Inside the case
What will make or break the Latitude are its own features. It includes a 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor (upgradeable to 1.6GHz) and a separate low-voltage ARM-based processor -- the Texas Instruments OMAP 3430 -- for its Latitude ON alternate boot environment (more about that in a moment). Also standard are 2GB RAM (expandable to 4GB) and an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD [dont know what that is, but it doesnt sound good].
While most notebooks and even netbooks still shy away from the more durable but more expensive SSDs in favor of traditional hard drives, Dell has decided that its Latitude Z will accommodate one or two SSDs. The base model has a 64GB SSD, with an option to expand to 128GB or 256GB; the secondary SSD is available in the same three capacities.
The notebook has two battery options: Dell says the standard 4-cell battery is good for about 4 hours, while the longer-life 8-cell battery ($69 as a replacement for the standard battery, $150 as an additional battery) lasts for 8 hours. While the standard battery fits snugly between two rather snazzy silver metal holders, the longer-life battery extends out a bit from the back of the chassis and adds about half a pound to its weight, but it could be worth it for the additional computing time.
Also included: 802.11a/g/n wireless networking, Bluetooth, a fingerprint reader, a contactless Smart Card reader, two USB ports (one of which is also an eSATA port) and an Ethernet port. (Unusually, the Ethernet port is behind the notebook's hinge, on the side of the battery.) It comes with Windows Vista Ultimate or Business, or Windows XP Pro.
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The right side of the bezel (the frame around the display) responds to pressure from your fingers and brings up a customizable icon menu on that side of the screen; press the bezel near the icon and you can launch the associated application. I don't know how useful a feature like that will be in the long run, but it certainly looked cool.
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stuff about featuers that have been standard for MBP for years now
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instant on feature (cool)
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looking at it some more, it has a couple cool features, but in terms of specs + looks, it is far behind the MBP -- which is not only not brand new but pretty old (design & guts) & due for a nice refresh. if they were selling this for 1K, thatd be one thing, but its priced comparable to MBP w/ way less power, no OSX, less durability, inferior aesthetics, etc etc. maybe im missing something but i dont see what the big deal is.
