Dell didn't cut corners when it came to the screen: The 15.4-inch TrueLife display is extra bright and delivers excellent viewing-angle range, even when viewed from above. The 1440 x 900-pixel resolution makes for crisp, legible text, though default font and icon sizes in documents and Web pages looked a touch small. During DVD playback the panel did exhibit some motion blur, and while scenes looked rich, they were a tad dark overall, losing some details in shadow areas.
As has become traditional of late, AMD systems of any flavour tend to be targeted at the lower end of the market. This is a reflection on AMD's notebook platform, which is inherently inferior to Intel's in almost every way; be it in raw performance or less tangible but vital areas such as battery life.
Before I get on that however, let's take a close look at the D531's chassis. It's built around a 15.4in display and though there's an option for a 1,440 x 900 panel, our sample came with the cheaper 1,280 x 800 variety. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise since, as I noted in the Student's Guide to Technology, 15.4in displays are cheap to make and as such are used in the vast majority of budget notebooks.
Specifications
Below are the specifications of the Dell Latitude D531 as reviewed:
Processor: AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60 (2.00 Ghz)
Hard Drive: Hitachi 120GB SATA HD 5400 RPM
Memory: 2.0GB DDR2-667MHZ, 2 DIMMS (4GB Max)
Graphics: Integrated ATI x1270
Display: 15.4” WXGA+ “TrueLife” (250 nits) (14.1" screen is also an option)
Battery: 9-Cell (85 WHr)
Adapter: 65W power supply
Wireless Card: Dell wireless 1505 draft-N card
Optical Drive: Optiarc 8x DVDRW AD-5540A
Ports: Four USB 2.0, one Firewire, headphone out, microphone in, s-video, modem, ethernet, VGA, serial port, PCMCIA slot
OS: Windows XP Pro SP2
Dimensions:
Height: 35.3mm/1.39"
Width: 361mm/14.2"
Depth: 262.6mm/10.34
Connectivity options abound with a choice of both Gigabit wired and 802.11g wireless Ethernet interfaces. Bluetooth is, similarly, built in along with a FireWire (IEEE 1394) port plus four USB 2.0 connectors to attach external disks, scanners and other devices. And there's a PC-Card slot to, for example, add a 3G card for totally wireless connectivity.
Windows Vista Business comes pre-installed on this model complete with Aero 3D visual effects. We then installed Office 2007, a SQL Server database and an accounts package, all of which the D531 coped with very well indeed.
The Latitude D531 battery is designed to help businesses stay up-to-date with technology without sacrificing the bottom line. This mainstream value notebook updates the D520 with new processor options, improved security and enterprise-class features. At the same time, it offers the longer lifecycles, image stability and peripheral commonality that growing businesses have come to expect from the Latitude D family.
To help keep costs down, Dell has fitted this machine with an AMD dual-core processor, but you can opt for an Intel chip if you'd prefer. In this particular specification, you'll find the ATi Radeon X1270 handles the graphics, which is an integrated solution that is on a par with Intel's latest X1300 GPU. This means you can run standard tasks with ease, but it won't handle the latest 3D programs.
Weighing in at 2.8kg, the Latitude looks larger and heavier than it actually is and, while it's not designed to be carried around all day, every day, it is fairly portable. Less impressive was its battery life of 187 minutes, under test, which trails behind many of its competitors.
Dell's AMD-powered Latitude D531 is unlikely to win any awards for its looks. However, it does have a fast dual-core processor, 2GB of memory and a nice display plus Wi-Fi connectivity as standard, making for a versatile business notebook at an affordable price. The first thing you notice is the 15.4-inch display. On the downside this makes the DELL D531 battery a little large to carry about, but with an ATI Radeon video controller and a resolution of 1,280 x 800, it's man enough for most day to day tasks. Moreover, specify a Dell TrueLife display (at a remarkably affordable £13 + VAT) and the resolution rises to an impressive 1,440 x 990 pixels. Either way the end result is a large, bright display plenty big enough for presentations, with a wide viewing angle and sufficient adjustment to deal with a range of lighting conditions.
The new AMD-powered Dell notebook has CD-ROM, Combo or DVD burner drive, four USB ports, a Firewire, VGA and S-Video outputs, a COM port and a PCMICA card slot.
It provides Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 for enhanced security, a reinforced magnesium-alloy chassis and LCD back, and weighs starting at 5.1 lbs.
However, Dell includes the Dell System Customisation Wizard that explains to users how to connect to the Internet, learn about gadgets and sidebars, find product support and documentation and transfer data.
Dell keeps the D531 to a minimalist design. Besides the power button, there’s only one other button, which is the switch for the wireless network and Bluetooth connection.
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