The business world is a chaotic place filled with new challenges every day. For the business-class type person, there must be a realistic solution in terms of mobility, reliability, durability, and power of their computer. Dell decided to answer this plea with the launch of the Dell Latitude D630 light-weight business laptop in June of 2007 replacing its somewhat problematic predecessor, the Latitude D620.
D630 Exterior Motive
The D630 top is colored in metallic gray magnesium which might give off a moderate bore appeal, but is very durable; however, once you open the lid you are immersed in a vibrant mixture of graphite and metallic gray – in my opinion, adding a sophisticated business-colored style. The design and color incorporated is very clean and orderly, especially good for tidy people. It is also reasonably sized at 13.3” x 1.3” x 10.3” (W x H x D) weighing in at approximately 5.5-5.8lbs based on configuration.
Going along with the reasonable size of the D630 is the 14.1” Widescreen display. The 14.1” WXGA+ is incredibly bright (223cd/m2), a great improvement of its predecessor the D620. The 14.1” widescreen hosts a remarkable 1440x900 native resolution. The high native resolution and the widescreen display make office work more efficient being able to have multiple windows opened side-by-side.
Many laptops have been destroyed by some minor human clumsiness, such as a drop. One way to prevent this problem is to get a $3,000 ToughBook with lackluster performance. Or, go to the D630 approximately priced around $1,000 with much more power than the ToughBook. The magnesium build of the D630 makes it exceptionally durable to those, once tragic, laptop drops and doesn’t compromise power as the ToughBook. Although the ToughBook does withstand more and is made with the sole focus of enduring any condition the world can dish out, the Dell Latitude D630 has the looks, durability, and power of everyday laptop needs.
Logic Based Functionality
A laptop must be logically put together. For instance, you wouldn’t want to put audio controls on the back of the laptop and have to reach around every time you need to turn the volume down. Dell, logically thinking, put the audio controls right above the keyboard for easy access. The audio functions include increasing and decreasing the volume, and mute. Although a few more functions would be nice, it’s better than nothing and does make life a little bit easier to manage.
IBM has been known to always have the trackpoint in the middle of all their laptop keyboards (the little rubber point that allows you to use the mouse cursor on laptops). For some, this is a convenient alternative than using the mouse pad below the keyboard. Dell decided to incorporate the trackpoint into the D630. Unlike IBM where it’s just a point sticking out, the D630 uses a trackpoint that fits snuggly around the tip of your finger enabling more comfortable mouse control.
Have you ever had one of those computers where the only USB drives were located on the back of the computer? This is especially a hassle when you have information on a flash drive, which in certain cases need to be accessed quickly, can be time-hindering when you have to reach around to plug it in. The Latitude D630 has conveniently placed to USB 2.0 ports on the right side of the laptop next to the optical drive bay.
Not all is logical with the D630. An illogical choice Dell decided to make is having one RAM bay below the laptop and the other in a not so easily accessible area, such as underneath the keyboard. Especially something with RAM which can be upgraded frequently, an easy access area would have been wiser for the one RAM bay that was inconveniently placed under the keyboard.
D630 – The Technical Facets
Now, let’s move onto the technical side and possibly the most anticipated – the power of the D630. The D630 boasts a new line of Core 2 Duo processor’s based on Intel’s new Santa Rosa chipset platform. The Santa Rosa chipset comes in a Core 2 Duo lineup of T7300, T7500, and T7700 models. The Dell D630 incorporates the Core 2 Duo T7300 with a standard 2.0 GHz processor speed and 800MHz FSB brought to you by the Santa Rosa chipset. Simply put, the Santa Rosa chipset greatly increases processor performance.
The laptop supports a maximum of 4GB (4096MB) of RAM. It normally comes with a 1-2GB RAM base so that on its own is already pretty good for the price. It has a Serial ATA hard drive type which improves hard drive speed. To further protect your hard drive information is Dell’s patented StrikeZone shock-absorption technology.
On the left side of the D630 is 1 PCMCIA slot for additional add-on’s, a smart card reader, a wireless on/off switch, a FireWire IEEE 1394 port, a headphone jack, and a microphone input port. On the right side are the optical drive, which is incredibly easy to remove, and 2 USB 2.0 ports to the side of the drive. On the back of the D630 are 2 more 2.0 USB ports, a serial port, a VGA-out, a gigabyte Ethernet port, and a 56K modem line port. On the bottom is a docking port. For those of you who do not know, a dock is an external add-on which is convenient for on-the-go laptop owners. For example, at home you may have a printer, external hard drives, network drives, a monitor, and any other external devices hooked up to your laptop. It would be such a hassle to unplug all the wires when you need to take your laptop out with you and to plug everything back in when you come home. An answer to this solution is going with a dock or port replicator. Instead of plugging everything in directly to the laptop, you would plug it in to the port replicator. When you take your laptop with you, you simply eject it from the dock where everything is connected. Now when you dock your laptop again, everything is already connected and ready to go.
A business laptop needs to endure hours of long use without needing 
charge. The Dell D630 comes with an extended nine-cell battery which can last anywhere between 3.5-4 hours in regards to usage and screen brightness. If you set up your D630 to run power-friendly, four hours is a realistic stretch. The extended battery, unlike most laptops, extends out through the front of the laptop which may seem a bit awkward at first; however, many people grow to use it to rest their wrists when typing or even use it as grip when carrying the laptop out of a bag.
Final Impression
All around Dell has really turned out a great working laptop. The Latitude D630 is mobile, durable, reliable, and powerful – a combination very rare. Not to mention it is quite fashionable with its sleek design and color choice. It has a long battery life for long usage, durable exterior, a protective hard drive for important company data, and a very logical design. Consider the Dell Latitude D630 when upgrading your business-oriented laptop, you will not be disappointed!
