Dell Latitude D820 business notebook

Introduction

Traditionally Dell has had two primary sections in the notebook department, one for business and one for consumers. The business section, unsurprisingly, would consist of notebooks right for business, a spartan or basic configuration containing only those options truly needed to do your work. Consumers, on the other hand, had more choices in terms of options for multimedia enhancements, different designs, or maybe even more cutting edge technology built-in. But now times have changed and both selections have overlapping configurations for each notebook flavor.

The business section is basically divided into two series, Precision and Latitude. Precisions are more cutting edge technology, sacrificing some stability for the latest features, which might have some instability possibly caused by new drivers. Latitudes are the more conventional choice for businesses offering increased stability due to being built on a proven platform.

Today we have the pleasure of reviewing the Latitude D820 series which falls into the high-end of the Latitude range and it’s our very first of many new notebook reviews here at TweakTown. While this notebook is listed under Dell's business section it actually boasts some nice features for an entertainment system, including a WUXGA display (that is 1900x1200 pixels to you and me) and HD audio.

Is this a perfect all round notebook for work (boo!) and fun (yay!)? Let us get cracking on this review and find out.

Specifications of the Dell D820 business notebook

We have already said the D820 has some impressive features; here is a more complete list:

Processor
Intel Core Duo T2500 (2Ghz)

Video
Nvidia Quadro NVS 110M (128MB)

Memory
2.0GB, 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024MB)

Display
15.4-inch WUXGA (1920x1200)

Audio
SigmaTel 9200 HD

Hard drive
100GB SATA (7, 200-rpm)

Optical drive
Philips 8X DVD+/- RW

Networking
Intel Pro Gigabit Ethernet
Intel Wireless 3945

Power
90W AC Adapter
9 Cell 85WHR LI-ION primary battery

Peripherals
Dell 350 Bluetooth Card
Conexant HDA D110 56.6K V.92 Modem
PC card slot
ExpressCard slot
Smart Card reader

Ports
Mic-in
Serial port
IR port
4 USB ports
VGA port
Speaker-out
1394 port (Firewire)

Extras
Nylon carry case
Wave Systems fingerprint reader

One thing you will notice if you rush over the Dell website now in order to buy this system, is that some of the specs listed here are not available anymore. Dell has updated the range with faster CPUs and increased memory speed for example. You should bear this in mind when looking at the benchmark scores later on.