The Dell Latitude E6430s

is a triple threat for business notebook shoppers. It sports a strong yet compact metal chassis, promises speedy performance (thanks to an SSD) and has a long-lasting battery for traveling professionals.

The E6430s also has plenty of features to keep IT managers at ease, including TPM, encryption and plenty of docking options.

Design

The Click to Enlarge’ exterior is a mix of black and gray with a touch of silver, sporting an eye-catching yet professional package that will endear itself to the suit-and-tie crowd. However, the brushed-aluminum lid wasn’t great at hiding fingerprints. The keyboard is spill-resistant, and when the lid is closed, a protective seal forms a shield around the LCD panel to keep from liquids from seeping in.

Sporting a Tri-metal chassis–a magnesium alloy frame, reinforced steel hinges and a matte chrome bumper–the Latitude E6430s passes MIL-STD-810G environmental testing. Inside, the keyboard deck of the Latitude E6430s has a nice soft-touch finish, which was comfortable while typing.

Display

The Latitude E6430s has a 14-inch matte screen with a native resolution of 1366 x 768.

Audio

The Latitude E6430s’ speakers, mounted on the front lip, were fairly loud and accurate. Whether it was on our lap or on a desk, all instruments, vocals and crowd noise sounded very clear. While this business machine’s pipes won’t fill a large room, they were loud enough for a small office.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The keyboard keys to be plenty large, with solid travel and response. The keyboard backlighting is also fairly bright, and we like that there are four different brightness levels.

The Alps Electric touchpad measures 3.2 x 1.6 inches and was very responsive when executing multitouch gestures.