Dell's Latitude Z 600 is a 16-inch thin-and-light, makes overcompensated CEOs out of us all (update: video!)
By Paul Miller 
posted Sep 29th 2009 12:01AM
posted Sep 29th 2009 12:01AM
We got to play around with the laptop briefly, and it doesn't just pile on the features -- it's really a pretty tight design from Dell, and oozes quality. Some of the features make a bit less sense, like the EdgeTouch sensor, but if you're going to go all out on a laptop for executives, you might as well really go all out, right? The keyboard is one of the best laptop keyboards we've played with in a while, the touchpad is expansive, and the machine doesn't seem brittle despite its wild surface-area-to-thickness ratio. The screen did seem a little dim to our eyes, but it was mercifully matte, and that 2 megapixel camera up top really comes in handy with Dell's bundled software, reading and deciphering a business card of ours without a problem. It's a three way tie for neatest feature between UWB, Latitude ON and induction charging, but we'd probably have to go with UWB -- unlike Toshiba's similar solution, which relies on a dongle, Dell's built-in implementation actually makes a lot of sense for a premium laptop. It was also surprisingly quick at pairing with the wireless dock, and there's no harm done by pulling the laptop out of range of UWB -- a quick screen flicker and it's back to regular. Our biggest downers about the laptop probably have to do with the odd color choice (a bit too personal of a preference to be made a default) and the understandable but painfully sky-high $2,000+ pricetag.
Update: Smarmy infomercial and in-depth look at Latitude ON now posted after the break.
I just came.
I came twice.
Neeeed oneeeee nowwwwwwwwwwwww...............................
Somebody show me a bank that i can rob..................
Thrice I came.
When will it be available?
I'm sure engadget will be unboxing it for us all while we watch like pervs
Dell's gone a long way from being a biege box company focused on their then-revolutionary business model to a innovator in design and functions. A 16" 4.2ib laptop is unique and desirable enough in itself, but Dell went much further. It's a very important adaption to survive in the laptop world, where the entire packing has to be appealing and be stylish on top of that. This is what Adamo should have been too (just prettier).
I didn't
where is the CD DRIVEEEEEEE
i guess i shouldn't complain, i don't know much
about dell's buissness line so maybe these latitude Zs never had CD drives
but man, screw the studio XPS, my next laptop is gonna be buissness class baby!!
@peter
I recommend the X61/X200 for a business notebook.
That is one awesome looking laptop.
Awesome looking ? Um don't know, look at the thick bezel, but wait a moment.. , am I reading this right? Has this thing friggin TWO systems inside ? right? both low power ARM and Intel boards are in ??? if that is true then wow, I mean this is laptop Sparta!
Gezz that is thin. Even Apple can't manage .56 inch on on their similarly sized MBP (and by that I mean the 17inch)
This thing even got a removable battery right?
well that's not exactly a fair comparison, the MBP runs much faster (and therefore hotter, and generally larger) components. this thing will at best be as fast as the MacBook Air, and maybe as slow as the Adamo. there are trade offs.
4.5lbs, even 13inchers have trouble managing that
pure awesome
pretty amazing, I'd love to see what they can do with the 14.1 or 13.3 in the next-gen latitudes.
i think no one can manage .56 " on a laptop with an optical drive.
I like how you could have fit a full numeric keypad on there if they hadn't centered the keyboard
Why? You ever type numbers?
Really?
...
No, really?
@Shinigami:
If it weren't a business laptop, I wouldn't see his point; However, unless you're Bernard Madoff, I think you're going to be storing a lot of numbers for a business - phone numbers, sales numbers, and the like.
i guess you've got a just number password for your windows 3.1 ?
I agree, It's a "Business" laptop. With that much wasted bezel a numeric keypad should be expected. Black and gray minimalist styling isn't enough to call it a "business" laptop.
Serious oversight imo. And there is no excuse for excluding one. No 16" Laptop should be considered a "business" model without one.
You guys don't understand...this is a laptop for EXECUTIVES...they have to look at the big picture, they don't have time to mess around with silly details like "numbers".
I hate off center keyboards/trackpads. I would rather have no number pad than a off center keyboard/mouse
Speaking of that keyboard... check out the second vid. If I can see the flex from the vid then I know it's gotta be bad. Looks like they made some sacrifices to get 16" down to under 5 pounds.
Also - if this works then Palm can kick themselves for not actually making the Foleo - because that's basically what the Latitude ON thing makes this, just a Foleo plus a standard laptop (with some cool gizmos added).
Only 0.57-inch thick? I really doubt it. It can't be true.
It's called a "typo."
Actually it is .57-inches thick. Forgive me I am an idiot.
look at the pictures. Looks pretty damn thin to me.
oh wow. sex me. please.
So does the UWB allow you to hook it up to your TV in your hotel room and then use it as an external monitor while you sit on the bed and control with the keyboard and pad?
What about an option to run it in dual monitor mode? I know this would be useful to share something with everyone else in the room on a trip.
Other than the lack of a numeric keyboard Johnathan noted, it's a pretty awesome laptop.
Seems like Dell has become a great computer company again, I was even going to buy one of their XPS 13 laptops for uni before I settled on an Asus N81-VP.
numeric keypad may be useful more often for people in business laptops, but personally, i wouldn't want one. i rarely use them, and having one on a laptop shifts the keyboard too far to the left, imo.
But I want a thicker bezel. C'mon Dell, props on most of the design, but why the damn practically 1" bezel? As if it's not wide enough?
It all seemed great until I got to the price tag.
scroll up and then it won't be problem. Ignorance is bliss.
Glad to see the positive reaction. There's a lot new here, if I do say so myself. More details and a video overview in a Direct2Dell blog post from Dell's Jeremy Bolen. Post has a link to more images on our Flickr page as well: http://bit.ly/QCvoG.
Thanks,
@LionelatDell
Can I have one for free
It's a 16" "business" laptop and has no numeric keypad. Can this be added as an option? The lack of keypad is completely unacceptable for a laptop of this size that is targeted at the business market.
As the unexplicable absence of a pointing stick and a real keyboard are. Engadget's audience is known to value aesthetics over substance, and is certainly not a reliable source to get feedback from on a business PC.
Dell Lattitude lineup have always been very decent machines. I wish they focus on refreshing the under 12" models though.
This is one amazing Laptop i wish the price tag was lower, and hope this laptop have USB 3.0 and not a lot of stupid pre-installed software and running Windows 7 64-bit
it's OEM, of course it will have preinstalled crap
what separates a dumbass from someone not so dumb is whether they do a fresh install when they get it.
Actually, the Dell Latitude line is pretty good about having a low amount of preinstalled crap in my experience. Consumer lines tend to be much worse in this regard than business.
Looks good to me. I just hope the "real" specs are good too. As in hard drive (hopefully it's not 1.8"), processor (hopefully at minimum it's an SP series C2D and not LV or ULV), RAM better be upgradeable, graphics better not be shitty Intel integrated only, etc. Dell disappointed me with the Adamo before, I better not be disappointed again. lol
"The Z600 goes with Ultra Low Voltage parts from Intel. You'll have two to choose from, including the Intel Core 2 Duo SU9600 and SU9400—both dual-core processors. It also supports up to 4GB of DDR3 memory. And with low-powered parts, expect battery life to be phenomenal. The 8-cell battery sticks out very awkwardly from the back, but Dell claims that it'll give you 9 hours of battery life. A 4-cell option is available, too, for weight savings."
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2353399,00.asp
*cringes* Sorry Dell. I can't handle only having the power of a 12 inch laptop in a 16in form factor (heck, some 12 in laptops are more powerful, like the Thinkpad X200). Better luck next time.
ya but the thinkpad is kinda... ugly/dated looking
you know, people complain about how engadget has a huge boner for capacitive touchscreens, and that both resistive and capacitive screens have their places and their pros/cons etc., but i don't see anyone sticking up for glossy screens against engadget's "matte only" stance. personally, i'm not entirely decided, but since i don't do any photo/video work i don't need the color accuracy, and the glare doesn't bother me that much. imo the clarity provided by glossy screens outweighs the negatives most of the time. by comparison matte screens look kind of fuzzy to me; it's especially noticeable in areas of plain white.
also, WOW that thing is thin.
I like my glossy screen, being a careful user I don't get finger print often (when I do they're not mine). I like how a glossy screen feels sturdier. Mine has a glass like finish in terms of actually touching it and that makes me feel better than having a thin plastic sheet style matte screen
i'm definitely for glossy screens. it seems to give me a better computer-using experience with what appears to be a sharper screen with brighter colours
Except this is for business users and glossy screens generally perform very poorly with office building lighting.
Svelte and slick. Great looking laptop for sure. Plenty of features I'd like to see that I probably won't get to with that price-tag.
Nice to see PC companies doing something other than the crappy plastic commodity junkers, for crap's sake. Always nice to see competition in the high end. :)
Two Thousands Dollars?!
enormousss
Dell, stop copying Apple with the thick, useless bezel!
the bezel ain't useless, didnt you see the video?
Whoops, didn't realize there was a video. That bezel does seem useful.
gimme a 12/13 inch version for under 1500 and i may well be sold.
0.57....DAMN thats hot
It's called the Adamo. It's 13.4" and $1,499.
It doesn't seem too far off actually... I work for IT at my University and Dell came with one of these babies and let us play with it for a bit. It was ridiculously thin for the size of the screen. Unfortunately, it still had a bit of the "extended butt" design (like there's an extended battery in it) but looked damn sexy overall.
Guys, sorry but I'm gonna differ on you'll on this... It looks hideous simply because of the protruding back end... If it had a small gap between the back end of the laptop and the protruding part, it might as well become a laptop carrying assist... you know, like the brief-cases that our folks used to log around to work... thank heavens it is not rectangular, that would've been disaster... The keyboard and screen look astounding but the exterior looks kinda like a freak show...
Wake up Dell... You tried with the Adamo, learn from your mistakes...
Regards....
http://www.engadget.com/photos/dell-latitude-z-600-press-shots/2323264/
http://www.engadget.com/photos/dell-latitude-z-hands-on/2323252/
You may want to compare the shots. The large protrusion is from a larger battery. I think the slight slant is a clever way to hide it, and if I need the extra battery, the protrusion will be a welcome addition.
i don't suppose dell also supplied the ultra snazzy cole haan bag? you engadget boys are swanky!
Wow..few products wow you like this nowadays.
I'm sorry, but this post sound less like an honest review of the laptop than a commercial where Dell paid Engadget for the
"completely honest and in no way biased review." Granted I have no proof that this occured, and I do own a Dell laptop. But seriously, it is a laptop, a fantastically generic looking laptop; the first line of this article describe it with the words, "something thoroughly distinct in the laptop scene," BS!!! I realize money has to be made, but this is an advertisement in sheep's clothing.
Shut up.
What the heck are you smoking? This is the most unique laptop to come on the scene in quite some time. Can you point to any other thin and light 16" laptops? Heck even 15"? How about with inductive charging and UWB?
Finally there is a clean Apple Macbook Pro 17" like built PC laptop alternative. Why did it take so many years, I'd ask? Awesome machine.
Integrated graphics....waste of time and money. $2000+ for integrated? I think not.
It's a business machine.
On business laptops discrete video is generally a disadvantage. More weight, more heat, less battery life.
still very ugly ... whats up with that frame around the keyboard, are you only supposed to touch the notebook in that designated area?? is there any notebook that has a fuglier look than this?? (Hello Kitty Note-/Netbooks are toyisch so they don't count)
Yea, that puzzled me to. Why all that area around the keyboard like that. They could put matte finish on it and speaker grills or air vents along the sides. I also agree that this is one of the ugliest notebooks I've seen. Especially for the price!
They did some great innovative stuff like the inductive charging but then they killed it visually. Also putting in high end stuff like the inductive charging but going with integrated graphics is just plain stupid. When you pay a premium price for something like this you expect it to have the latest and greatest. Would you expect to find a phone modem and no RJ-45 network connector?
Like just about everything about this. Inductive charging, daughtercard OS, UWB dock. Finally, Dell makes something for people to lust after. Only improvement I can think of: HDMI instead of DVI on the "dock" to carry both audio and video. Even better for presos and streaming video. Though the Intel 4500 integrated graphics gives me pause.
"Induction charging contacts?"
I suppose those are next to the WiFi jack?
Does the Citrix client require a Citrix server to connect to, or can I use it for vanilla MS Terminal Services? If I can fast-boot and remote into my servers, this could be quite sweet.
There is absolutely no excuse to have a laptop this large without a number pad on the keyboard. Look at all that empty space on either side, what the hell are they thinking??
so much wasted space.
put a full keyboard on it (keypad very important for 3d apps)
just when i was going to get a 12 incher thin & light. now i need to rethink 12 inches versus something reasonable for my eyes.
Business users don't want 16" laptops. Especially the business executives that a laptop in this price range is targeted at. Compact & light around 12-13" is ideal as many are travelling or moving between meetings and the last thing they want to do is lug around a laptop with a large 16" screen.
I hope Dell has plans for a smaller version of this laptop, as for now, they've missed the mark.
I dont know what people are smoking.
Its not the screensize people dont want to lug around its the weight that normally comes with the screen size.
As someone who has a lenovo X300, Id gladly upgrade to this. 1lb more for 3" more screen.
Mac guy here and I think this is a pretty slick looking PC. I like it mostly because it doesn't look like a MacBookPro knock-off. Very nice.
Isn't "induction charging contacts" a contradiction in terms?
And as the tech who has to repair these things I just think: "Great, another Dell that will probably be a pain to work on" (The D series is easy for most of us to repair, the Es can be a pain, and this looks like a nightmare from the documentation).
But atleast its good to see Dell is doing something better than cheap, easy to break metal and plastic machines with their Latitude line. And its surprisingly a very nice looking machine.
Kinda cool, but I think it’s essentially a gimmick. The notebook will need to be right there and it probably wastes energy/electricity due to the induction process being (I suspect) less efficient than actual cables. Then there’s also the possibly negative health aspect to consider – jury still out…
This is a CEO's best friend
aww shucks, i was going to get one now but its not listed on the website
I'm primarily a Mac user (I just got this one not too long ago, http://adwido.com/view_content?vkey=f2f1a4eb82f9df2592e217db4f5041ad), but in all honestly, I kind of with I would have bought this instead.
hank paulson's really blwon away the years
the flex is not the on the Z it is a previous model latitude that you can use Latitude On ...on. That is waht the video is mainly about. The 1st video is exclusively about the Z. I still think Sony's Z line is a better deal. Great inovations for desk clutter here and the Latitude on stuff but what business professional needs a 16 inch screen? Unless you are running graphics apps and this thing I am sure has a weak GPU. Its for the executive with no responsibilities who wants to watch movies on the plane and it is simply testing out the Latitude On and docking station otherwise not a very useful computer. Think about if you have a smart phone why would you whip out 16 inches unless you want to impress the ladies.
It doesn't need a key pad for phone numbers because the web cam can scan business cards. Unless you are doing accounting.
The color sucks. Black-cherry? what was that guy smoking? too much Ben and Jerry's. This is my biggest complaint. Lame? maybe but i have to look at this thing for thenext 7 yeras- yes I like pcs and I actually upgrade my machines instead of just always getting the latest model. So show me an upgradeable laptop and that would be revolutionary.
The thing is like a huge oversized smart phone. Like the MacBook Air useless essentially. It needs to be useful to be unique on a different level. Its almost like a smart phone and a desktop replacement but without the power and functions. Maybe they can improve the next generation but most likely someone else will improve it (Sony) and steal their market share.
Thin isn't everything. If a smart phone has those features why put them in your laptop? I am still trying to figure why there is a need for the 16 inch smart phone!
no it actual is more energy efficient i think they mention that on the 1st video