Without a doubt, Dell just hard launched what might be the biggest set of innovations in a mobile package yet. A reader of ours got back to us about the story he read on Mirror.co.uk and well, got us intrigued. Dell started selling new generation of Latitude Z business notebooks, but this time around, the company didn't stop at introducing one big thing: the level of innovation with Latitude Z is just something we did not expect in the PC world, and you can bet that Steve Jobs wouldn't put this amount of new technology in a single generation either.
Dell launched three notebooks from the series, but the immediate "wow" effect for Latitude Z is a wireless charging dock on the top model [$2159]. This dock requires a $50 Dell Wireless 420 mini-card, but you can opt for a Wireless Docking Station [Ultra Wide Band] option too - you can connect all of the peripheral devices such as monitor, mouse, keyboard to it, instead of loading the notebook with cables – after all, typing on a Latitude Z when it is on that Wireless Inductive Charging Stand could become a painful experience due to height.
The notebook itself comes with 16" HD LED-backlit screen. The 1.46cm [a little more than half an inch] thick body comes with a lot of attractive features, such as a soft-touch LED-backlit keyboard and a multi-touch touchpad. On top of the LCD panel you have a 2MPixel webcam featuring autofocus and two noice-cancelling microphones. Besides chatting, the webcam can be used as a business card scanner and actively acts as a secure guard.
If you move away from the notebook, the camera will detect that you are no longer in front of the screen and automatically lock the computer. But it doesn't stop there - the display itself also brings an interesting feature - EdgeTouch LCD sensor i.e. a side of the pane is actually touchpad and enables you to put application shortcuts and the like. Overall, this may prove more useful than having a whole screen reactive to touch, since going left and right on a 16" touchscreen might prove counter-productive.
What makes things interesting is the fact that Intel Core 2 Duo 1.4 or 1.6 GHz isn't the only CPU in the system either. Brace yourself: Latitude Z also features an ARM processor for instant boot capability. This is the first time that we heard a laptop comes with two CPUs for increased battery life [mini-OS runs off ARM CPU and does not invoke Intel CPU].
System memory packs either two or four gigs of DDR3 memory, you can add one or two SSDs which can come with encryption technology. The baseline 64GB SSD does not offer Encryption, but 128GB and 256GB models do. For $1100 extra, you can enjoy in 512GB of encrypted storage on your notebook. In order to fit all the technology into the 1.46cm body something gave way. In the case of Latitude Z, that "something" was the optical drive. You can get an external slot-loading DVD burner included in price or pay an additional $448 for a Blu-ray option. For that price, we would say - get a PlayStation 3 [highest quality BD playback device]. But hey, you might need Blu-ray for your business needs.
All in all, we're thoroughly impressed. Head out to official Dell Latitude Z Product Details page and see the features for yourself.
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