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Dell Latitude X1 (Pentium M Processor ULV 733 1.1GHz, 256MB RAM)

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List price as of Apr 27, 2005:
S$3151

Product Summary

Very good

7.3

out of 10

The good: Superb form factor; good features; CF + SD reader; comprehensive warranty.

The bad: Non-removable RAM; monoaural audio; so-so battery life.

The bottom line: Executives searching for a very light business notebook could well consider the Latitude X1.

Read full review of the Dell Latitude X1 »

Average User Rating

from 2 users

Spectacular

8.5

out of 10

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CNET Asia Review

By Stephen Tong
Apr 27, 2005

The Latitude X1 replaces the Latitude X300 as Dell's lightest laptop. Sporting the same design as the gorgeous Samsung Q30, the X1 is much sturdier than the Toshiba Portege R150 and slimmer than the Acer TravelMate 3002WTCi. The S$3,434 price for the test unit (prices starts at S$2,799 as of April 2005) included an additional 256MB RAM, an external DVD/CD-RW drive and MS Office 2003 Basic. Though not the most affordable ultraportable available, it's certainly one of the most portable and good-looking laptops out there.

	The classy Latitude X1

Design
The ultraportable's frame holds a 12.1-inch screen and measures a very compact 286 x 196.8 x 25mm and tips the scales at a mere 1.14kg (including the tiny 3-cell battery). The adapter is just as tiny, weighing an additional 325g. The X1 has a sturdy plastic build similar to the chassis of other Dells which gives the notebook its desired business-like form.

The keyboard gives good tactile feedback though the depth is a little shallow. The keys are well-spaced for an ultraportable though Dell still hasn't learned how to add a separate switch to activate Wi-Fi access or a dedicated volume control. Although the touchpad is pretty large, we found the mouse buttons a little too small for comfort. There is a good range of expansion options including an SD reader at the front and CF slot on the right. The mono speaker lies on the underside which doesn't speak very well of its audio capabilities. There's also no option to swap RAM modules should you need to do so.

	The underside doesn't hold much room for expansion.

Features
The test unit included the Pentium M processor ULV 733 (1.1GHz), 256MB RAM and a 30GB hard drive. As per most lightweight notebooks, integrated graphics are used. Though there's no inbuilt optical drive, we're provided with an external modular bay with DVD/CD-RW support. Interestingly the docking bay comes with a cable that fastens around the housing's exterior. The cable connects to the X1 through a USB 2.0 port and fairly large power pin outlet. The unit features a useful shock absorber feature named Strike Zone which Dell claims will reduce the head vibrations and aftershock of impact by an average of 34 percent as compared to those without this attribute.

Equipped with 802.11b/g wireless LAN and Bluetooth, networking is a blast. The standard connectivity options such as USB ports, FireWire, VGA-out and audio jacks are included. However, there's no PC Card slot or S-video out options though the SD and CF card slots are commendable.

	Check out the SD card reader.

Performance And Battery Life
Our benchmarking software, MobileMark 2002, failed to run on the Latitude X1 due to a software failure. As such, we tested out various applications such as Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 and Microsoft Office 2003. Though Photoshop ran with few glitches, we experienced quite a bit of lag time when starting the application.

Battery life was tested by running a Run Lola Run as a Windows Media Player file. The volume and brightness was set at 50 percent and the Portable/Laptop scheme was run. Wi-Fi was turned off and the optical drive was unplugged. The movie ran for 1.57 hours (94 minutes), a tad disappointing considering an Ultra Low Voltage processor is used though the capacity is limited by the 3-cell Lithium-ion.

Update:
According to our sister site, CNET US reported a decent MobileMark 2002 score of 167, similar to the Fujitsu LifeBook P7010 (171). The X1 clocked 182 minutes (approx. 3 hours) of battery life which falls way short of the other notebooks with ULV 1.1GHz processors such as the Sony Vaio VGN-T17GP/S (332 min) and the Fujitsu LifeBook P7010 (300 min).

Service And Support
The default option on Dell's Web site is a three-year onsite limited warranty which covers parts and labor including phone support and battery coverage and international support in over 90 countries. A great array of other warranty options is offered, such as three years of complete coverage (including non-intentional accidents) in the Asia-Pacific region. You can also access Dell's online support site to find additional help such as FAQs and downloads for your notebook.

Loaded with Windows XP Professional Edition with Service Pack 2, the Dell comes with a software bundle which includes Power DVD, Sonic MyDVD, Sonic RecordNow! and Microsoft Works 7.0.

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User Reviews

samranahmad

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Ahh good due to its high memory VGA

Jan 26, 2006

Rating: 8 out of 10 (Excellent)
Pros: Very portable for the business purposes !
Cons: i liked the Wireless feature on this System
Opinion:
This system is ideal for the business purposes. and wireles networking !
very port able due to light in weight as well as good for the graphic applications because of high performance VGA and display !!
i Really liked it !

Amazing piece of art

Aug 12, 2005

Rating: 9 out of 10 (Spectacular)
Pros:
Cons:
Opinion:
The weight alone hasmade my friends envious. I had it configured to the max w/ 1.28gb RAM and 60gb HD. I love the machine, it's becoming rather handy carrying it from class to class. The screen is nice and the keyboard is well-sized. No problems typing for long periods and as a whole it feels very sturdy. Only quip is that there is no pc card slot but I don't use it much anyways and the optical drive is external, but there has to be sacrifices for the size. All in all I'm very happy with the purchase, it's an amazing machine.

See all user opinions »