Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: how, does, dell | Themes: Business Notebooks
- 1. Time For Some Comparisons
- 2. Features: Dell Latitude X1, Fujitsu P1510D, Averatec AV1050
- 3. Features: Sony T350P, Fujitsu B6110D, Toshiba R200
- 4. Six Laptops: Specifications Compared
- 5. Using The Dell Latitude X1
- 6. Using The Dell Latitude X1, Continued
- 7. Testing The Dell Latitude X1
- 8. MobileMark 2005 Battery Benchmarks, Continued
- 9. MobileMark 2005 Battery Benchmarks, Continued
- 10. SYSmark 2004 SE Performance Benchmarks
- 11. SYSmark 2004 SE Performance Benchmarks, Continued
- 12. SYSmark 2004 SE Performance Benchmarks, Continued
- 13. SYSmark 2004 SE Performance Benchmarks Conclusions
- 14. PCMark05 Benchmarks
- 15. PCMark05 Benchmarks, Continued
- 16. 3DMark05 Benchmarks
- 17. Conclusions
- 18. More on this topic
5. Using The Dell Latitude X1
The Dell Latitude X1's outer reinforced magnesium alloy case feels just a bit thin, but Dell says the case will hold up well in most situations. When open, the display part of the case can be flexed quite easily distorting the image, though the display does return to normal quickly and with no apparent damage. The clamshell case opens easily, lacking the annoying snap lock found on many portable computers. The case's fit and finish is excellent. The display closes down evenly over the keyboard part of the case and all spacers on the display part of the case touch the bottom part of the case with no gaps.
Dell has done a great job with the Latitude X1's keyboard. The keyboard is very easy to type on. The X1 is about .5" (1.3 cm) wider and .5" (1.3 cm) deeper than Sony's VAIO VGN-T350P. However, the keys on the X1 are spaced so as to give significantly more room for fingers than the Sony's keys.
There are two reasons why this is so. First, the Dell's keyboard is 10.12" (25.7 cm) wide by 4.06" (10.3 cm) deep, while the Sony's keyboard is 10.06" (25.5 cm) wide by only 3.5" (8.9 cm) deep. This leaves a little less room for larger keys on the Sony. Second, the Dell uses shorter keys in the letter key rows on the extreme left and right of the keyboard, while the Sony's keyboard uses relatively larger keys in those areas. (See the photos below.) Including spacing on each side, each letter key on the X1 is almost .75" square; the letter keys on the Sony are about .63" square. In this case .12" makes a lot of difference ergonomically speaking.
Dell made the X1's keyboard more ergonomic in a couple of other ways. Notice in the photos below the slightly different and more PC keyboard-like key configuration of the Dell compared to the Sony. The Dell has a pair of Page Up and Page Down keys on the left side of its keyboard. Up and down paging on the Sony is done in the more traditional manner, by holding down the Fn key and pressing the up and down arrows. Dell also has made great use of space near the up and down arrow keys, placing the Control and Page Down keys there. On the Sony those spaces are unused.
Left side of the Dell Latitude X1 keyboard
Right side of the Dell Latitude X1 keyboard
- Previous page Six Laptops: Specifications Compared
- Next page Using The Dell Latitude X1, Continued
