In this review, we take a closer look at the 14-inch Latitude E6430s, essentially an E6330 but with a 14-inch display. In other words, Dell has barely changed the visual impression and has merely fused a 14-inch display onto a 13.3-inch notebook as evident by its narrower display bezel. The Latitude on hand is equipped with an Ivy Bridge Core i5-3360M and is configured at a retail price of about $2100 USD (or less depending on promotional deals). If configured with a Sandy Bridge i3-2350M with reduced options, the E6430s can be had for a base price of $830. In either case, users will be paying a bit more than usual for similar hardware wrapped in a smaller 13.3-inch footprint. Find out here if the E6430s can deliver the same performance and hardware features as its older brother while still sporting an unchanged chassis.
The Latitude E6430s sports a matte 1366x768 resolution display common amongst budget notebooks in the 13- to 15-inch range. Dell unfortunately offers no other resolution options, which may turn off users who could have benefitted greatly from higher resolutions for work or business purposes. This is in contrast to the E6430, which offers an HD+ option for a 1600x900 resolution screen. Still, the display is subjectively crisp and the standard wide XGA is perfectly acceptable for word processing and everyday browsing needs.
A maximum brightness level of 220 nits was measured on the center of the display with good distribution throughout the nine measured quadrants. The black level is unimpressive at a high 1.5 cd/m2, similar to our previous Latitude reviews. Many multimedia-oriented notebooks offer higher contrast ratios for more colorful images and video playback. Perhaps more importantly, we’re relieved to see that display brightness has not suffered from moving to a 14-inch display on a chassis originally designed for a 13.3-inch screen. For the usual business work, however, the color and display performance is enough without being too gaudy.
Battery runtime was tested under our standard conditions with Battery Eater to record.
Maximum runtime was carried out under the Power Saver profile at minimum brightness and all timeouts and wireless radios disabled. The notebook was left to idle while the Battery Eater Reader’s Test was left to run. Under these conditions, the system was able to last for over 10 hours.
Conversely, minimum runtime was done under the Performance profile at maximum brightness with wireless radios enabled. With the Battery Eater Classic Test active, the notebook shut itself off after about 1 hour and 30 minutes.
The more realistic WLAN test mimics typical browsing conditions by looping our standard browsing script until automatic shutdown. Under the Balanced profile and at ~150 nits (brightness setting 10/15), the notebook lasted for about 5 hours and 30 minutes.
Overall battery life with the 6-cell 65 Wh battery is very good, handily beating thinner notebooks and on par with the E6430 with a similar 6-cell battery. More notably, average runtime is better than some HP ProBooks (4740s, 6465b) and is not too far behind the ThinkPad T430 even though the latter is equipped with a much larger 94 Wh module. The battery life when idle is better than expected as well, which means users can squeeze out even longer runtimes by reducing brightness and other settings.
The E6430s under review houses the super-speedy standard-voltage 2.8 GHz i5-3360M, which should be more than enough for the everyday home or business user. Users can opt for the previous generation i3-2350M or up to an Ivy Bridge i7-3520M for even more power. The dual-core i5-3360M in this case idles at 1200 MHz with Turbo Boost potential up to 3.3 GHz for both active cores. See here for more information on the i5-3360M.
As usual, the Ivy Bridge chipset includes the built-in Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU. The integrated graphics core idles at 350 MHz and is rated at 650 MHz with up to 1200 MHz Turbo Boost. But, as seen in the graphics stress test below, the HD 4000 in the E6430s has no trouble maintaining its maximum Turbo Boost speeds even under stressful circumstances. See here for our full review of the Intel HD 4000 GPU.
For RAM, the reviewed model is equipped with two DDR3 PC3-12800 modules, 1 x 2 GB and 1 x 4 GB from Hynix and Samsung, respectively, for a total of 6 GB. DPC Latency recorded recurring latency spikes even with wireless radios disabled, which leaves us to believe that one or more of Dell’s background services may be responsible for the peaks.
System upgradeability is very friendly and familiar to those who have owned a Dell Latitude in the past. The system drive can be removed with just a couple of screws and everything else from the RAM to the CPU heatsink are exposed by removing an additional set of Philips screws. Business-class notebooks are typically more open to end-user serviceability and the E6430s is no exception.
Notebook specifications Dell Latitude E6430s
- Processor : Intel Core i5-3360M 2.8 GHz
- Mainboard : Intel QS77 (Panther Point)
- Memory ; 6144 MB, PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM
- Graphics adapter : Intel HD Graphics 4000, Core: 1200 MHz, Memory: 800 MHz, 8.15.10.2712
- Display : 14.0 inch 16:9, 1366x768 pixel, LG Philips LP140WH4, TN LED, glossy: no
- Harddisk : Samsung SSD PM830 7mm 128GB, 128GB
- Soundcard : Intel Panther Point PCH - High Definition Audio Controller
- Connections : 1 Express Card 34mm, 2 USB 2.0, 1 USB 3.0, 1 VGA, 1 HDMI, 1 Kensington Lock, 1 eSata, 1 Docking Station Port, Audio Connections: 3.5 mm, Card Reader: SD card reader, 1 SmartCard,
- Networking : Intel 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection (10/100/1000MBit), Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN (agn), 4.0 Bluetooth
- Optical drive ; Hitachi-LG DVD-ROM DU60W
- Size : height x width x depth (in mm): 30.09 x 335 x 223.3
- Weight : 2.08 kg Power Supply: 0.23 kg
- Battery : 65 Wh Lithium-Ion, 6-cell
- Price : $2100 USD, ~1600 Euro
- Operating System : Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
- Additional features : Webcam: 720p, Speakers: Stereo, Keyboard: Beveled, Keyboard Light: yes, Dell Data Protection, Feature Enhancement, Trend Micro Client-Server Agent, 12 Months Warranty
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