Dell's Latitude line of productivity-oriented laptops have long been popular with the business crowd because they provide a strong combination of performance and endurance with an added dose of style to boot. The 14-inch Dell Latitude E6430 continues this rich tradition by offering strong performance, an attractive, durable metal chassis and more than 10 hours of battery life. The Dell Latitude E6430 has the same attractive gunmetal gray aluminum lid, matte chrome body and angular sides as its predecessor, the. With a snazzy design that reminds us a sci-fi spaceship, the E6430 stands out in the world of staid black-and-gray business notebooks. The is smaller, thinner and lighter at 5. Combine that with an very comfortable dell latitude e6420 plastic palm rest and you have one of the best typing experiences on a notebook. We were able to achieve a strong score of 92 words per minute with just a 1 percent error rate on the Ten Thumbs Typing Test, well above our 80 word-per-minute average. By hitting Fn + right arrow, we were able to configure the keyboard's backlighting, choosing between five modes: off, 25 percent, 50 percent, 75 percent and 100 percent brightness. Even at 100 percent, the light was not particularly bright, and it shined up from the crevices between the keys. Touchpad and Pointing Stick The 3. Pinch-to-zoom, rotate and three-finger flicks all worked smoothly. The two discrete buttons offered just the right amount of feedback. In addition to its touchpad, the Latitude E6430 includes another navigation option: a pointing stick between its G and H keys. While we're huge fans of the TrackPoint sticks that Lenovo puts on its ThinkPads, Dell's rubber nub sits too low relative to the keys around it, making it uncomfortable to touch. If Dell wants to continue offering pointing sticks on its business notebooks, it needs to revisit this annoying design. Heat The Dell Latitude E6430 stayed pleasantly cool throughout our tests. After 15 minutes of streaming a video at full screen, the touchpad measured just 80 degrees, the keyboard was a mere 82 degrees and the bottom clocked in at 87 degrees Fahrenheit. We consider temperatures below 95 degrees comfortable. Display and Audio The 1600 x 900 matte 14-inch screen provided bright, sharp images and solid viewing angles, though its colors seemed muted at times. At 237 lux on our light meter, the Latitude E6430's dell latitude e6420 is brighter than the 203 lux thin-and-light notebook category average. dell latitude e6420 The configuration of the T430 we reviewed had a 1366 x 768 display, and was rather dim at 147 lux. Even viewed head-on, colors like the red in Iron Man's armor or the blue in Captain America's suit seemed dull, and blacks in particular seemed washed out and noisy. The Latitude E6430's dual, front-facing speakers provide accurate audio that's good enough for watching videos and presentations, but not to serve as your stereo. Dell latitude e6420 both cases, the maximum volume was barely loud enough to fill a room. Ports and Webcam Dell packs the Latitude E6430 with a solid selection of ports, including some you won't find everywhere else. However, colors were bland and our face appeared shadowed, even when we were sitting in a well-lit room. That's a rate of 169. That's about 50 percent faster than the 6:05 category average. Just don't expect to keep things playable with the special effects turned up; the rate dropped to 26 fps. Battery Life With its optional 9-cell battery installed, the Dell Latitude E6430 lasted a very strong 10 hours and 37 minutes, more than 4 hours longer than the 6 hour and 33 minute thin-and-light notebook category average. However, the Lenovo ThinkPad T430 lasted a whopping 13 hours and 25 minutes with its 9-cell battery attached. Software Dell includes its standard set of utilities, including Dell Webcam central for snapping photos and videos with the camera, Dell Touchpad for configuring the pointing devices and Dell Backup and Recovery Manager. The company also includes Intel's Wireless Display software and a trial version of Trend Micro Internet Security. Dell backs the Latitude E6430 with a three-year warranty on parts and labor, more than you get by default with competitors like Lenovo. You can also add dell latitude e6420 damage protection, on-site service or more years of coverage. Verdict The Latitude E6430 has a lot going for it: strong performance, extraordinary battery life, a world-class keyboard and an attractive chassis that's designed to take some punishment. Users may want to consider the similarly-pricedwhich has an even better keyboard and pointing stick and offers 3 hours of more endurance with its 9-cell battery. However, if you want a great-looking business system that packs plenty of power, the Latitude E6430 is one of your best choices. The power port is on the back of the laptop. That combined with it's weight means that if it slides off your couch while plugged in, the port will get damaged. I've had had this laptop model twice and they suffered this fate.
