Latitude D600

The D600 model was one of Dell's greatest business class laptops. Durable, easily upgradable and VERY easy to fix and get replacement parts for should the need arise made it a standard on many desks and conference tables, in brief cases, laptop bags, hotel rooms worldwide for many years.

DESIGN (or Redesign)
When Dell redesigned their business line they listened to those of us who, for years, had been using it's predecessor (remember the c640?) and made changes that worked for all of us. The silver D600 is a smaller, sleeker version of the gray C600, The chassis was designed using aluminum, magnesium alloy and steel, to make the D600 Latitudes lighter and thinner than previous models. The end product measures in at 1.2 by 12.4 by 10.1 inches and weighs an easy-to-tote 5.3 pounds.

POWER AND PERFORMANCE
Pentium M Mobile processor 1.3 Ghz - 2.0 Ghz Using Intel's 855PM chipset and standard 256 266 Mhz (PC2100) DDR memory more than enough to handle most of today's business application and tasks.

A PLETHORA OF OPTIONS, CHOICES AND UPGRADES
One of the things I like most about Dell is they give the buyer plenty of choices and upgrade options to choose from. Optical Drives included: Cd, CD-RW, DVD, DVD/CDRW Combo, DVD-RW. Hard drives came in 20GB - 60 GB flavors (but can certainly hold up to 120 GB), and the all-important RAM choices ranged between 256MB and 1.0 GB (with a maximum capacity of 2 GB). One would find it a challenge not to be able to spec out your laptop and keep within your boss' budget.

GRAPHICS
One feature Dell didn't hold back on was the graphics card that it put into the D600. Powered by a 32MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 chip the output drives a 14.1-inch SXGA+ screen which has a native resolution of 1,400 x 1,050 pixels. The result, a nice 14.1" Clear LCD, which was easy on the eyes BUT also provided enough power to run most games available at that time.

CONNECTIVITY
Dell offered a wide range of connectivity options for those road warriors that this laptop was designed for. All models came with an internal 56K bps Modem, and an integrated Gigabit Ethernet card (10/100/1000Mbps). Wireless options were aplenty. Choices included the Intel Pro Wireless PCI card (Centrino) for one of Dell's own TrueMobile solutions, either the 1300 with 802.11b/g or the 1400 which supports 802.11a, b and g. The choice of adding an internal BlueTooth card was also available.

ONE COOL FEATURE: The Multibay
The multibay came standard with whatever optical drive (CD, DVD, etc.) you chose installed in it. However, that was not the end of it (It is called a multibay). The bay was designed for you to add options to your laptop to make your life on the road MUCH EASIER. Options like another battery, an extra hard drive or even a floppy (remember those?). Simply pop out your DVD, pop in the extra hard drive that had your back up on it and you were "good-to-go) no reboot needed. How cool is that?

INPUTS, OUTPUTS, OTHER ODDS-AND-ENDS
The d600 came outfitted with all the standard ports, slots and jacks that all business applications required. On the back: 2 USB 2.0 jacks, S-Video-out, modem, Ethernet, parallel, VGA, and serial ports. On the left: Headphone and microphone jacks, an IrDA port, and one Type II PC Card slot. Across the front: 2 speakers located on each corner.

SUMMARY AND CLOSING REMARKS
In my opinion this laptop strikes a good balance between mobility and performance. It's some great features that blow away even some of the newer "bargain" models that come out since.