The Latitude 13 displays a sleek and elegant appearance supremented by a quality keyboard that knows its job. The unit suffers from its limited battery life and a rather thin pack of USB ports. Its a lightweight that comes with a backlit screen that is easy on the eye.
The system utilises very low -voltage intel core 2 dual processor model U7300 with a speed of 1300 MHz, coupled with 2MB cache size. It is also packed with an installed 4 GB memory. Its storage chores are taken up by a single 250 GB hard disk drive that rolls at a respectable speed of 7200 rpm. The other storage facilities are; SD/MMC card and SDHC card, bundled with the Express Card 34. The Latitude 13 masters Operating System Windows 7 Professional Edition. The machine comes with intel’s integrated GMA 4500 HD, entrenched in the machine’s chipset. That GPU, coupled with the rather anemic CPU, limits the unit’s ability to run premium games.
The machine uses an embedded , ireplaceable battery- a concept popularized by Apple MacBook since the coming of the unibody design-, but it seems Dell did not lead the whole script, as its experiment comes unstuck. The adea of an integrated battery must be anchored on a top -shelf battery life, and a three -hour twenty eight minutes shift of the Latitude 13 is certainly not long enough. That fact is confirmed by its sedate score of 66 on the WorldBench Test, that uses battery longevity as one of the most important bench marks.
The system uses ethernet type 10/100/1000 Mbps and Wi -Fi type 802.11n/b/g for its network connectivities. It comes with two USB 2.0 ports and video interface VGA, bundled with a welcome addition of Bluetooth and a combo eSATA. The absence of USB 3.0 port and that of Firewire port epitomises the machine’s rather poor interface portfolio, you will also have to aquire a port replicator if you want to enjoy digital output. But you will appreciate the presence of stereo speakers and in -built microphone and webcam. That the Latitude 13 is Energy Star compliant is another tick in the box.
The laptop comes with a keyboard to be proud of with its brilliant texture and a commendable layout for a machine of its built. The 13.3 inches display with a native 1366 by 768 pixel resolution produces excellent imaging. Its audio comes as a suprising delight for a small machine. The overall tonal bass is standard and okay, only soiled by its rather substandard speakers.
The machine covers a width of 13 inches, a depth of 9 inches and a modest height of 0.8 inches. The machine weighs a partry 3 pounds 5 ounces, that can get to 4.3 pounds when the machine is fully ensuite.
The machine comes at a tidy tag of $1044 that appears to be on the higher side, especially when you put its poor battery output into the equation. But to its credit, Dell offers great connectivity.