Dell Latitude E4310
rental/day: 136.75yuan   rental/week: 321.37yuan   rental/month: 401.71yuan	Processor	Core I5-520M,2.4GHz
	Memory	2GB DDR3 1333
	Hard Drive	250GB SATA7200
	Media Drive	DVD-RW
	Network Interface	1000M/802.11bgn
	Screen Size	13.3'LED
	Battery	6 Cell

Anymanufacturer that wants to be a true business retailer, has to be able to offerhigh-quality notebooks in all the current formats. Of increasingly importanceis the 13 inch form factor, which is becoming more popular for mobileapplications. Dell has provided the E4310 for this segment.

The Latitudeproduct palette by Dell includes a whole series of different model groups, alldesigned for professional use. On offer are diverse formats, beginning with the10 inch Netbook, up to the high performance 15 inch platform. Approximately inthe middle of this series lies the Latitude E4310, which essentially representsthe fusion between performance and mobility with its 13 inch display.Especially "management and frequent travelers" should be keen on thisnotebook, at least according to an advertising slogan on the Dell homepage.

The includedfeatures such as a speedy Intel Core i5 CPU, and comprehensive communicationoptions, as well as several security features, have to be paid for: from1249 Euros excluding VAT and postage and packing, although this does includethree years of on-site service on the following work day.

In thefollowing text we present a short test, which came about with the help of theTechnology Camp by Dell in London. As soon as a test device is available to us,we will provide the usual comprehensive test in addition.

Case& Design

From theperspective of the case, the Latitude E4310 is most closely related to theE6xxx series, with high quality materials and a strictly straight line design.It has not only inherited the combination of silver and black Aluminium-Magnesiumcomponents, but also their outstanding stability.

The attractivenotebook practically did not warp significantly in any areas of the case. Alsowhen handling the device, there was no noticeable bending or squeaking of anykind to be observed.
At first glance the contact for the closing mechanism made a good impression.The two massive metal hinges hold the display firmly in position,without even a trace of teetering. The maximum opening angle is about 170°,which should cover almost any usage scenario likely to be encountered inpractical use

Features

With the onlyshortly introduced Vostro 3300, the limited number of interfaces was one of thenegative aspects among others. Those that would expect this significantly moreexpensive notebook to improve in this respect are mistaken. In comparison tothe 13 inch Vostro there is even one less USB port. Thus the E4310 only has a singleUSB 2.0 interface and a USB/eSATA combination. Otherwise there is acombined microphone/headphone port, RJ-45 LAN connection, as well as an analogVGA output. With this the hope for a digital display output directly from thenotebook also vanishes.
Dell obviously relies completely on the use of a docking station, whichexpands the Latitude E4310s interfaces by the necessary number when instationary use. For mobile use the number of available interfaces is likely tobe sufficient.

There is noneed to make compromises when it comes to security features. With theintegrated Smartcard reader, the finger print reader, as well as the integratedTPM 1.2 chip, users should be equipped for all the current securityrequirements in the professional field.

There is alsosomething to be happy about when it comes to the communication features.Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11n, and Bluetooth are part of the standardpackage. Optionally available are also a 56k modem, as well as an integratedwireless broadband modem.

InputDevices

With a topclass business notebook the integrated input devices also have a high level ofsignificance. With the smaller form factor there is also logically less spacefor the input devices, and it is necessary to make the keyboard more compact tofit it into the available space. The Latitude E4310 however masters thesechallenges well, and is also particularly tolerable by frequent typers.

The keyboardis similar to the Latitude E6410 with respect to the layout and the size ofthe individual keys. Space is merely saved with the arrow keys, as well as theupper row of function keys. Altogether we can thankfully say that it has a successfulkeyboard design, also with respect to the type feeling. The keys sit veryfirmly in the case and give a good feeling when typing with a sufficientlyclear pressure point.

The usedTouchpad is also the same as the one in the Latitude E6410. In the first testthe Touchpad made a bit of a stubborn impression when navigating. Whether thiscould possibly be due to the driver configuration can only be confirmed in amore comprehensive test.

Display

Similarly tothe Vostro 3300, Dell only offers the Latitude E4310 in a single displaysize variant. This is a WLED display with a resolution of 1366x768pixels with a matte surface that only reflects marginally. Using the onlineconfiguration wizard it is nevertheless possible to choose between differentcolors for the back cover. Apart from the decent silver, as with the testdevice depicted, there are also red and blue lids available for the E4310.

Coming to thehard facts of the included display (LGD024D). When the brightness is set tomaximum using the notebook in battery powered mode, the maximum luminancemeasured was 219 cd/m2. On average the brightness of the screen lies at anacceptable 188.1 cd/m2. The illumination is not really satisfying with 77%, butat least visible artifacts are not created against bright backgrounds.

While theaverage brightness is a little better than that of the Vostro 3300, and theillumination lags behind marginally, the E4310 can make up some ground when itcomes to picture contrast. With a black level of 1.04 cd/m2 the displayachieves a maximum contrast of 187:1. This might not sound particularlyoverwhelming in light of the other values, but should be more than enough foran office device.

There is a bitmore leeway for criticism when it comes to the suitability for use of thenotebook outdoors. In principle the matte surface of the display already helpswith preventing reflections significantly, when using the notebook inespecially bright surroundings though, the brightness of the display can appearto be a bit too low for an ideally visible displayed image.

There is alsosome room for criticism for the display when it comes to the stability ofthe viewing angles. While the limitations of the horizontal viewing anglewill only become apparent once several people crowd around the notebook, thevertical viewing angles are much smaller, and only require a slight change ofposition to become noticeable. Particularly when in mobile use a repeated readjustmentof the display position is likely to be necessary.

Performance

As previouslymentioned earlier in this article, one of advantages of the 13 inch segment ofnotebooks are their possible optional features, especially with respectto their performance. The Latitude E4310 has a potent Intel Core i5 CPU(currently 520M and 540M) in this respect. These are not CPUs specificallydesigned to be energy efficient, but instead to be powerful dual-coreprocessors in the middle price range, that can also comfortably come to termswith complex tasks.
For this the included CPUs have two trumps up their sleeve: firstly IntelsHyperthreading, which simulates two cores in addition to the two physicalcores, thus giving multi-core optimized applications a significant performanceenhancement. Secondly Turbo-Boost, which enables automatic over-clockingof the cores, and is particularly beneficial for applications that only requirea single core in terms of performance enhancement achieved. The over-clockingtakes place automatically without any intervention necessary by the user. Moreon this in our special Arrandale article.

When it comesto the graphics options, the Intel GMA HD graphics solution integrated into the CPU unitis definitely the best choice. With this it is possible to have an especiallyenergy efficient solution on board, that also assists the CPU with theprocessing of HD video content, although for complex picture processing (OpenGL,...)the graphics performance is unlikely to be sufficient.

PerformanceIndex

Although theWindows performance index is not very telling when it comes to directlycomparing different notebooks, it can definitely show bottlenecks when it comesto system performance. The Latitude E4310 we examined a little more closely,with Intel Core i5-520M CPU, GMA HD graphics, 2GB DDR3 RAM, a 7200 RPM 250GBhard disk (ST9320423AS), and Windows 7 Pro 32-bit, reached a total score of 4.5points. Which is primarily limited by the weak graphics performance. Ofparticular note are the excellent scores for the CPU (6.6) and the RAM (7.1).

The hard diskalso achieves a good score with 5.9 points. This could be improved by using a SolidState Drive, that Dell also offers as an option for the E4310. Which doeshowever also come at a significantly higher price. For a not exactly specified256GB SSD, the Dell online shop currently demands a whole additional 610 Eurospremium.

When it comesto RAM it is also possible to add ample amounts of memory if necessary. Up to 8GBDDR3 SDRAM can be installed into the two RAM sockets in the E4310. Shouldthis be necessary, then a 64-bit version of the operating system shoulddefinitely be used, since a 32-bit operating system only allows just about 3GBof the installed RAM memory to be used. The additional premium for 8GB from astandard 4GB is currently approximately 200 Euros.

Emissions

We also took acloser look at the surface temperatures of Latitude E4310 while we hadthe chance, which are representative for those generated during normal officeuse. The upper surface stayed within the acceptable range at up to 32 °C, andcan merely be noticed as a marginal warming in the left keyboard area. Onlymarginally higher were the tempartures measured on the surfaces on the bottomof the notebook, where we measured up to 35.6 °C. In this scenario usingthe notebook while resting it on your lap should be possible without causingany problems.

As far as thevolume of the tested configuration of the notebook is concerned, we were ableto notice a cooling ventilator running consistently at a low level. Alsothe integrated fast 7200 RPM hard disk provided for a constantly presenthumming with its operating sound.

Verdict

In terms ofthe performance the Latitude E4310 makes most other ULV-sub notebooks lookantiquated. For this it is however necessary to be a bit more accommodatingwhen it comes to the weight (approx. 1.5 Kg with 3-cell battery) and batterylife.

The caseitself is clearly a descendant of the E6xxxx series, and stands out thanks tothe high-quality materials used, and straight lined design. The inputdevices are also good, especially the keyboard, which is essentially the sameas that in the bigger Latitude E6410.

In light ofthe high demands placed on the series, an improvement could clearly be made interms of the display. According to our measurments, the display cannot markedlydifferentiate itself from that on the significantly more affordable Vostro3300. With the comprehensive security features and not least thanks tothe docking-interface, we do see an all-round professional business notebook inthe E4310, that can also serve with an acceptable battery life providing thatthe necessary battery option (6-cell!) is used.