Latest Dell Latitude 2100
Dell's Latitude 2100 is aimed squarely at the education market, but we're not talking about embossed mouse ears or SpongeBob-shaped touch pads here. Rather, the Latitude 2100 has a thick, rugged design meant to handle the rigors of classroom and hallway handling. That's not to say there's no kid appeal. The rubberized protective shell is available in a variety of stylish colors that should appeal to children and teens: School Bus Gold, Schoolhouse Red, Blue Ribbon, Ballfield Green, and, for the Goth kids in the crowd, Chalkboard Black. And for hauling it along with the usual pile of textbooks, you can clip an optional handle or shoulder strap directly to the netbook.
The netbook's lid is thick, thanks to the touch screen and rubber shell.
Open the Latitude 2100, and you'll find the lid is as thick as those found on many full-size notebooks, connected to the body of the netbook with beefy plastic hinges. The rubber on the shell makes the Latitude 2100 slightly thicker than most netbooks, at 1.57 inches at its thickest point. The 10.1-inch LCD screen sports a low native resolution of 1,024x576, which may present problems with some older educational games that assume a minimum resolution of 800x600 pixels.
The standout feature of the LCD is its touch-screen option. This $40 add-on (included in the $559 price of our review unit) is designed for fingertip use—no stylus necessary or included. It works well for selecting objects onscreen, and we assume it will be even handier once these netbooks start shipping with Windows 7, which has enhanced touch-interface support.
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