Dell's new rugged laptops combine hardiness with raw speed

Dell is expanding its rugged laptop portfolio with two all-new devices designed to meet the needs of first responders and other field workers that deal with conditions like extreme temperatures, constant vibrations or high levels of dust and humidity as part of their jobs.

The Austin-based PC maker has seen its rugged laptop market share grow by three times during the last four quarters which it attributes to responding to customer needs, designing great products and taking advantage of its supply chain leadership. 

Now with the new Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged and Latitude 7330 Rugged Extreme, Dell is adding the latest 11th Gen Intel Core processors (with vPro optional), Intel Wi-Fi 6E with optional 5G-capability, improved daylight readability, glove-touch capable screens with up to 1400 nits of brightness, improved battery run-time to almost 25 hours with dual hot swappable batteries and Express Charge Boost for up to a 35 percent charge in 20 minutes.

• We've built a list of the best rugged laptops available
• These are the best rugged tablets on the market today
• Also check out our roundup of the best rugged hard drives

Ruggedness, reliability and performance are key when out in the field but can't come at the expense of security which is why both of Dell's new rugged laptops come with TPM 2.0 Control Vault, integrated cryptographic keys, contacted and contactless smartcard reader and touch fingerprint reader options.

Latitude 5430 Rugged and Latitude 7330 Rugged Extreme

The Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged is the lightest, most-powerful 5G capable 14-inch semi-rugged laptop on the market today. It starts at only 4.35lbs (1.97kg) and comes with an optional professional discrete graphics card.

Dell has also drop-tested its new semi-rugged laptop from up to 3-feet and the device features Ingress Protection (IP-53) rated for a high-degree of protection against dust, dirt and water ingress.

Meanwhile the Dell Latitude 7330 Rugged Extreme is the industry's smallest 5G capable 13-inch fully-rugged laptop which takes things up a notch with enhanced durability. It features an optional 1400-nit direct-sunlight viewable and gloved multi-touch capable screen and has been drop tested from up to 6-feet with an IP-65 rating for maximum protection against dust, dirt and water ingress.

Both rugged laptops are the first from Dell to ship with Windows 11 preinstalled and they also include Dell Optimizer which leverages AI and machine learning to optimize performance based on usage.

The Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged and Latitude 7330 Rugged Extreme will be available for order globally beginning on December 9.

• We've also featured the best rugged smartphone

source https://www.techradar.com/news/dells-new-rugged-laptops-combine-hardiness-with-raw-speed/