While Dell’s newest netbook, the Latitude 2100, has the same Intel Atom processor, RAM, and operating system as its Inspiron Mini line, the Latitude is made of tougher stuff. That’s because it was created for students, especially those from kindergarten through eighth grade; although it does have some crossover appeal for road warriors. Packed with education-friendly features and sporting a durable design, it’s larger and heavier than most netbooks on the market. At $499 for our configuration, it’s not the least expensive netbook on the market, but its excellent ergonomics and peppy performance send it to the head of the class.
Student Rugged Build
Dell understands that kids can be rough on laptops, which is why the Latitude 2100 is covered in rubber casing, which makes it easy to grasp and protects the lid and underside of the system from scratches and bruises. This child-friendly laptop will be available in five fittingly named colors: School Bus Gold, Chalkboard Black, Ball Field Green, Blue Ribbon, and School House Red.
A network activity light, centered atop its sturdy lid, glows when the Latitude 2100 is connected to the Web. While it is intended for teachers to monitor network activity and identify students who might be surfing in cyberspace instead of working on an assignment, it gives the system some added aesthetic flare. A Dell representative said that education software developers will be able to incorporate this light into their programs as well; for example, an instructor might be able to discern when a student has accomplished a given task.
Measuring 10.4 x 7.4 x 0.9–1.6 inches, the Dell Latitude 2100 is larger and heavier than most other 10-inch netbooks, including the CTL 2go Convertible Classmate PC (also aimed at kids) as well as the more grown-up Samsung N110 and ASUS Eee PC 1000HE. In fact, the back of the 2100 is as thick as a mainstream laptop, and slightly thicker than Dell’s Studio XPS 13.
With its six-cell battery, the Latitude 2100 weighs 3.4 pounds, and increases to 4.2 pounds when you include its AC adapter—which is the size of a normal charger, rather than the compact adapter, typical of most netbooks. This netbook weighed down our adult notebook bag, and will surely be cumbersome for a younger student. But Dell has designed a special cart that will make it easy to charge, store and move them from one classroom to another. (See Education Features.)
Ports
On the left side of the system are VGA, USB, headphone and microphone jacks; on the right are two additional USB ports and an Ethernet port. A 3-in-1 memory card reader is on the front edge of the system.
Spacious Keyboard and Touchpad
The Dell Latitude 2100’s larger build allows it to accommodate a comfortable and spacious keyboard. Reminiscent of the Samsung N110’s, its matte black raised keys provided nice tactile feedback; the right Shift key is full size and directly below the Enter key. And because kids’ hands can pick up germs quickly, Dell will offer the keyboard with antimicrobial protection for $20. Above the keyboard are three volume controls for raising, lowering and muting.
Similarly, the touchpad is spacious and comfortable. The 2.5 x 1.5-inch pad felt smooth, wide enough for navigating the desktop, without much backtracking. Rather than integrating the mouse buttons on the trackpad like Dell attempted with the Inspiron Mini 10, the Latitude has separate right and left mouse buttons. Though slightly mushy, they allowed us to accurately make selections.
Display
Typical of some of the latest netbooks, the Latitude 2100’s 10.1-inch, LED-backlit display has a 1024 x 576-pixel resolution. While there are 24 fewer vertical pixels, which limits the amount of lines of text on the screen, the Latitude’s matte screen produced clear images and bright colors. When we watched an episode of 30 Rock on Hulu.com, vertical viewing angles were good, and tilting the screen to its maximum 120-degree angle didn’t cause any glare. Dell will offer the Latitude 2100 with a resistive touchscreen for an extra $30, allowing users to make on-screen selections with just the tap of a finger.
Audio and Webcam
The 0.5-inch wide bezel that surrounds the screen is larger than we would have liked, but accommodates dual speakers that vertically straddle the display. The speakers provided fairly loud playback; we could hear Tina Fey’s voice in that 30 Rock episode from across our small apartment. Listening to Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb” was clear but, understandably for such a small system, lacked bass.
Above the display is a 1.3-megapixel Webcam, which provided extremely clear images in a Skype video chat. A colleague saw little motion blur when we quickly waved and could even make out facial details. The microphone on our unit did not work
