Dell unveils lightweight Latitude

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By Scarlet Pruitt

(IDG) -- Perhaps working on the maxim that one can never be too rich or too thin, Dell Computer unveiled its lightest, slimmest Latitude laptop yet Monday, offering a wide array of options for users on the go.

The Latitude X200 weighs 2.8 pounds (1.26 kilograms) and is four-fifths of an inch thick (20.32 millimeters), with a 12.1 inch XGA (extended graphics array) TFT (thin film transistor) display, giving its screen a maximum resolution of 1,024 by 768 pixels.

The sleek new laptop comes with a 30G-byte ATA-100 hard drive, up to a 640M-byte PC133 SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic RAM) and an Ultra Low Voltage Mobile Intel Pentium III-M 800 MHz processor combined with an Intel 830MG chipset.

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The X200 is the second ultra-portable laptop in the Latitude line, meant to be a companion to the 3.6 pound C400, and the Round Rock, Texas, company's first ultra lightweight product. Although the C400 is heavier than the X200, it's aimed at the power user, boasting a 1.2 GHz processor, a Dell spokesman said.The C400 began shipping in November.

The X200 is geared even more toward mobile users, with a 56K bps (bit per second) V.92 modem with an integrated 3Com 10/100 Ethernet, and a six-cell 20-watt hour "smart" Lithium Ion battery. The new laptop has two USB (universal serial bus) ports, one PC Card slot, and one six-pin IEEE 1394 port.

The Latitude X200 starts at $1,899 with these standard features and will begin shipping in all of Dell's worldwide regions in mid to late May, the spokesman said. The company is also offering an array of customized options that can ratchet up the price a few hundred dollars more, however.

Users can choose to add a X200 Media Base with a choice of optical drives such as CD-ROM, CD-RW (CD-rewritable), or a combination of CD-RW/DVD starting at $299. When attached to the media base, the X200 still weighs less than 5.5 pounds, Dell said.

Customers who want to carry only what they need can also chose to customize their orders, with an external CD-ROM, included in the base configuration, or a combination CD-RW/DVD that connects directly to the computer through the IEEE 1394 port, for $349.

A longer-life battery is also available for users on the go. Dell is offering a 58-watt hour high-capacity battery, which adds six hours of additional battery life for $199, but also adds 0.6 more pounds to the laptop. Users can also opt for external battery charger, which works with both the standard 20-watt hour and 58-watt hour batteries, for $79.

Dell's foray into the slim and trim notebook market shows that the company is trying to compete with design leaders like Sony, said Stephen Baker, director of research at NPD Techworld in Reston, Virginia.

"Everyone wants to make the type of product that appeals to high-level executives and people who will spend a lot of money on those slim, stylish notebooks," Baker said.

Scarlet Pruitt is a Boston correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate.