Standing 3.5cm high and weighing 2.7kg (3.1kg with the AC adapter), Dell's Latitude C600 can hardly be described as 'thin-and-light'. However, its functionality has more in keeping with true desktop replacement systems.
The 850MHz system we tested offered excellent performance, long battery life, two modular bays and even a built-in antenna for wireless networking. Although the Latitude C600 will take up more space in your laptop bag than most mid-range systems, its bulk leaves enough room for an extra modular bay and allows it to carry a big enough battery to attain almost 3.5 hours running time -- benefits that many users may find worth the trade-off. With its 850MHz Mobile Pentium III SpeedStep processor, 128MB of RAM, and 10GB hard drive, the Latitude C600 is also a top-notch performer in other areas. In fact, the Latitude C600 is the fastest notebook we've tested under Windows 2000, returning a Business Winstone 99 score of 39.9. The quality of the Latitude C600's 14.1in. TFT display is very good. Our review sample's XGA-resolution screen had no noticeable 'dead' pixels or artefacts, and DVD movie playback quality through the eight-speed LG drive and InterVideo WinDVD software was smooth. Dell's S-Video port (with included composite video adapter) allows you to display presentations or (with the optional DVD drive) movies on TV screens. When we played audio tracks, the side-mounted stereo speakers were about par for the type, delivering a flat sound. There's no hardware volume control, so if you do use this notebook to play music, you'll need to keep a volume control screen open or remember the function key combinations. Hard drive and memory upgrades are easy with the Latitude C600, requiring the removal of one screw in each case. Another new feature is an integrated antenna for 802.11b wireless networking: by the first quarter of next year, you'll be able to add an internal miniPCI 802.11b card and free yourself from network cables. The Latitude C600's hybrid cooling system, which combines passive heat sinks with a variable speed active fan, results in a cool-running system. The keyboard is quiet and comfortable, but the dual-mode touchpad and pointing stick, each with control buttons, is a decidedly mixed blessing. Having a choice of pointing devices is great, but there are some drawbacks. For example, we found that the touchpad caused unwanted cursor movement when we used the pointing stick because of misplaced palms. However, if you disable the touchpad using Windows 2000's control panel, it also disables all four of the actuation buttons -- oddly, this didn't happen in reverse when we disabled the pointing stick and left the touchpad enabled. A single programmable function key can be configured to access a favourite Web site or service. It's a bit bulkier than the other mid-range notebooks in its class, the Dell Latitude C600 is a solidly built notebook that offers an excellent combination of performance, battery power and expandability, backed by a strong service and support program.Benchmarks
Specifications
| Audio | |
|---|---|
| Audio processor | ESS Maestro PCI |
| Microphone | yes |
| Speakers | stereo |
| Audio connectors | microphone, headphone |
| Battery | |
| Battery technology | Li-ion |
| Battery capacity | 3600 mAh |
| Cabinet (chassis) | |
| Dimensions (W x H x D) | 31.9x3.5x25.4 cm |
| Weight | 2.7 kg |
| Display | |
| Display technology | colour TFT |
| Display diagonal size | 14.1 in |
| Maximum resolution | 1024x768 pixels |
| Expansion slots | |
| PC Card | 2 x Type II, 1 x Type III |
| Hard drive storage | |
| Hard drive interface type | Ultra ATA/66 |
| Hard drive size | 10 GB |
| Rotation speed | 4200 rpm |
| Storage controller | Ultra-ATA/33 |
| Input | |
| Pointing devices | 2-button trackpoint, 2-button touchpad |
| Keyboard | 88 keys, 19mm pitch |
| Interfaces & networking | |
| Serial | 1 |
| Parallel | 1 |
| USB | 1 |
| Ethernet | 10/100Mbps |
| Modem | 56Kbps |
| VGA (analogue) | 1 |
| Video out | S-Video |
| Docking station port | yes |
| Wireless LAN | integrated antenna for wireless 802.11b networking via a Mini-PCI card |
| Memory | |
| RAM installed | 128 MB |
| Number of memory slots | 2 |
| RAM capacity | 0.5 GB |
| RAM type | SDRAM |
| Memory specification compliance | PC100 |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Accessories | C/Port II with 10/100_BaseTX (£232), C/Dock II with Media Bay & 2 x PCI slots (£414), 2nd Li-ion battery (£67), LS-120 (£88), Zip 250 (£182) |
| Other | DVD-ROM drive |
| Motherboard | |
| Chipset | Intel 440BX |
| Data bus speed | 100 MHz |
| OS & software | |
| Operating system | Windows 2000 Professional |
| Software included | InterVideo WinDVD |
| Processor | |
| Processor manufacturer | Intel |
| Processor model | Mobile Pentium III |
| Clock speed | 0.85 GHz |
| Service & support | |
| Standard warranty | 3 years |
| Video | |
| Graphics processor | ATi Rage Mobility 128 AGP 2X |
| Graphics RAM | 8 MB |
| Expand | |
Images
Member reviews
I have had this notebook for 2 years, and I am more then pleased with it. I can only highly recommend it.
- 8.50 out of 10
8.50 out of 10This Dell Latitude C600 is using the same parts with Dell Inspiron 4000.
I chatted over email with fi_spareparts@dell.com (Finland), and I got a Dell 802.11b WLAN miniPCI card for 30 EUR only!
It's coming tomorrow and then I will install it also with Toshiba Satellite laptop, which also has internal WLAN antenna manufactured inside... =)
I can really just grap out any device (battery/DVD-drive/PCMCIA-card -- u-name-it) and it still doesn't crash. I'm using WinXP, and all devices were installed automagically, exept ATI's Mobile M3. (in Inspiron 4000 there is Rage 128...)
Dell, simply to say, make these work.
- 10.00 out of 10
10.00 out of 10Bought this model second-hand, and it still surprises me. Dell still are and always will be the best PC laptop manufacturer on the planet.
If you want at laptop - Buy a Dell!
- 9.00 out of 10
9.00 out of 10I've had this laptop for 2 years and I travelled around Europe with it. It is robust (It survived a 2metre fall onto concrete without breaking!). Lots of addons to buy for it, easy to service. The only problem I've had is the metal right-hand screen hinge broke because of metal fatigue.
- 9.00 out of 10
9.00 out of 10When I bought this laptop off ebay for $480 NEW I wondered about how good it would be! Well I had a Dell Latitude cpi 366MHz and that was the coolest little gizmo ever! So I wanted more! More speed, more memeory and just plain more everything! So I went on ebay and found this after 2 months, and bought it. I got a very good deal at $480 new. So I got this little laptop in the mail opened it up and was amazed at the looks and the screen and design! I turned it on and in 3 minutes erased the hard drive and put Windows XP on it. I loved it from that moment on! I first spent about 2 hours loading all off my programs on it then wondered if I coukd play Halo on it? I put it on and it works like nothing I've seen before!!This is an A+++++ laptop!
- 10.00 out of 10
10.00 out of 10- 10.00 out of 10
10.00 out of 10I got this as a family heirloom of sorts -- so far, I've put in a better quieter hard disk, a Mini-PCI wireless LAN card, a new battery and I've upgraded the RAM (all for cheap :).
Now that it's all up to spec, this laptop is in my opinion superb: I like the touchpad, the screen is bright, it gets good battery life, the fan doesn't come on much and it's a nice quiet laptop that's good for playing music on.
The wireless range isn't great -- in fact it struggles pretty badly over a distance of maybe a hundred feet with few obstructions, but that's good enough.
The screen brightness is actually a bit too much, it doesn't have the range of brightness that the IBM laptops I'm used to do.
The thing I like most about this is that it can take two batteries, one was semi knackered so I bought another one, I get four hours from that and now the first one seems to be recovering so I can get something like six hours of battery life.
For the price (these c600s go for very little on eBay because they rarely have DVD drives), it is probably my current favourite mobile laptop (I've ended up with too many laptops, just the day before this was given to me, I bought an IBM X20).
- 8.50 out of 10
8.50 out of 10- 7.50 out of 10
7.50 out of 10- 7.50 out of 10
7.50 out of 10- 8.00 out of 10
8.00 out of 10- 8.50 out of 10
8.50 out of 10People are saying how great this laptop is without buying it. What kind of rating is that?
- 2.00 out of 10
2.00 out of 10- 10.00 out of 10
10.00 out of 10While reasonable for any entertainment use, this laptop is perfect for anyone wanting a portable office!
- 8.50 out of 10
8.50 out of 10Ran diagnostics prior to buying - passed all tests. Solid unit, adequate space for what I need--easy to type keyboard--didn't like touchpad or stick, so just bought mouse--works great. Boots up substantially faster than my dell desktop. Would recommend to others.
- 7.50 out of 10
7.50 out of 10the features in this notebook is the best had for a year now and still doesn't let me down! I can even use it as a karaoke or dvd movie viewer for family outings.
Features are very powerfull though it only has 8mb of Video Memory but its ok don't really need a bigger memory.
Highly recommended
- 8.50 out of 10
8.50 out of 10Easily good enough to run a small business from. One of my better buys.
- 10.00 out of 10
10.00 out of 10I like it, great for students that need a bit extra for school and home use, 20gb is great so you can download music and have room for your school work.
- 8.00 out of 10
8.00 out of 10- 10.00 out of 10
10.00 out of 10WORKS WITH HALO! It has got to have the only 8MB video card that works with Halo. Just upgrade to the latest video driver, then hold down ctrl while starting the game, press continue in safe mode for all 3 menus. It works!!!
- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10- 8.00 out of 10
8.00 out of 10- 10.00 out of 10
10.00 out of 10Used to have a hp omnibook xe2 -- what a load of crap, kept crashing not responding, especially the cdrom did not read. But this machine is the best one i have had since ever -- would recommend to others to buy a Dell c600
- 10.00 out of 10
10.00 out of 10A very capable laptop to handle a wide range of DTP software on the go. Served me well for 4 years and still going.
- 10.00 out of 10
10.00 out of 10Its my Computer away from my my computer, Upgraded to XP pro. a lil slow at times but it takes everything ive thrown at it
- 8.00 out of 10
8.00 out of 10I have traded my PC and bought this nice laptop for about 500$ and I'm not dissapointed. It works great and I need a mobile platform.
- 10.00 out of 10
10.00 out of 10Got this laptop for free, it was de-commisioned from the place my father works, so it got given to me. I don't use it as my main computer, as it cannot fully keep up with today's technology requirements, but it's a good internet PC that I use ocassionally. Screen build quality isn't so good however, - don't put anything heavy on top of the LCD when it's closed, because you'll find that it's very weak. Runs Windows Xp Professional OK, but as I said, I seriosuly don't use this much. One USB port is not too good either. However, overall, it's a good PC, even for modern standards - use it for internet and office stuff.
- 8.00 out of 10
8.00 out of 10- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10I have always loved Dell Latitude laptops. I first started with a CPt V466GT. Which lasted for quite a long time and now I have a dell latitude C600(the newer one with a 1GHz P3mobile processor and 256mb of RAM). The battery on it lasts for up to 4 hours!!
- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10It is fast enough to play most common programs and video games, and with the added flexibility of the wireless 802.11g, you can use it on your desk, or take it outside.
This is a great computer, it has served me well since I got it. The multipurpose bay on the front right is great; it takes a second battery, any CD drives, a floppy drive, or another hard drive. The pointing tools are great and I have had no problems with them, in fact, they're better than the pointing systems on other laptops I've used.
Also, I have found that buying extras for it is easy and somewhat inexpensive(battery, drives, etc.)
- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10deserves thumbs up
- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10- 10.00 out of 10
10.00 out of 10I have one for a 5 years. No problems, reliable.
- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10- 8.50 out of 10
8.50 out of 10- 7.50 out of 10
7.50 out of 10- 9.50 out of 10
9.50 out of 10