Dell's E4300 and E4200 Latitude laptops available this Tuesday

Hey, remember those totally slick Latitude E4300 and E4200 13.3- or 12.1-inch laptops we told you about last month? Well if you've been itching to get your hands on one, they're going to be available very, very soon (September 16th, that is). If you'll recall, these little dudes boast Dell's new Latitude ON feature, the SplashTop-esque, instant-on desktop that gives you quick access to Firefox and a handful of other Linux-based apps. They also happen to tread that fine line between geek-lust design and hard-nose business machine guts. The systems will be available with Core 2 Duo CPUs, DDR3 RAM up to 8GB, hard drives up to 250GB (or a 64GB SSD), WiFi, and sport 1280 x 800 widescreen displays. Hit the read link for more details, and make sure to double check your account balances.

[Thanks, Filip]

[Upallnite Posted Sep 14th 2008 8:11PM]

Junk

[gorerubicon Posted Sep 14th 2008 8:24PM]

this dell for once, actually looks good

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 14th 2008 11:18PM]

Definitely could give Lenovo's X60 series a run for its money.

[ch4s3r Posted Sep 14th 2008 8:13PM]

Normally not a fan of dell, however that is sexy!

[Murphy Mac Posted Sep 14th 2008 10:31PM]

Has the same black slab look as the Voodoo Envy 133. Both look pretty damn good.

[Sachin Posted Sep 14th 2008 8:15PM]

sorry about this unrelated comment - i need a link to my profile and there's no way other than to post a comment.

engadget; i pity you for not being able to change the proprietary aol comment system.

[maveric101 Posted Sep 14th 2008 9:06PM]

your profile has a unique number associated with it, which you can bookmark. yours is http://www.engadget.com/profile/1812408/

though i'm not sure why they can't just use the username.

[flashpoint Posted Sep 14th 2008 8:16PM]

This looks very sleek - like my Lenovo X60.
Probably one of Dells nicest models (if not the nicest)

[Sam of the Sun Posted Sep 15th 2008 3:50PM]

Would be even sexier with a cheeky little slot loading DVD drive!

[Malfoy Roark Posted Sep 14th 2008 8:20PM]

I wish the macbook pros would take 8 gbs of ram. *grumble*

[Mushrooshi Posted Sep 14th 2008 8:23PM]

Wow. This thing is sexy.

Stuff to make it sexier:

Make the dell logo a bit more subtle.
Get rid of that fail windows key (No, not an apple fanboy style complaint. It just... sticks out of the keyboard. I wish microsoft didn't impose rules on making that almost default. It would be better if it was like the older windows buttons, ore better yet, make it a generic super key so it looks OK on linux).
Lower the screen so the top and bottom bezel match each other widths.

[ethana2 Posted Sep 14th 2008 9:05PM]

Yes, generic key please.

[ethana2 Posted Sep 14th 2008 9:24PM]

Gahh, I always forget carrots bork things.. Generic Super key, yes.

[Jorvay Posted Sep 15th 2008 9:21AM]

Here here to the generic super key! I mean, it'd be nice for me as a linux user, but this machine comes with a quick-start linux distro so it would make even more sense.

[Erik Posted Sep 14th 2008 8:23PM]

I love the size, but the lack of discrete graphics in the 13" is making me look at the 14".

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 14th 2008 8:38PM]

biggest problem withultraportables. no graphics = no buy

[Gizmo Posted Sep 14th 2008 9:40PM]

its gotta have a little something, just enough for a game of UT04 at least

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2008 12:19AM]

corporate (latitude) laptop.... whatdaya expect ?!

buy an inspiron/studio/xps whatever

[Gizmo Posted Sep 14th 2008 8:24PM]

the monitor seems to have a lot of bezel for a dell, otherwise it looks nice

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 14th 2008 8:30PM]

Is it just me or Dell lineup is much much better since Michael Dell is back? (God that I love my E6400!!!)

[iofthestorm Posted Sep 14th 2008 8:40PM]

Incidentally, why are they using the same naming scheme as Intel's Core 2 Duos? It's really annoying.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 14th 2008 8:38PM]

why oh why can't see the pricing :( i want the e4300 and should be much cheaper than then e4200 simply because all the computers using the Low Voltage processors are over 1.5K to start

but if this could some how be around 1000 to start, i'd be very happy and cancel my order of the ideapad u330

[RKN Posted Sep 14th 2008 8:43PM]

Too bad these don't have options for higher resolution screens, I'm getting tired of 1280x800 in the 12 and 13" displays, I want the 1600x900 that is in the 13.1" Vaio Z. : (

Since the E4200 is coming out on Tuesday with the ULV Centrino 2 processors, hopefully other ultraportables will be announced too, like the Vaio TZ replacement.

[snapa Posted Sep 15th 2008 1:06AM]

I'm rocking a 13.3" right now at 1280x800, and the text is just about right. I think I would go blind if I had 1600x900 on a 13.3 or 12.1 lappy. I know it could be adjusted, but why bother.

[RKN Posted Sep 15th 2008 2:47AM]

Well, I said as an option for those that want the high resolution and can handle it.

[electron Posted Sep 14th 2008 8:52PM]

a bit slow today? but really, that is pretty cool

[lawschoolbound Posted Sep 14th 2008 8:58PM]

DDR3 Ram? That seems over the top compared to the rest of the specs.

[Rick36 Posted Sep 14th 2008 9:01PM]

Did any of you look at the link?

1. It says "The Dell Latitude E4300 (or E4200) laptop is currently not available and is estimated to be available on 16 September 2008."
2. The only Dell websites that have this date are in Asia and Pacific (NZ, AU, etc.)
3. The good thing is that because it is already 15-September-2008 on the other side of the world we here only have to wait until 15-Sep-2008 here.

[eggimage Posted Sep 14th 2008 9:16PM]

this is beating toshiba R500 to the ground
it'll be such a shame if toshiba never renews it, then i'll certainly get a E4200 instead...

[Avaviel Posted Sep 14th 2008 9:22PM]

Wow. A dell that I would want, and even be proud of! What a strange thing, I would have never thought the day would have come.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 14th 2008 9:25PM]

Heres to hoping my work buys a few of them next cycle.

[Chris8pie Posted Sep 14th 2008 10:16PM]

8gbs of DDR3 ram, that would be at least $400-500 for a desktop I can't imagine how much it would be for a laptop!

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 14th 2008 10:43PM]

And what would be the point since you're not OC'ing the laptop anyway.

[gurkha Posted Sep 14th 2008 10:19PM]

normally dell are ugly but strong .. i think this is attractive but has weak performance..

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 14th 2008 11:45PM]

Hmm disappointing that there's an eSata port on the 4200 but not the 4300. Also, I know these are business oriented, but why no HDMI or at least DVI port?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 15th 2008 3:41AM]

No HDMI again!?!

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2008 12:19AM]

displayport .... can connect to everything using an adapter

with dell supporting displayport i would expect to see no HDMI ever (new models) .... unless displayport is only a corporate thing for now.

[npChaos Posted Sep 15th 2008 12:27AM]

Looks good, I bought a few vostros a bit back, most 1400s, and my chief design complaint was that they were so rounded, really the only thing that distinguished them from regular consumer insprions were the fact that they were flat black in color, seemed kinda gaudy for a business machine.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 15th 2008 2:17AM]

Looks very nice, but the silly Dell logo will always wreck the aesthetic appeal of their computers for me. :(

[Furyan Posted Sep 15th 2008 2:48AM]

PORTS (E4300):

IEEE - 1394, docking connector, USB 2.0 (x1) /w USB PowerShare, VGA, RJ-45, eSATA/USB Combo (x1), headphone/speaker out, mic

PORTS (E4200):

IEEE - 1394, docking connector, USB 2.0 PowerShare, VGA, Display Port, RJ-11 (optional), RJ-45, eSATA, headphone/speaker out, mic, VGA, RJ-45, eSATA/USB Combo (x1), headphone/speaker out, mic

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 15th 2008 3:20AM]

Damm, that E4200 is a mighty fine machine.
unfortunately it is a widescreen, but apart from this it looks really usefull. I wonder how much it will cost.
It just needs to be able run OSX and be priced a reasonable way, and then it would really tempt me to get it.

qwert

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 15th 2008 7:12AM]

German dell site shows prices now:

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/latit?c=de&cs=debsdt1&l=de&s=bsd

[Rick36 Posted Sep 15th 2008 8:30AM]

They have the prices but there is no ordering link there yet. If the prices in Euros correspond to the US prices for the E6400/E6500 (add about 150 to the Euro number = US price in dollars) then the E4300 will start at ~ $1,100 and the E4200 at ~ $1,350.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 15th 2008 9:10AM]

1199 Euros ='s $1696.59 USD

949 Euros ='s $1341.13 USD

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2008 3:11AM]

German site now has buy link.... price has changed to 1902 Euro.

Eeeek! I knew it was too good to be true :-(


Hopefully they've made a mistake ?!?!?!??

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2008 3:26AM]

... or GBP 899 (which is about one-third of the German price)


something is up :-/

[Rick36 Posted Sep 15th 2008 10:33AM]

THE ESTIMATED US SELLING PRICE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CONVERSION RATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Take the Dell Germany price in Euros, add 150 to that and that is the price in dollars for the E6400 and E6500 here.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 15th 2008 1:57PM]

... "Sets Outlook reminder for 9:30 AM tomorrow to call Dell rep."

I bought an E6400 for work use a month ago and it's a great machine. I can't wait to get my hands on the E4200.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2008 2:12PM]

... and ordered.

[autospike Posted Sep 15th 2008 4:27PM]

Hmmm... My inside rep is telling me they won't even be in his system for a quote until the last week of this month.
Hope he's wrong.