Ultrabooks are continuing to become more and more mainstream in the laptop market, so it’s no surprise that Dell has added another one to its repertoire by announcing the Latitutde 6430u Ultrabook. The 6430u is built to cater towards the business user and is designed to not only be mobile, but also tough against the elements and with a plethora of security features, such as Dell Data Protection | Encryption, TPM, optional smartcard and a fingerprint reader.
The Latitude 6430u has a 14” 1366×768 display and is allegedly 33% slimmer and 16% lighter than its predecessors while its magnesium shell sporting a silver band running around the edge of the laptop gives it a sleek and appealing look. The chassis is also equipped with a pair of ledges to make it easy to grasp. Additionally, it will boast Intel’s Ivy Bridge processor and will be sold in i3, i5 or i7 model with up to 8GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD storage, and Windows 8 ready. Dell also claims that the 6430u will give users a full day’s work on a single charge, though that number will diminish as the Ultrabook is used for more intensive applications.
Unfortunately the screen will not be touch enabled, even though Dell is touting this as a Windows 8 notebook that’s geared toward touch input on devices like tablets. There will also be no upgrade to a higher resolution screen. And the final gotcha is the weight of 3.7lbs isn’t exactly light considering the ThinkPad X1 Carbon with a 14-inch screen weighs 2.99lbs – and has a 1600 x 900 resolution screen we should add.
The Dell Latitude 6430u will be released during the Windows 8 launch; however, there is no word on pricing as of yet.
I really hope you guys do a review on this and HP’s Elitebook 9470m.