Dell upgrades business laptops an Ivy Bridge makeover

Dell has given its entire business PC line an Ivy Bridge makeover, with the launch of eight new Latitude laptops and four Optiplex desktops running on Intel’s third generation Core processors.

Speaking at Dell’s Technology Camp event in London, the company’s vice president of End User computing, Erik Dithmer, said that the new products were all built around a “purpose-driven design,” based on the needs of customers.

“End-user computing is not just about the device any more; it’s about multiple devices, an ecosystem, and a set of solutions that give full functionality for the user, depending on what they want to do,” he said.

Designed primarily for mobile business users, the new Latitude laptops come in a range of sizes, with the E6230, E6330, E6430 and E6530 offering 12.5-inch, 13.3-inch, 14-inch and 15.6-inch screens respectively. All of the models offer up to 32.7 hours Dell Latitude X300 Battery life and multiple connectivity options – including LTE and Bluetooth 4.0.

The Latitude E6430s has many of the same features, but was singled out for its design, pairing a 13.3-inch chassis with a 14-inch HD display. The laptop has a tri-metal casing and is 18% lighter than any comparable product from HP, according to Dell.

Meanwhile, the 14-inch ruggedised Latitude E6430 ATG comes with a handle and is designed for extreme weather conditions – including vibration, dust and high altitudes – while the 14-inch E5430 and 15.6-inch E5530 are aimed at professionals looking for a more budget-friendly mobile platform.

On the desktop side, the new OptiPlex 3010, 7010, 9010 PCs feature wireless connectivity, microphone and headset mini-jacks, and Microsoft Unified Communications certification. They support up to three digital native monitors and up to four front or side USB ports.

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Finally, the OptiPlex 9010 All-in-One has an 23-inch monitor, integrated power supply, VESA mounting and optional wireless mouse and keyboard.

All of Dell’s new products offer 2GB of memory, integrated graphics and optional 128GB SSD. They also come with version 8 of Intel vPro systems management, to which Dell has added remote BIOS management and remote hard drive wipe.

“The whole concept of bring your own device is very appealing to the end user, but it’s also something that the IT executive has to be very focused on being able to deliver from a cost perspective, a support perspective and a complexity perspective,” said Bryan Jones executive director of Europe public large enterprise marketing at Dell.

“If you look at the products we’re launching today, we’ve embedded a lot of security features and capabilities that really drive that discussion around data sovereignty, data protection and all the things that go along with that.”

Pricing and availability details of the new Latitude and Optiplex models have not been announced.