The Dell Latitude D800 laptop is tailor made for power users looking for portability without compromising on performance. This statement won't make much sense unless you go through the specifications. Till then, you can take my word for it; the Latitude D800 will give even the latest desktops a run for their money.
Rightly placed as a "Desktop replacement", the D800 is not the sleekest or the lightest of the lot, simply because it's not meant to be sleek and light. Powered with Intel Centrino Mobile Technology, the D800 is a premium offering from a reputed brand well known for rolling out pure performance products.
What inside the D800?
At the heart of the Dell D800 lies the Pentium M 2.0 GHz processor powered with 2 MB L2 cache. The D800 houses 1 GB of PC 2100 DDR memory coupled with the Intel 855PM chipset. Storage is taken care by an 80 GB 4200 RPM hard drive. On the wireless front the D800 incorporates an Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 WLAN (802.11b/g, 54 Mbps) miniPCI card.
Apart from the Wi-Fi LAN, the D800 also offers a Gigabit Ethernet LAN, a Bluetooth module and an integrated IR port that ensures complete freedom from wires and provides full-fledged connectivity options for PDAs and cellphones. A 15.4" Wide screen ultra-sharp UXGA display screen (1920 x 1200 pixels) delivers rich colors and superb clarity. The configuration gets even better with an 8X DVD-Writer and an Nvidia GeForce FX 5650 128 MB graphics accelerator.
At the rear are the external power connector, one serial port, one parallel port, a VGA out, an Ethernet port, one 56K modem port and two USB 2.0 ports. Surprisingly, what's missing is a PS/2 port. The right side has an additional USB 2.0 port and a modular bay that houses the DVD-Writer. To the left are the FireWire port, PCMCIA slot, IR port and the headphone and mic connectors.
Coming to the keyboard, it's responsive and well laid; the feel is tactile and zippy. Navigation is handled by a responsive pointer stick and a touch pad. The volume control switch and a mute button form the audio controls. The built-in speakers at the edge of the notebook are pretty basic and loud enough for a laptop PC.
The exhaust vents at the back drive all the hot air out, keeping things cool inside. As far as the build quality is concerned, the D800 is made of a blend of aluminum, magnesium alloy and steel. Measuring 1.5" x 14.2" x 10.9", the D800 weighs about 3.5 Kg.
The Dell Latitude D800 comes preloaded with a licensed copy of Windows XP professional. Apart from the OS, you get the recovery CD and the drivers disk.
Specifications
Benchmarking
The last time we reviewed a power horse, it was the Acer Ferrari 3000 LMi. We compared the Dell D800 to the Acer Ferrari. In the graphics test we used the latest games like DOOM 3 and Far Cry to find out whether the laptop can take the heat from latest game engines.
Benchmarks
Si-software Sandra
Dell Latitude D800
3D Mark 2003
Gaming Benchmarks
DOOM 3
DOOM 3 @800x600 - High Quality - 13 FPS
DOOM 3 @800x600 - Medium Quality - 17 FPS
DOOM 3 @640x480 - Low Quality - 25 FPS
Far Cry
Regulator Demo@1024x768 high quality - 21.27 FPS
Volcano Demo@ 1024x768 high quality - 25.62 FPS
Research Demo@ 1024x768 high quality - 16.56 FPS
Performance
The benchmarks say it all; the Dell Latitude D800 is a true desktop replacement and more. Integrated with maximum features and a top of the line configuration, it is not surprising that the D800 out performs the Acer Ferrari 3000 LMi by a long way. The raw power of the 2.0 GHz Pentium M processor combined with 1 GB of DDR RAM ensures enough power and room for all the possible applications to run smooth. The HDD performance in PC Mark 2004 does look a little pale in front of the other benchmarks, primarily due to the 4500 RPM hard drive.
The D800 is certainly not ideal for the latest and upcoming games. Having said this, one can extract about 20-25 FPS as long as the details are low or medium. Games like DOOM 3 and Far Cry did struggle at high detail levels, but performed all right at 800 x 600 pixel resolution at medium/low detail levels. On the contrary, games like NFS:U ran perfectly fine with maximum details and all the eye candy turned on.
The 15" high resolution wide screen display delivers and unmatched experience. Gaming and movies simply cannot get any better than this. The screen is sharp and displays vivid lifelike colors. The view angle also is much wider as compared to the basic laptops, allowing some flexibility.
The battery life is average, giving about 2.5-3 hours on full charge. The performance would differ depending on the applications used. Gaming and movies definitely consume more power reducing the average battery life to about 2.5 hours. The Dell Latitude D800 also offers the docking features, but one has to buy the dock separately.
Being a power horse, the laptop does heat up a little, but the heat dissipation works well enough not to cause any major discomfort.
Conclusion
Priced at Rs. 2,37,918/- the Dell Latitude D800 is certainly made for deep pockets. Being a top of the line configuration, the Latitude D800 targets users looking for a full-blown power horse that offers a rich feature set coupled with stellar performance. Compared to the international price of $3000, the Dell Latitude D800 is a little over priced. The bottom line, the Dell Latitude D800 has got all the works and an unmatched performance as long as you are ready to pay for it.
Test Unit Sourced From: Dell India.
Rightly placed as a "Desktop replacement", the D800 is not the sleekest or the lightest of the lot, simply because it's not meant to be sleek and light. Powered with Intel Centrino Mobile Technology, the D800 is a premium offering from a reputed brand well known for rolling out pure performance products.
What inside the D800?
At the heart of the Dell D800 lies the Pentium M 2.0 GHz processor powered with 2 MB L2 cache. The D800 houses 1 GB of PC 2100 DDR memory coupled with the Intel 855PM chipset. Storage is taken care by an 80 GB 4200 RPM hard drive. On the wireless front the D800 incorporates an Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 WLAN (802.11b/g, 54 Mbps) miniPCI card.
Apart from the Wi-Fi LAN, the D800 also offers a Gigabit Ethernet LAN, a Bluetooth module and an integrated IR port that ensures complete freedom from wires and provides full-fledged connectivity options for PDAs and cellphones. A 15.4" Wide screen ultra-sharp UXGA display screen (1920 x 1200 pixels) delivers rich colors and superb clarity. The configuration gets even better with an 8X DVD-Writer and an Nvidia GeForce FX 5650 128 MB graphics accelerator.
At the rear are the external power connector, one serial port, one parallel port, a VGA out, an Ethernet port, one 56K modem port and two USB 2.0 ports. Surprisingly, what's missing is a PS/2 port. The right side has an additional USB 2.0 port and a modular bay that houses the DVD-Writer. To the left are the FireWire port, PCMCIA slot, IR port and the headphone and mic connectors.
Coming to the keyboard, it's responsive and well laid; the feel is tactile and zippy. Navigation is handled by a responsive pointer stick and a touch pad. The volume control switch and a mute button form the audio controls. The built-in speakers at the edge of the notebook are pretty basic and loud enough for a laptop PC.
The exhaust vents at the back drive all the hot air out, keeping things cool inside. As far as the build quality is concerned, the D800 is made of a blend of aluminum, magnesium alloy and steel. Measuring 1.5" x 14.2" x 10.9", the D800 weighs about 3.5 Kg.
The Dell Latitude D800 comes preloaded with a licensed copy of Windows XP professional. Apart from the OS, you get the recovery CD and the drivers disk.
Specifications
Benchmarking
The last time we reviewed a power horse, it was the Acer Ferrari 3000 LMi. We compared the Dell D800 to the Acer Ferrari. In the graphics test we used the latest games like DOOM 3 and Far Cry to find out whether the laptop can take the heat from latest game engines.
Benchmarks
Si-software Sandra
PC Mark 2004
Acer Ferrari 3000 Lmi
Acer Ferrari 3000 Lmi
Dell Latitude D800
3D Mark 2001
3D Mark 2003
Gaming Benchmarks
DOOM 3
DOOM 3 @800x600 - High Quality - 13 FPS
DOOM 3 @800x600 - Medium Quality - 17 FPS
DOOM 3 @640x480 - Low Quality - 25 FPS
Far Cry
Regulator Demo@1024x768 high quality - 21.27 FPS
Volcano Demo@ 1024x768 high quality - 25.62 FPS
Research Demo@ 1024x768 high quality - 16.56 FPS
Performance
The benchmarks say it all; the Dell Latitude D800 is a true desktop replacement and more. Integrated with maximum features and a top of the line configuration, it is not surprising that the D800 out performs the Acer Ferrari 3000 LMi by a long way. The raw power of the 2.0 GHz Pentium M processor combined with 1 GB of DDR RAM ensures enough power and room for all the possible applications to run smooth. The HDD performance in PC Mark 2004 does look a little pale in front of the other benchmarks, primarily due to the 4500 RPM hard drive.
The D800 is certainly not ideal for the latest and upcoming games. Having said this, one can extract about 20-25 FPS as long as the details are low or medium. Games like DOOM 3 and Far Cry did struggle at high detail levels, but performed all right at 800 x 600 pixel resolution at medium/low detail levels. On the contrary, games like NFS:U ran perfectly fine with maximum details and all the eye candy turned on.
The 15" high resolution wide screen display delivers and unmatched experience. Gaming and movies simply cannot get any better than this. The screen is sharp and displays vivid lifelike colors. The view angle also is much wider as compared to the basic laptops, allowing some flexibility.
The battery life is average, giving about 2.5-3 hours on full charge. The performance would differ depending on the applications used. Gaming and movies definitely consume more power reducing the average battery life to about 2.5 hours. The Dell Latitude D800 also offers the docking features, but one has to buy the dock separately.
Being a power horse, the laptop does heat up a little, but the heat dissipation works well enough not to cause any major discomfort.
Conclusion
Priced at Rs. 2,37,918/- the Dell Latitude D800 is certainly made for deep pockets. Being a top of the line configuration, the Latitude D800 targets users looking for a full-blown power horse that offers a rich feature set coupled with stellar performance. Compared to the international price of $3000, the Dell Latitude D800 is a little over priced. The bottom line, the Dell Latitude D800 has got all the works and an unmatched performance as long as you are ready to pay for it.
Test Unit Sourced From: Dell India.
