Dell Latitude E5430 Review: Affordable, Impressive Battery Life

Dell Latitude E5430: At First Glance

Dell designed Latitude E5430 laptop for those who cannot live without VGA displays, ExpressCards, or optical discs. It’s a good laptop with one of the most ports we’ve seen on a non-desktop computer in a long time.

This laptop provides adequate performance at a reasonable price. In terms of pricing, at the time I published this article, the Dell Latitude E5430 laptop starts at $149.31.

Dell’s 14-inch Latitude aims for an ideal mix of affordability, usability, and mobility, aided by the Ivy Bridge processor, which is available as an option.

Is the Dell Latitude E5430 all a budget-conscious entrepreneur hopes for? Let find out!

Dell Latitude E5430: Design, Dimension & Weight

The Dell Latitude E5430 looks every bit like an old-school mainstream business laptop. It comes with a dark grey surface bisected by a silver bezel surrounding the chassis.

Dell Latitude E5430 measures 324 x 355.60 x 192.5 mm (W x D x H) and weighs 2040 g. When compared to ultrabooks, the laptop appears to be a bit big.

Despite its relatively big size, the laptop manages to blend productivity and durability with a 14-inch display and on-the-go attractive design.

Dell intended Latitude E5430 to be a business tough laptop. So, Dell designed the laptop with a TriMetal shell, anodized aluminum display back, magnesium alloy internal frame, steel hinges, and zinc alloy locks.

One downside is its relatively large size. More on the size and dimensions later in this section.

Nonetheless, its size is scarcely limiting when you consider its well-designed form factor. Despite the weight and size, it feels comfortable on the lap.

Additionally, the laptop is easier to work with on your lap compared to many smaller notebooks in this position. This is due to an adequately-sized, flat palm rest.

Another great design feat worth mentioning is how the laptop’s display cover is supported by strong metal hinges disguised by a false plastic wrapping.

The lid of the laptop is supported by brushed metal, with a chrome Dell logo in the middle, for a subtle uniformity. It’s not only attractive, but it’s also quite protective – preventing all but the tiniest bit of distortion on the LCD panel even under moderate stress, as well as providing impressive scratch resistance.

Moving on to keyboards, the laptop’s base holds the chiclet-styled keyboard, which consists of a grouping of black keys with backlighting. The full-sized keyboard also has a Numpad and directional arrow keys.

The keys are responsive, with a sufficient travel distance and an activation force of around 80 grams. Furthermore, when pushed, the keys provide a pleasant tactile sensation, making typing a breeze.

The touchpad is located underneath the keyboard, and it is awkwardly situated to the left of the keyboard rather than in the middle. The touchpad, like the keyboard, has a matte appearance and is constructed of plastic.

For ports, the Dell Latitude E5430 has an eSATA/USB 3.0 combination connection. It also features a VGA, an ExpressCard reader, and a cute molded fake card that acts as a letter opener and a small ruler.

You also get an HDMI port, two USB 2.0 ports, USB 3.0 port, and Ethernet are all located on the left side of the laptop.

There are plenty of old-school internal expansion slots, I/O connections, and a DVD drive on this laptop. If you still have a large archive of material on DVD, the DVD drive will be useful.

Moving on to the weight and size of the laptop, as I mentioned earlier, Dell Latitude E5430 measures 324 x 355.60 x 192.5 mm. The laptop comes with a standard weight of 2040 g.

However, the battery adds additional weight to the laptop.

So, the actual weight of the laptop will depend on the battery in the model you purchase. For the laptop model that ships with a 4-cell battery, the battery adds 240 g – making 2280 g.

However, if you purchase the model that ships with a 6-cell or a 9-cell battery, the batteries add an additional 344.73 g and 508.20 g respectively. Therefore, the Dell Latitude E5430 that comes with a 6-cell or a 9-cell battery weighs 2384.73 g and 2548.2 g respectively.

In comparison, the Lenovo Thinkpad X250 weighs 1360g with a dimension of 306 x 209 x 20 mm. So, even with the lightest model, Dell Latitude E5430 is much heavier than Lenovo Thinkpad X250.

Fortunately, the Dell Latitude E5430, despite its weight, has a quality design in my opinion. As a result, I’m giving it a seven out of 10 ratings.

Dell Latitude E5430: Processor (CPU) Performance

The Dell Latitude E5430 laptop uses Intel’s third-generation Ivy Bridge Processors. The laptop comes with two CPU options.

You can get a model with a 4 core Intel Core i7-3520M or a 2 core Intel Celeron Processor B820. The Intel Core i7-3520M processor features a 4 MB cache memory, it has a base frequency of 1.70 GHz and a boost frequency of 2.90 GHz.

As I mentioned earlier, you can also get the Dell Latitude E5430 laptop with a two-core Intel Celeron Processor B820 processor. This processor features a 2 MB cache memory, 1.70 GHz base frequency, and 3.60 GHz boost frequency.

The laptop I reviewed came with a 4 core Intel Core i7-3520M processor. I ran a Geekbench 5 test to determine the processor’s performance.

The Dell Latitude E5430 received 1411 points as a result of the test.

In comparison, this result outperforms the HP Omen 15. The Intel Core i7-10750H processor in the HP Omen 15 scored 1272 points in my test.

Finally, in this review, I will give the Dell Latitude E5430 an eight for processor performance.

Dell Latitude E5430: Memory (RAM) Performance

The Dell Latitude E5430 laptop has two RAM slots with a total capacity of 16GB – 8GB in each slot. The device I tested came with 8 GB of RAM in one slot and no RAM in the second slot.

Upgradability is something Dell excels at. As a result, if you need more memory, you can simply add another 8 GB RAM stick to the second slot, bringing the total RAM to 16 GB.

The 8GB RAM on the laptop I reviewed, on the other hand, was an outstanding multitasker. As a result, I was able to open different applications and easily switch between them without the laptop stuttering.

In addition, I ran a PCMark 10 test to determine the laptop’s memory performance. The laptop received a score of 3900 points on the test.

The laptop scored lower than the Dell Inspiron 15, which received 4060 points.

Finally, the 8GB RAM is more than adequate. In comparison to competing laptops, Dell Latitude E5430 was outperformed by its competitor.

As a result, I’ll give the Dell Latitude E5430 a seven for memory performance.

Dell Latitude E5430: Storage Option & Performance

Let’s talk about the Dell Latitude E5430 Laptop’s storage options. The laptop features a Mobility SSD, 7200 RPM SATA or Encrypted 7200 RPM SATA. As a result, the laptop comes with a variety of storage options.

You can get a model of Dell Latitude E5430 that comes with 320 GB (encrypted or non-encrypted). Additionally, you can get one with a 500 GB 7200 RPM hard drive.

Finally, you have the option to get a model of the laptop with a 128 GB Solid State Drive (SSD) for a slightly higher price.

The model I tested came with a 320 GB drive. 320 GB should be sufficient for most users. With this storage size, you can save loads of images, music, videos, and games on 320 GB of storage.

However, if you are a storage-hungry user, Dell offers an 8-in-1 memory card reader for additional storage expansion. Unfortunately, the memory card reader’s transfer rates may be slower than standard HDDs and definitely slower than SSDs.

To evaluate the storage transfer rate of the 320 GB hard drive that came with the laptop I reviewed, I ran a benchmark. It competes directly with Hitachi’s Travelstar Z7K500.

Hitachi’s Travelstar Z7K500 is an wonderful drive with a Transfer Rate Average of 97.3 MB/s.

Before I conclude this section, there is one feature I like to mention. Dell Latitude E5430 features Dell Fast Response Free Fall Sensor.

This feature works independently of the installed storage device (it’s a board-level feature). It protects the drive from sudden changes in the notebook’s posture.

Finally, the transfer speeds from the hard drive and the 8-in-1 memory card reader are excellent, but they are slower than those available on more expensive laptops. As a result, I’ll give it a seven in this category.

Dell Latitude E5430: Graphic Card Performance

Like its processor and storage, Dell Latitude E5430 offers multiple graphics options. Depending on your processor, you’ll get either the Integrated Intel HD Visuals 3000 or Integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 for graphics.

Unfortunately, none of these GPUs offers dedicated VRAM. So, you should not expect exceptional gaming performance from these GPUs.

Having said that, Intel HD Graphics 4000 comes standard with every mid-to-high-end third-generation Intel Core CPU. It is one of the most talked-about features of the Dell Latitude E5430 and its Ivy Bridge processors.

While integrated solutions can’t compete in terms of performance with mid-range or better discrete graphics adapters, they are better in terms of power consumption and cost.

Also, at least in the case of the Intel HD Graphics 4000, they come close enough to their lower-end discrete comrades to make them quite appealing to many users.

Although the Dell Latitude E5430 isn’t designed for gaming, our tests show that the Intel HD Graphics 4000 delivers reasonable frame rates with some low-end games.

To further evaluate the performance of the laptop with these graphics cards, I ran a 3DMark 11 benchmark test. The Dell Latitude E5430 laptop received 689 points as a result of the test.

In comparison, the Dell Inspiron 15 laptop, on the other hand, received 2452 points. Sadly, the Dell Latitude E5430 falls short of the Dell Inspiron 15.

With all of this in mind, I’ll give the graphics performance a six.

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Dell Latitude E5430: Battery Life & Performance

For the Dell Latitude E5430, there are three battery options. The 4-cell Lithium-ion 40 Whr, 6-cell Lithium-ion 60 Whr, and 9-cell Lithium-ion 97 Whr.

These battery options have a feature called ExpressCharge. This is a term used by Dell to describe a circuitry that allows the battery to charge faster than usual. Furthermore, ExpressCharge batteries may reach a maximum charge of more than 80% in just one hour of charging.

Additionally, with ExpressCharge, you can charge the battery in Dell Latitude E5430 fully in less than two hours.

Dell claims that the model of the laptop that ships with 4 Cell 76Wh Li-Polymer can last up to 6 hours. To confirm this claim, I conducted a battery test to determine the battery’s performance.

I fully charged the laptop before testing and turned off sleep, hibernation, screen and hard drive timeouts, and Wi-Fi. The Laptop lasted an incredible 11 hours and 2 minutes under these conditions and when set to the “Power Saver” power profile.

After that, I enabled all Wi-Fi, increased the screen brightness, and enabled the “High Performance” power profile. In this case, the laptop lasted 2 hours and 25 minutes, which is still impressive.

Finally, I changed the laptop’s power profile to “Balanced” and increased the screen brightness to around 120 nits. The laptop lasted 7 hours and 43 minutes in this setting, which should be enough time to get some work done at normal laptop brightness and performance settings.

Comparatively, the Dell Latitude E5430 has a longer battery life than the Dell Inspiron 15, which lasted 5 hours 15 minutes, under similar conditions.

As a result, I rate the Dell Latitude E5430’s battery a nine out of ten for its excellent battery performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The Dell Latitude 5430 laptop strikes a good price-to-performance ratio. It’s a low-cost laptop that’s capable of carrying out everyday computing tasks.

Furthermore, the laptop has a good build quality and a decent assortment of ports. Most notably, it provides memory and storage upgrade options and also exceptional battery life.

Finally, the Dell Latitude 5430 Laptop, with its powerful processor and distinctive appearance, could be an excellent laptop for you.

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