Dell Latitude 2120 Review Discussion

Once just a consumer's gadget, netbooks have found a market in the business world as well as among educators. Today we look at Dell's offering, the Latitude 2120 featuring a 10-inch display and eight hours of battery life.

Read the full content of this Article: Dell Latitude 2120 Review

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A few notes from a user of the previous generation Latitude 2110. The 2120 doesn't look like a major redesign, Dell just stuck newer parts into the older chassis, I think my experience with the 2110 are relevant here.

1. The keyboard is great and very usable. Its rather far from perfect, but compared to every other netbook I've used, its by far the best.

2. It looks so much better in black. Really, blue? facepalm.

3. The LED on the lid is supposedly programmable. I haven't found the API yet though. A BIOS option allows it to serve as a network indicator light, off, or controlled by an API that doesn't seem to exist.

4. The indicator LED's are really bright. It gets annoying in a dark room when you have the screen backlight turned down since the indicator LED's are then by far the brightest light source.

5. Its bulky, though I wouldn't say its any less portable than a thinner netbook, finding a case/sleeve that fits it if you want one is a bit more difficult as its larger than your typical 10 inch netbook.

 

Agreed on all points. It definitely would look much better in black.

What do you think of the performance for day-to-day use?

 

its a netbook. a really expensive and nicely built one, but it still feels like a netbook.

I do use my netbook more than I do my Thinkpad or desktop due to its small size though. I'm hoping to upgrade to a real ultraportable, or at least something a bit faster instead of getting another netbook when replacing my 2110 though.

 

Too bad they didn't go with the N570. I really like the rubber finish and the keyboard is outstanding. Remember that these are made for classrooms - that's why you have the color choices.

The status LED on the lid can be controlled in linux with the dell-led driver (WMI interface). This is the patch that added support: Gmane -- Mail To News And Back Again

You can also pry open the bezel and disconnect it: Disable the Dell Latitude 2100's Wi-fi Light - Wired How-To Wiki

 

The specs dont look that impressive, so is the ~$200 markup over other netbooks being applied to the build and durability (since this is said to be a business grade netbook)? Where is it relative to, say, a Thinkpad on a business notebook scale?

 

If it had an AMD Zacate E-350 and was ~$550-$600, this would sell decently.

Dell has really gone down the tubes the past couple years, I cannot see them staying in business for much longer with the current business model they have... Terrible industrial design, terrible prices, and not good reputation (the reputation part Dell doesn't deserve, but they need to do something to change this).

 

is it my imagination, or are the M4600 and M6600 vastly more impressive than the new Elitebook workstations?

and with IPS graphics too? I'd sell the MBP if these Dells have any kind of battery life (4+ hours?) at all.

really? can you tell me more about that? all the problems in the HP Elitebook threads kinda scared me away from those. If Dells quality is slipping, I'd certainly want to know. I have an old E1704 that works great and an XPS Desktop from a couple years back that runs like a soldier. I'd be sad to hear that Dell isn't who they used to be.

 

If this were some $250-300 cheaper, it'd be a great netbook. I even entertained the idea of getting one of these back when the 2110 was first released, since it looks like a very solid machine.

But, at that price point, it's already more expensive than higher-specced AMD Zacate ultraportables such as the HP dm1z and Thinkpad X120e. With the X120e on sale for $350 this past weekend, the Latitude 2120 is no match--the only department where it outperforms the X120e is battery runtime (and by a bit, weight).

And, the Inspiron Mini 10v isn't a bad machine either (the fanless design of the 10v is a big plus), at nearly half the price of the Latitude 2110.

 

Its not up to a traditional Thinkpad for build, but it is great build quality for a netbook.

1. I was also on the fence of buying it as well, I ended up buying it only because I saw a good deal on the Dell Outlet.

2. I agree. The Thinkpad X120e which is better in nearly every way and is cheaper.

 

What I meant was, Dell hasn't necessarily gone down the tubes in quality, although they certainly could improve that, but instead they are making products that aren't selling well because they are either too expensive for what you get, ugly, or something with them is wrong.

For example, the Vostro V13. This would be the absolute PERFECT notebook for me except for it's missing one thing. Battery life.

The new Latitude series. Great performing notebook. Great specs. Except one thing. They are hideous.

 

The new Latitudes are also quite heavy.

Dell's designs have gone downhill since the XPS M1330/M1530. Right now they don't compete at all in the design front with HP and, to a lesser extent, Lenovo. I also think their build quality is behind most other major manufacturers; HP across the board. They need to get out of the glut they're in.