Dell launches Latitude range of business laptops with 19-hour battery life

San Francisco: Computer maker Dell has introduced a new line of laptops with a battery life of upto 19 hours for business users, featuring a "brilliant new design and style" including a choice of five colours.

Dell says the new line has been developed after close collaboration with almost 4,000 IT professionals and end users.

Spanning the entire range of user's preferences, Dell's new Latitude and Dell Precision line of laptops features some of the lightest ultra-portable in the company's history, to other that can hold their own as powerful mobile workstations.

Announcing the launch, Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell, said, ''Since 1995, we've shipped more business laptops worldwide than anyone.''

''This, and our 5 million plus conversations a day with customers, gives us real insight into the needs of the digital nomad. Today we're translating that insight into breakthrough productivity, portability and design. The new Latitudes are breathtaking.''

The new range
Ultra-Portable - Dell Latitude E4200 is a 12.1-inch laptop that starts at 2.2 pounds, making it the lightest commercial notebook in the company's history. The 13.3-inch Latitude E4300 has a starting weight of 3.3 pounds. It is designed for those who demand maximum performance and light weight.

The Dell Latitude E6400 and E6500 are 14.1-inch and 15.4-inch laptops that priced at $1,139 and $1,169, respectively, and are ideal desktop replacements for high-performance users.

The Latitude E5400, a 14.1-inch notebook starts at $839, and the E5500, a 15.4-inch notebook starts at $869. These systems include everyday features at a cost-effective price.

The Latitude E6400 ATG is a 14.1-inch semi-rugged laptop that starts at $2,399, and is built and tested to meet Military 810F standards for dust, vibration and humidity.

From new port replicators to full docking solutions that fit any usage scenario with smaller footprints and streamlined cabling, users can ''hot undock.''

''The new Latitude laptops and Dell Precision mobile workstations represent the largest client product development effort in the history of Dell,'' said Jeff Clarke, senior vice president, Dell Product Group.

''We've invested more than 1 million engineering hours and the result is a family of head-turning products that are as solid on the inside as on the outside, with features that enable better security, manageability and productivity,'' he said.

Dell's new Latitudes feature:

• All-day computing on the E6400 with breakthrough battery life of up to 19 hours
  
• Full-frame magnesium alloy construction and all-metal hinges
  
• Sophisticated keyboard design
  
• Ease of use with Dell ControlPoint, centralizing control of user settings for power management, connectivity configurations and security management in a single application
  
• First business-class laptop with an intelligent backlit keyboard that automatically adjusts to ambient light levels
  
• Exclusive ControlVault solution - intelligent security sub-processors with embedded non-volatile storage that centralizes and helps protect user credentials and security keys in a single hardened security ''vault'' away from the systems main drive
  
• The E6500 is the only laptop with both a contact-less Smart Card reader and a fingerprint readers that complies with Federal Information Processing Standards
  
• Simplified IT with compatible peripherals, adapters, docking and robust manageability features across the entire portfolio.

The company also previewed Dell Latitude ON, a new technology that will enable near-instant access to e-mail, calendar, attachments, contacts and the Web without booting into the system's main operating system (OS).

Expected in the coming months on the Latitude E4200 and E4300, Dell Latitude ON uses a dedicated low-voltage sub-processor and OS that can enable multi-day battery life.

Coinciding with the introduction of Dell's new laptops, the company also launched a new community site called Digital Nomads.

The website is designed for individuals who are not defined by the four walls in their office or home, but by a desire to always be connected for work and play no matter their location.

Community members can come together to read about other digital nomads and share ideas, tips, tricks and best practices.