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Agam Shah

PC World
Tuesday, March 4, 2008; = 10:19 AM=20

Dell on Tuesday is expected to launch its first ruggedized notebook = that=20 meets all U.S. Department of Defense standards for durability and = operation in=20 extreme conditions.

With a hardened cover, the Latitude XFR D630 notebook is = shock-resistant and=20 resists moisture, high altitude and high temperatures, said Brett = McAnally,=20 director of product marketing at Dell. The notebook has been tested to = conform=20 with standards established by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) for = laptops=20 to operate in extreme environments, McAnally said.

It can run in environments from -20 degrees (-9 degrees Celsius) to = 140=20 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius). It also runs at altitudes as = high as=20 15,000 feet. The laptop is sealed to resist moisture and dust.

The XFR D630 is available with a variety of dual-core Intel Core 2 = Duo=20 processors as fast as 2.4GHz with 4M bytes of cache. It includes = integrated=20 graphics processing, wired and wireless networking, a shock-resistant = 80G-byte=20 hard drive and a 14.1-inch LCD (liquid crystal display) screen with a = hardened=20 cover. It can be equipped with as much as 4G bytes of RAM and runs = Windows XP=20 Professional or Windows Vista.

The laptop weighs about 8.98 pounds (4 kilograms) and measures 2.6 by = 13.9 by=20 10.2 inches (6.6 by 35.3 by 25.9 centimeters). It is priced at US$3,899 = and will=20 be available in the U.S. starting Tuesday. International availability = has not=20 yet been determined, a Dell spokesman said. "As we broaden customer = engagement=20 around the product, we'll evaluate expansion," he said.

The laptop is a more rugged version of Dell's Latitude D630 laptop, = which=20 complies with some of the DOD's rugged laptop requirements, but not all. = The=20 earlier laptop will remain on sale. The XFR D630 is targeted at an = audience=20 including the military, public-safety first responders and enterprises = such as=20 oil and gas exploration companies.

The XFR D630 laptop can use the same BIOS or firmware upgrades as=20 conventional PCs, simplifying IT maintenance, McAnally said. It will let = organizations extend computing to new environments, he said.

The fact that it can use a standard software configuration may make = the XFR=20 D630 compelling for Dell customers, said Roger Kay, founder and = president of=20 Endpoint Technologies Associates.

It also gives Dell a chance to compete against companies such as = Panasonic,=20 which is known as the rugged laptop leader with its Toughbook series, = Kay said.=20

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