Dell Latitude 6430u - finally a manufacturer that gets the business ultrabook!

Some colleagues in the office still have the 64xx. The fist time that I go there I can make a quick comparison.
But don't hold your breath cause I'm not going there very often.

 

That would be useful, thanks. No rush as the 1600x900 panel isn't available in the UK yet and there's no way I'd buy anything running 1366x768, unless it was a calculator because frankly that's all that resolution is any good for.

 

I just switched from an E6400 to this. The keyboard has a more shallow depth and is a bit softer and requires a lighter touch, but still has decent feedback. I'm not used to the island style keys, so I feel like the keys are smaller and I need to be more careful to hit the target. Overall it's not bad, but not as good as the E6400, but this seems to be the direction everyone is going and is probably something of a requirement for an ultrabook style machine. The trackpad is a lot bigger than the E6400, which is nice.

 

Hmmm doesn't sound much better than the keyboard on the XPS then. I also don't like a large touchpad. I use an external bluetooth mouse and find the trackpad just gets in the way when typing, the cursor ends up jumping all over the place. I know you can disable it when an external mouse is attached but it's annoying all the same. Even when using it on my lap, I try and move the pointer and end up doing a swipe gesture which moves back a web page - very frustrating. And being a software dev, I use right click a lot - nigh on impossible to get a right-click to register with those poxy integrated buttons.

I was hoping the 6430u would be my saviour, I think I may have to look at the new ThinkPad T431s or X1 Carbon. Both of which have integrated mouse buttons but crucially, they have the best keyboards going (accepting they too are also chiclet these days).

 

Keyboards are a personal preference, but after a very short learning curve I am absolutely loving my 6430u keyboard.

One more thing I noticed on this business trip. Of the three USB ports, none of them are powered when the computer is in standby. My phone was dying, so I tried to top off my phone's charge while laptop was in standby, and none of the USB's worked. I had to come off standby. No biggie, but still something to consider.

Other than my broken trackpoint stick, I am very happy with 6430u on this trip.

 

The powered USB port is on the right side of the laptop, but you need to enable the power feature in the BIOS.

 

Thanks for the hint! I saw the extra power symbol on the port, but didn't know it had to be enabled in BIOS.

 

Back from trip, and have to say the 6430u performed admirably. This thing rocks. I got luckier on the plane ride back with a bit more legroom and got some serious work done on the flight. The keyboard was very comfortable, and I could find "home" position with my fingers without looking down at keyboard. I watched a ripped video towards end of flight, and I had to angle the screen back a bit more than I usually have it to get the blacks to be very black.

Regarding the "sparkles" on the screen, I don't really notice them. But whatever Dell did with the anti-glare is amazing. I experienced no glare or reflections of any kind in meeting rooms, hotel rooms, hotel lobby, convention floor, even outside during lunch in full sun.

The lowest brightness setting is a bit high for extremely dark rooms, when you want to discretely use your laptop during someone else' presentation.

The battery lasted from 6am to midnight each day, using standby only in between work, letting it switch to hibernation on its own.

The built in VGA port came in handy in all my presentations. The built in Ethernet port was handy in the hotel room, as the lobby had wifi, but coverage was spotty in the rooms.My video Lync meetings went well just using built in mic and camera.

I'm not sure which wireless card IT chose, but I had no trouble with wifi range or performance at all. Everywhere I went, I always had plenty of found networks, and the convention's free wifi (a worse case conidtion) was a stress-less experience.

Regarding fan noise, mine sometimes jumps straight to the medium fan speed when it turns on. There is a very low speed that is hard to hear, but most the time it just jumps straight to a higher speed.

Now that I'm back, I'll get the trackpoint stick fixed (left still does not work).

 

Ok sorry to keep bleating on about the keyboard but is anyone able to compare this to the keyboard on the XPS 14 Ultrabook? Real shame I can't test one if these in a store.

 

Cowboy, I don't have an XPS14, but I do have access to a XPS13 I can compare it to. While they look similar, if not identical, both being chiclets, they are very different. I was shocked by the difference, as I expected them to be the same.

It is hard to put keyboard feeling into words, but here is a try.

The XPS13 feels more like a chiclet keyboard. The gap between the keys is much lower than the keys. The keys have slight wobble as they are pressed down. There is a distinct short click felt when they hit bottom. There is little resistance.

The 6430u keyboard feels neither like a standard keyboard nor a chiclet. The height between the keys is almost as tall as the keys themselves. When you press, the key is sinking into the keyboard. There is zero wobble. The click is more rubbery and long throughout the stroke. There is enough resistance to hold up your fingers. You actually have to press them down.

If you want to try something similar, you can try the Logitech K810 keyboard at a store. It is not exactly like the 6430u, but it is probably as close as you can get. I don't know of any other keyboard like the 6430u's feel.

Hope the description helps.