The X200 is a wonder of engineering, with all the necessary performance packed into a tiny chassis. Add to this the well-featured docking station, and the only thing this ultra portable lacks is wireless connectivity.
There's something unnerving about carrying the Dell Latitude X200 around. With most notebooks, you can feel their weight as a constant reminder of their existence - with this 1.3kg wonder, I found myself constantly checking my bag to make sure it was still there. My fears were doubled by the fact that the chassis measures just 24mm from top to bottom, while its width is a briefcase-friendly 273mm.
Media frenzy
The $2,557 Latitude X200 we tested came with Intel's new 800MHz ultralow-voltage mobile Pentium III-M, 256MB of RAM, and a 30GB hard drive. Its media slice included a floppy drive in one bay and a front-loading, 8X DVD/CD-RW combo drive in the other. Thanks to dual sliding locks, attaching and releasing the slice is a cinch. Sans media slice, the notebook costs $1,999.
Small but well supplied
The Latitude X200 may be small, but it squeezes in a lot of features. It measure .8 inches thick by 10.7 inches wide by 8.9 inches deep and weighs 2.8 pounds. The AC adapter adds .49 pounds, while the media slice adds 2.46 pounds and doubles the notebook's thickness. Connectivity is good, with one IEEE 1394 (FireWire), one Ethernet, one modem, one audio, and two USB ports. The single Type II PC Card slot is nice, but rather than a spring-loaded door, it comes with a flimsy, plastic dummy card that'd be easy to break or lose. Dell meets you halfway on 802.11b wireless networking; you get dual antennae inside the system, but you have to purchase the optional TrueMobile 1150 mini-PCI wireless card ($149) to make them work or use a wireless card in the PC Card slot.
Average speed, battery life
It's unclear whether the low-voltage processor helped the Latitude X200; the Dell's standard six-cell battery conked out after just 114 minutes in tests,so dell latiutude x200 battery have a longer battery life. which is normal for an ultralight. By comparison, the Toshiba Portégé 2000 lasted only 92 minutes on its primary battery, but the Gateway 200 held on for 161 minutes. If you need more juice, squeeze out another for the X200's optional second battery, an eight-cell pack or a universal laptop battery to choose.
The Latitude X200 performed capably in performance tests. Running Windows XP Professional, it closely trailed the Gateway 200, which had a faster 866MHz CPU. The Toshiba Portégé 2000's 750MHz mobile Pentium III CPU (which has a slower frontside bus and a smaller Level 2 cache than the mobile Pentium III-M's in the Dell and Gateway) kept it respectfully behind the Latitude X200.
Dell does appear to have half an eye on the after-hours customer, though. There's a 30GB hard disk to provide plenty of storage space for audio, video and other space-hungry files, while a full-sized
FireWire port makes hooking up a DV camera or external drive simplicity itself. Add two USB ports, a VGA output and the ubiquitous Ethernet and modem ports, and this notebook is surprisingly well connected.
Our only criticisms here are the lack of an infrared port, Wireless LAN and Bluetooth. The latter two may seem like luxuries now, but in 18 months we suspect they'll be a standard inclusion - and there's just one PC Card slot, after all. That said, Dell will fit a mini-PCI 802.11b card for ?9.
While we're covering the Latitude's bad points, we should mention battery life. It only just kept going for two hours in our light-use test, while pushing the notebook to its maximum cut this time in half. This isn't a huge surprise, as the battery itself is tiny. This does at least mean you can buy a second battery for ?9 without adding too much to your luggage, or you could choose the extended life unit (which increases the weight to 1.5kg) for ?06.
One extra that Dell includes as part of this configuration is the excellent media slice (a docking station to the rest of us). This includes two USB ports, plus ports for FireWire, parallel, serial, PS/2, S/PDIF, Ethernet and a VGA output. We also appreciate the DVD/CD-RW combo drive, which is accompanied by a floppy drive. So it doesn't take much to transform this notebook into a fully featured desktop PC at home or work.
Alternatively, you can buy a much more basic version of the Latitude - say with an external CD-ROM rather than the docking station - which will set you back a mere ?,249 (e-Value code 200-L01REV). And that includes a three-year, on-site, next-business-day warranty, just like the reviewed specification here.
Hopefully, you won't need to call on this cover, as the Latitude X200 is well built despite its svelte dimensions. The slate grey chassis may be made of ruggedised plastic rather than magnesium alloy, but it offers plenty of protection to the screen. The only thing it lacks is the stylish finish of a Sharp Muramasa PC-UM10 or Toshiba Portege 2000 (see Labs, issue 91, p92).
Okay, so it's not that glamorous, dell latitude x200 battery life is far from amazing, and there's no integrated wireless. But the Latitude X200 weighs a feather-light 1.3kg, is quick enough for all those chore-like jobs most people use ultra portables for, and its price is amazing. Our advice: go to the website and order one now. Just remember to quote Dell's 200-L02REV e-Value code.
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