Dell Launches Latitude E6400 XFR Rugged Laptop

If you need a laptop that can survive the spray from a fire hose or be wiped clean after being covered in crude oil, Dell has the perfect notebook for you. Today Dell introduced their latest fully rugged laptop, the Latitude E6400 XFR. Engineered to meet the needs of even the most demanding customers in the harshest environments, the system meets a higher drop specification and offers a greater level of dust and moisture protection than any fully-rugged laptop in its class.

This might just be the laptop that can make a Panasonic Toughbook cry.

Designed for the military, first responders, oil and gas environments, manufacturing floors, field technicians and homeland security, the Latitude E6400 XFR features the Dell-exclusive "Ballistic Armor Protection System" which leverages a high-strength substance used for applications such as cryogenics, aircraft components, military equipment and medical devices. Features of Ballistic Armor include:

• Twice the impact strength of magnesium alloy
• 25 percent higher drop specification than any computer in its class – up to four feet with system powered down and closed and up to 36-inch drop test with the unit operating and LCD open
• High compression strength for outstanding impact protection
• Structural stability at extreme temperatures
• Scratch resistance providing corrosion protection.

The Latitude E6400 XFR also features "PrimoSeal Technology" to enhance protection from dust and liquid with compression gaskets that deliver a higher level of shielding from dust and moisture than any system in its class with an IP-65 rating.

The fully rugged laptop is engineered and independently tested to more than 13 military standards (MIL STD 810F) for operation in challenging environments. More importantly, the E6400 XFR shares common images and components with the Dell Latitude E6400 laptops for easy integration into existing environments and enables lower ownership costs than competing rugged notebooks.

The Latitude E6400 XFR also includes:

• Intel Core 2 Duo processors and vPro technology
• QuadCool Thermal Management System allows the XFR to meet the MIL-STD 810F for temperature extremes and enables excellent performance – a fully configured Latitude E6400 XFR performs up to 90 percent faster than the Panasonic CF30
• Up to 167 percent faster than the Panasonic CF30 in graphics-intensive applications
• Extended field use batteries equipped with ExpressCharge enables battery re-charge up to two times faster than Panasonic CF-30
• At 2.2 inches thick and starting at 8.5 pounds, the Latitude E6400 XFR is 15 percent thinner and up to 5 percent lighter than the previous generation XFR
• Field-ready options include an in-vehicle docking solution, 12-cell rugged battery slice, E-family docking and legacy I/O adapter
• Large 14.1-inch wide display including DirectVue Technology - customers can work in direct sunlight on a screen that features impact resistance
• Optional Dell ProSupport service offerings.

The E6400 XFR is obviously intended for customers who demand reliability in extremely challenging environments. However, this rugged laptop offers potentially significant cost savings for companies that already deploy Dell Latitude notebooks because it shares some of the same core components ... which means easier integration for IT departments.

Dell will showcase the Latitude XFR E6400 at this week’s Federal Office Systems Exposition (FOSE), held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., in booth 1001. For those of you who can't make it to the convention, you can expect to see a full review of this rugged notebook here on NotebookReview.com in the very near future. Stay tuned.

The system is available today in the U.S., Canada, France, Spain, United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. It starts at $4,299 and more information is available at www.dell.com/xfr.

 

Interesting notebook. Thanks for sharing.

Edit: Is there a chance this site can do a comparison of this notebook with the Panasonic Toughbook? I'd like to see both of them in action.

 

OT I know but hmm... How did Jon post in front of JerryJ?

EDIT: How did I do it too....

 

Any info on the screen brightness?? I'm guessing it's 500 nit.

 

According to http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/latit_xfr_d630?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd it is 500 nit.

"14.1 inch 500 nit Outdoor-viewable LCD Panel in Black"

 

Dang. Notebook's getting rugged this days. I bet Hp's announcing theirs soon

 

I hate the way it looks , I mean rugged okay whatever, but dont make it THAT ugly.

 

This is some strange mix between a laptop and a bunker.

 

These laptops are not meant for folk who only go to Starbucks.

 

hahahah

 

Does it have an auto-destruct option?

 

Good post :laugh:

 

HaHa. absolutely true!

This reminds of the CF30 I used to own and it looks like Dell is comparing them directly. Looking at the different angles, I think that the CF30 was an inspiration in many ways such as the lid and the handle. Good looking no doubt about it.

This is definitely not for the starbucks crowd. I remember when I first got my CF30, took it to a starbucks and got strange glances like. I'm surprised they didnt' ask where I parked my matching humvee.

 

I feel that my normal E6400 is fairly rugged, at least when closed. The XFR model is almost bomb-proof. The normal E6400 LED-backlit WXGA+ is bright enough to be usable in the sunshine (I've done it) so sunlight usable is no great achievement.

However, given the likely pricing of the rugged model, it may be more cost effective to buy a box of netbooks and give new one out each time the one in use grinds to a halt.

John

 

I really like what dell has done with the XFR E6400, but I'm waiting for a low-power version with the same case. Perhaps with a Clarkfield Core 2 Quad P1 that gets 10 hrs of battery life and doesn't need cooling fans??

I like the thermal management philosophy of my CF-29 - no kidding 7 hr runtime, no fans, no burning lap, and completely silent computing.