The Dell Latitude E6420 is a good-performing 14-inch business notebook with stellar build quality and a lot of neat options. Naturally, this includes a water-resistant keyboard cover. Under heavy use, however, the GPU can't quite stay cool. According to Dell, the display lid hinges are composed of tough steel, which is however not visible on the surface—as is the case with Lenovo Thinkpads—but is rather covered up a by a layer of magnesium. All of that extra metal and thought the designers put into its construction indeed makes it very durable. There is a USB 3.0 module option, but you’d have to pay a little extra to include it. Our teaser article about Dell's new business line-up from a few weeks ago stirred up an unusually high level of controversy in our forums. The results of the Cinebench Rendering benchmarks are as to be expected for the CPU. Among the changes is the box of special function buttons at the top right corner, including the buttons "insert", "delete", and so forth. The Dell Latitude E6420 has a lot going for it: stylish looks, a great keyboard, epic battery life, and solid performance. The particular model of SSD is not mentioned on the website, which is cause for concern since SSDs can differ quite considerably in their price-to-performance ratios. Other than that, Dell mentions the option of a spare battery, likewise 97Wh, as well as a second battery (30Wh) in place at the same time as the first and taking the place of the DVD drive. And for attaching an external monitor there's only one way to go, HDMI. There’s also a dock connector at the bottom so users can have access to even more ports and features if they purchase a dock. Taking another look at the competition (Lenovo T420, HP 8460p), we see that the other contenders for your money also weigh a similar amount. At the right toward the front, we have a 45mm Expresscard slot and underneath it the DVD drive. The display lid takes a bit of effort to tilt back but barely bobs back and forth after being adjusted. During our hardware stress test, we measured a GPU temperature of up to 99°C, which seems to high for the 45W version of the NVS 4200M running at its maximum clock rate (and this seems to go along with what the Dell representative told us over the phone about there not being a 45W version available for the E6420). Along the front we also find an SD card reader. When we bent the lid of the display around the thick screen bezel, it did budge just a bit – but it was barely noticeable, and wasn’t noticeable enough to create any ripples across the display. Keystrokes are firm, requiring a fair amount of pressure before they plop down, which gives them a very easy-to-feel pressure point. After that come two USB 2.0 ports and a combined USB/eSATA port. Back: HDMI, lock slot, battery, AC power, Ethernet connector (RJ-45), Left: USB 2.0, VGA, headphone jack, SmartCard reader, exhaust vent, Right: 54 mm ExpressCard, Wi-Fi on/off switch, DVD-ROM optical drive, USB 2.0 x2, USB 2.0/eSATA combo, All Rights Reserved. This seems to indicate that a watered-down version of the NVS 4200M was in place in the particular Dell Latitude E6420M model we reviewed. The reinforced steel hinges are also very sturdy; we don’t suppose they’ll give users any problems whatsoever. After an hour of the stress test (100% load on CPU and GPU), we measured 84°C for the CPU and a critical 99°C for the graphics card. If the software you're using requires better CPU performance, it's best to consider an i5 or i7 CPU instead: CPU-intensive software (complex calculations, virtual machines, etc.). Dell lists the 128GB SSD as costing 330 Euro extra, while the 256GB SSD will run you an additional 650 Euro on top of the starting price in Dell's online store. Most likely the same display is in place in the E5420 as comes standard for the E6420 series. The same is true for case depth: the front of the E6420 juts out about 10 mm when placed side-by-side with its rivals. The base plate and case surface around the keyboard are joined to this frame and fastened to it with screws: "Unibody Lite" if you will. Measuring the black level, we get an undesirably high 2.52 cd/m². If this level of service doesn't cut it, you can always upgrade to Dell ProSupport (+145 Euro) which tacks on around-the-clock technical support over the phone including questions concerning software developed by third parties. The case design is harmonious (magnesium-aluminum) and has a first-rate feel to it. MIL-STD 810G-tested Tri-Metal casing just like the E6420’s, 8X DVD optical drive at no extra cost, but the 8X. For a business notebook like the Latitude E6420, there are naturally lots of options available regarding the hard drive. Only the shape of the trackpoint on the Thinkpad is (in our opinion) better. Unlike many of its competitors, Dell proudly displays a bit of this magnesium frame peeking out of the notebook along the side edges. This coverage will run you an additional 150 Euro without theft protection or 240 Euro with theft protection for 3 years (excluding VAT). Old-school businessmen might shake their heads at the following few paragraphs, but we still want to see how the Nvidia NVS 4200M graphics card can handle some newer video games. The E6420 can be upgraded slightly. The Dell Latitude E6420 comes with one of three types of 14" displays, that is, the screen measures 36 cm diagonally. The good choice of materials used in constructing the case of the Latitude E6420 are to thank for this. Our model's 97Wh battery was subjected to the BatteryEater Reader Test: minimum screen brightness, deactivated wifi/bluetooth and the "Energy-Saver" profile activated (which is supposed to simulate the user reading a document on the screen).