optical drive; the 12" will probably be an ultraportable and not have an internal optical drive. I've used my external optical drive 3 times in 5 months, but then, I have daemon tools and Windows file sharing with a desktop machine (both of which put Apple's solution to shame).

[Homeboy @ Feb 1st 2008 12:57PM]

Holy sweetness. Finally a desirable ultra portable. Let's just hope that it comes with an optical drive in the box and won't much more than $/€1 500

[darkstar @ Feb 1st 2008 12:59PM]

please tell me how light that 12inch is!
i was about to buy the MBA before it was announced and was quite dissapointed to know it was 3 lbs. im holding out for the lenovo u110 in the mean time...

[tom @ Feb 1st 2008 1:00PM]

Metal Hinge, roll cage, trackpoint like a thinkpad?

[bob cobb @ Feb 1st 2008 1:05PM]

12" is still a bit big for me, I need more companies to make 10" ultraportables :(

[Seoultrain @ Feb 29th 2008 2:38PM]

that's what she said.

[Scott @ Feb 1st 2008 1:05PM]

son of a... I just bought a Vostro!

[mushyho @ Feb 1st 2008 1:06PM]

is that brushed aluminum? should've held off my purchase of asus u3...this looks sexy

[Reid @ Feb 1st 2008 1:08PM]

ooh, pretty. Love the brushed case, sturdy looking hinges, and the look of the keyboard. It looks like a sturdy Thinkpad but with modern style.

[Russell @ Feb 1st 2008 1:14PM]

I like the new designs but don't kid yourselves, these will be business laptops.

They will all have terrible onboard speakers, and all will be available with integrated video.

The 14 and 15" models will have a low end quadro mobile about equal to what you can get in a low end dedicated graphics on the Vostro/Inspiron.

So they won't be gaming machines or multimedia machines but they will be quite nice for everything else. Great battery life, good non-gloss screens, fast, quiet, and now they won't look as bland as they did before.

[justin @ Feb 1st 2008 1:15PM]

As a proud MacBook owner, I'm surprised to say that Dell might've made a MacBook Air killer right out of the gate. The Vaio is too overpriced and the Lenovo (at least to me) just doesn't move me.

I'm holding my applause until I see what the specs are.

[gimpy530 @ Feb 1st 2008 1:16PM]

Dell fires over 800 employees who still have access to the company's internal network, and just now something just happens to get leaked....hmmm

[blomster @ Feb 1st 2008 1:22PM]

Me want food!!!

[Wade P @ Feb 1st 2008 1:33PM]

Asus called, they want their notebook design team back.

[devwild @ Feb 5th 2008 11:07AM]

Asus is an OEM and has designed a provided hardware for Dell (an Apple) in the past. Who's to say they didn't have a hand in it somewhere?

[Kamokazi @ Feb 1st 2008 1:41PM]

Woah...a dell laptop without the XPS premium and doesn't look like shit! Actually looks good.

[Jeff Lewis @ Feb 1st 2008 1:35PM]

Wow... now clicking on reply takes you right back to the main page. Excellent.

Anywho..

@anon

Do you know of ANY PC laptop that can't run Linux? And since Linux is free, it's not a factor in the pricing...

Soooo...

Why even bring this up? Of course it can run Linux.

On the other hand, at least you didn't *sigh* about it not being able to run MacOS X, so one biscuit for you.

[eyurasian_destiny @ Feb 3rd 2008 1:15PM]

I think Annon probably meant the dells with linux tend to be cheaper than the windows versions

and it probaly COULD run OS X my Dell E1505 Does :P

[mattclarkie @ Feb 1st 2008 1:42PM]

That has to be one of the best looking laptops I have seen. It looks like the top is metal, but I presume it is just an effect. Either way it is one nice lappie.

[ark_v2 @ Feb 1st 2008 1:43PM]

OMG...thin and sexy LATITUDE...
After this I find the Air to be even a bigger rip-off.

[chris @ Feb 1st 2008 2:13PM]

@Russell

Several Latitude series laptops have discrete graphics. For instance, my d830 has a NVidia Quadro NVS140M card in it. Yeah, it's still not a gaming card, but better than integrated graphics.

[john @ Feb 1st 2008 2:14PM]

@jeff lewis

I think he was making the linux remark more because dells tend to be easier to get up and running with linux distros than some other brands. they tend to use linux-friendly components more often (possibly because they spec some of their models with ubuntu??

[Jordan @ Feb 1st 2008 6:16PM]

I'm currently on my second laptop, a D810 (which followed a C840). I love my computer! It's just about 2.5 years old but still runs really well (with Vista, nonetheless!). I've always been a big fan of the Latitude models because of the durability, support (yes, good Dell support), and price.

I'll probably be replacing my computer in the summer, so this should be perfect timing. No, they're not gaming machines (although that doesn't stop me from trying), but my ATI x600 card works pretty well on the WUXGA display. I definitely look forward to hearing more about this new series.

[Ike Skelton @ Feb 1st 2008 2:30PM]

Planning on buying a Vostro as soon as Dell puts a dang Pernyn chip in there. Maybe this would be a better option.. Assuming it has a good graphics card, unlike the current batch of Latitudes.

[Alex @ Feb 1st 2008 2:30PM]

Hopefully it'll have dock capabilities. That's what eliminated the m13/1530 for me.

[Tony C @ Feb 1st 2008 2:30PM]

Wow, so Dell is finally throwing dirt onto the Latitude D-series? Good thing too, because that platform was getting long in the tooth maintaining backwards compatibility for a stupid little optical bay and docking system. Maybe that's why the D's are always on fire sales and discounts these days.

The E has been a long time coming and will finally be able to keep up with the latest and greatest from Dell's business-class competitors. Long live Latitude E!

Design-wise the lid looks great, like it's brushed aluminum, though I have doubts that Dell would go that direction and increase material costs. But maybe I'm too used to the molded magnesium D lids. I really want to see how they put together the rest of the chassis, because that rear angle doesn't show much more than the lid and hinge. All the ports must be on the left side because they're sure as hell not on the rear or right!

[Smotchberry @ Feb 2nd 2008 12:18AM]

Cha-Ching! Dell's certainly got their new batch of laptops right. Times-a-changing!

[Johnny5 @ Feb 1st 2008 2:52PM]

Reminds me of a laptop design from a couple years back - the Asus W3J:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2995&review=Asus+W3J

[Backlin @ Feb 1st 2008 2:57PM]

Check the finish on that. It's a lot better than this DV8000T that I have now.

[Sahmed @ Feb 1st 2008 3:14PM]

Its just sexy n amazing

[Erik @ Feb 1st 2008 3:13PM]

@Russell:

I have one of Dell's business laptops, and the speakers are pretty good.

They are noticeably better than my friends' dell and macbook pro computers.

[BrianB @ Feb 1st 2008 3:20PM]

Another winner design from Dell. I wonder if the 13.3 version costs a lot more than the 14-inch?

[Josh @ Feb 1st 2008 3:35PM]

Gorgeous laptop, can't wait to see the pricing and specs on it, may end up getting this instead of a mbp this summer.

--> What is up with the reply system today?

[Trung Nguyen @ Feb 1st 2008 3:39PM]

@ Wade P

Asus is Dell's OEM for several of their notebooks. It wouldn't be unusual to see similar designs.

And my, that is a sexy laptop.