Dell Latitude D410 laptop

Small and powerful is the theme for Dell 's latest ultraportable. The Dell Latitude D410 ($2,086 direct as tested) successfully combines very good performance (thanks to the latest Intel Centrino platform) with a very light design (3.8 pounds system weight). The one drawback: Where its competition is squeezing in full-size keyboards, the D410 isn't able to accommodate that.

The keyboard is 94 percent of a full-size model, so those with porky fingers might find it difficult to adapt. We praise Dell for including dual pointing devices (touchpad and pointing stick), and the 12.1-inch screen (1,024-by-768 resolution) has a surprisingly good viewing angle and good contrast.

The Dell D410 is one of the first ultraportables to use Intel's latest Centrino platform, giving it a leg up in performance compared with the current IBM ThinkPad X40. The D410 includes the new Pentium M (1.73 GHz), which has a faster front-side bus, faster DDR2 memory, and a new integrated graphics chipset (the Graphics Media Accelerator 900 GM). SYSmark performance was very impressive, with a score of 162 in Internet Content Creation and a 126 in Office Productivity. The move from DDR to DDR2 memory also marginally increased Internet Content Creation scores. We saw a BatteryMark score of 4 hours 5 minutes, which, though not as good as the IBM X40's (5:42), is more than adequate for an ultraportable.

Like many ultraportables, the D410 doesn't have a built-in optical drive. A docking base is available with a removable optical drive and a substantial amount of connectivity ports. For additional docking options, Dell offers a simple port replicator ($200) and a docking station ($359). These options are common across the Latitude "D" family. For security, the D410 has a TPM 1.1, a hardware security chip for storing and generating encryption keys, which Dell has made standard across the new D class of notebooks. Combined with Intel's Execute Disable Bit (hardware antivirus solution) and the built-in smart-card reader, this should significantly improve security.

Software solutions include Dell's OpenManage client suite, which lacks smooth integration. The pieces, like Altiris recovery backup and its management tools, are not tied to one interface—unlike the solution you get on IBM ThinkPad lines—so you have to launch each one separately. Still, you get comprehensive hardware management, image and data backup/restore, and client configuration utilities.

There's no debating that the Dell D410 is a very good ultraportable. But if you're not in an all-Dell shop, the IBM ThinkPad X40 ($2,274) will more than satisfy your road needs, with decent performance, a full-size keyboard, and better battery life.