Dell Latitude E6420 Review: An Affordable Business Powerhouse

Dell Latitude E6420: At First Glance

Dell’s Latitude line of laptops has long been a favorite for both big and small businesses. This is due to their high performance, reasonable pricing, long battery life, and durability.

Dell has added a hefty dose of affordability and durability to its outstanding Latitude line with the 14-inch Latitude E6420. The Latitude E6420 packs a punch on the inside, thanks to a quad-core Intel core i7 processor.

Furthermore, this laptop comes at a really affordable price. Specifically, its starting price was $159.95 in September 2021, when this article was written.

However, taking the reins from its successful predecessor, the E6410, the Latitude E6420 has a lot to live up to. So, will it be as successful as its predecessor or will it put the Latitude line to shame?

Let’s find out!

Dell Latitude E6420: Design, Dimension & Weight

Whether you like the design or not, this laptop is one of the most durable Latitudes in recent years. This is due to the good materials used in the construction of the Latitude E6420‘s chassis.

I looked all around the laptop for plastic but only found it around the keyboard and the screen bezel. Thus, the entire laptop is made of MIL-STD 810G-certified Tri-Metal.

The term “tri-metal” refers to a lid made of anodized aluminum, hinges made of reinforced steel, and a chassis made of magnesium alloy. Furthermore, MIL-STD 810G-certified materials or equipment, such as Dell’s Tri-Metal, are built to endure high temperatures, dust, and vibrations.

Therefore, making the Dell Latitude E6420 one of the most durable laptops not just on the Latitude line but on the market. Moreover, the Latitude E6420’s construction is flex-resistant thanks to all of the metal and attention Dell put into it.

When I pushed down on the chassis and around the palm rest, for example, it didn’t flex even a bit. However, the display lid flexed slightly when I bent it, although it was barely noticeable.

The Dell Latitude E6420 is not only tough but also attractive, with a professional and elegant appearance. It features smooth matte surfaces, and the lid looks pretty attractive, too, featuring Dell’s signature logo in the middle.

Moving on, the Dell Latitude E6420 comes with a 14-inch non-touchscreen display. However, you can get the laptop with a touchscreen display, but for an additional cost.

Moreover, you can get the touch or non-touch displays with either an HD (1366 x 768) or HD+ (1600 x 900) screen resolution. My review laptop came with a 14-inch HD (1366 x 768) touchscreen display.

The content on this touchscreen display was sharp and bright, but not very colorful. Additionally, the touchscreen supports two-finger gestures, allowing you to perform multiple gestures on the screen with two fingers at the same time.

However, the touchscreen display is glossy. Because of the screen’s glossy/reflective nature, it will be more difficult to use under bright conditions.

Moreover, the display also recorded a maximum brightness of 200 nit, which is quite average – not too bright, not too dark. 

Furthermore, this touchscreen display, though, does not support pen input and cannot be used as a tablet. So, I don’t think most companies or users would go for a touchscreen over the standard non-touchscreen display.

Moving on, the Dell Latitude E6420’s keyboard is a mixture of a Chiclet and a traditional-styled keyboard. Concave keys are used on the keyboard to make typing easier and faster.

Personally, I think the E6420’s keyboard is one of my favorites. It’s really comfortable to use; the keys provide excellent feedback and produce very little noise when pressed.

For navigation, the Latitude E6420 feature both a touchpad and a pointing stick. The pointing stick is located in the middle of the keyboard, as expected.

Unfortunately, while the pointing stick is accurate, it has a concave cap that makes it seem slippery. On the plus side, the pointing stick is more precise than the touchpad.

The touchpad below the Latitude E6420’s keyboard is quite generous in size, measuring 78.74 x 45 mm. In addition to its generous size, it has a nice matte surface and it navigates the cursor with accuracy.

Due to the fact that the Latitude E6420 feature both a pointing stick and touchpad, it has two sets of dedicated click buttons. One set of click buttons (left, center, and right-click) for the pointing stick is located just above the touchpad.

While the other set of click buttons (left and right-click) for the touchpad is located underneath the touchpad. Both sets of click buttons produce pleasant clicky sounds and offer solid feedback.

I’m quite satisfied with the audio on the Latitude E6420. While most business laptops’ audio is frequently disregarded, the IDT high-definition sound on this laptop is very impressive.

Even at the maximum volume of 100%, you won’t notice any sound distortion or muffling. As a result, in a moderately large presentation room, users will be able to use the Latitude E6420 for presentations.

Only if you need to transmit the sound throughout a very large room would you need to purchase external speakers.

Due to the fact that the Latitude E6420 is marketed to businesses, it has a lot of ports. On the right side, there is a Wi-Fi on/off switch, DVD drive, an ExpressCard /54 slot, and three USB ports.

On the rear of the laptop are a Kensington lock slot, an HDMI port, and an Ethernet port. While on the left side you will find another USB port, a Smart Card reader, and VGA out.

Additionally, the front side of the laptop features an SD card reader.

Embedded into the Latitude E6420 thick upper display bezel is an HD webcam. Even in low-light surroundings, this webcam can provide sharp but slightly washed-out images.

However, regardless of whether you’re taking photos or making a video call, you’ll notice a lot of visual noise. Nonetheless, the webcam has impressed me with its ability to capture sharp photographs in low-light environments.

The downside of all the metal used to make the Latitude E6420 is additional weight. Specifically, it measures 352 x 241 x 26.6 mm and weighs 2070 g with its 4-cell Lithium-Ion battery.

With this size and weight, the Latitude E6420 is one of the heaviest 14-inch business laptops out there. Comparatively, the Latitude E6420 weighs more than its predecessor, the Latitude E6410.

Its predecessor, the Latitude E6410 weighs 1930 g. Moreover, when compared to the Elitebook 8460p, the Latitude E6420 is slightly heavier.

Specifically, the Elitebook 8460p weighs 2068 g.

In conclusion, the Latitude E6420 is one hell of a rugged laptop. Additionally, it features a great number of ports and an exceptional keyboard.

However, it is quite heavy compared to its predecessor. Regardless, the Dell Latitude E6420 deserves an eight out of ten ratings in this design review section.

Dell Latitude E6420: Processor (CPU) Performance

For the processor, the Dell Latitude E6420 comes with an Intel Core i7-2760QM processor. The Intel Core i7-2760QM is a speedy high-performance quad-core CPU for laptops.

Core i7-2760QM is the successor to the slower Core i7-2720QM.

Speaking of speed, the Intel Core i7-2760QM has a base frequency of 2.40 GHz and a maximum frequency of 3.50 GHz. Additionally, it features a cache memory of 6 MB.

With this processor, the Latitude E6420 can handle any computing task you throw at it from video editing to multitasking. Speaking of multitasking, this laptop was able to launch numerous heavy applications including Adobe Photoshop.

Despite these applications being opened, it was also able to load about 20 Chrome tabs easily without lagging. Impressive right?

What is even more impressive is its performance on a Cinebench R10 test. Cinebench R10 is a benchmark test that measures the processor performance of a computer.

On the Cinebench R10 test, the Latitude E6420 recorded an impressive score of 5509 points. Comparatively, the Latitude E6420 performed better than the HP EliteBook 2560p and its predecessor, the Latitude E6410.

Specifically, the HP EliteBook 2560p which uses an Intel Core i5-2410M dual-core processor scored 3927 points. The Latitude E6420’s predecessor, on the other hand, scored 3470 points.

The Latitude E6420’s predecessor, the Latitude E6410 uses an Intel Core i7-620M processor.

In conclusion, the Latitude E6420 processor is just brilliant. Therefore, for this processor review section, the Latitude E6420 is getting a rating of nine.

Dell Latitude E6420: Memory (RAM) Performance

For memory, the Latitude E6420 ships with two 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM slots. Each SDRAM slot can take up to a maximum memory capacity of 4 GB, totaling 8 GB all together.

The Dell Latitude E6420 I reviewed came with the maximum memory capacity of 8 GB RAM. 8 GB memory might be limited for most users, but oh boy, it was more than enough for multitasking.

The Dell Latitude E6420 was able to open about 20 Chrome tabs with five of them streaming videos on YouTube. Also, when doing these, I was editing a document on MS Word while streaming a song on Spotify.

Impressively, the Dell Latitude E6420 kept a smooth performance without lagging while performing these tasks.

That isn’t all, the Latitude E6420 also performed impressively on a PCMark Vantage test. PCMark Vantage is a synthetic benchmark that measures the overall capabilities of a computer.

On this PCMark Vantage benchmark test, the Latitude E6420 scored a whopping 8,242 points. This score is significantly higher than the category average of 5,177 points.

Comparatively, the ASUS B43J and Lenovo ThinkPad T410 both performed less than the Latitude E6420. The ASUS B43J scored 7,065 points while Lenovo’s ThinkPad T410 scored 6,937 points on the PCMark Vantage benchmark test.

Furthermore, when compared to its predecessor (Latitude E6410), the Latitude E6420 came up top, again. Specifically, the Latitude E6410 scored 7492 points on the PCMark Vantage test.

The only laptop that came close to the Latitude E6420 is the Lenovo ThinkPad T420. The ThinkPad T420 scored 8,122 points on the PCMark Vantage benchmark test.

In conclusion, the laptop’s 8 GB may be insufficient for most users. However, it is more than capable of multitasking.

Additionally, the laptop performs better than most of its competitors on the PCMark Vantage test I conducted. As a result, I will rate the Dell Latitude E6420 an eight out of ten in this memory review section.

Dell Latitude E6420: Storage Options & Performance

In terms of storage, the Dell Latitude E6420 offers multiple options. You can either get the Dell Latitude E6420 with a 7200 RPM SATA HDD or an SSD.

The SSD option can take up to a maximum storage capacity of 256 GB. The 7200 RPM SATA HDD, on the other hand, supports a max storage capacity of 360 GB.

Both storage options aren’t really generous of storage capacity, considering that this is a business laptop. However, if I was to choose, I will go for the SSD option, as it offers faster speed than the HDD option.

Unfortunately, my review laptop came with a 360 GB 7200 RPM SATA HDD. However, this HDD storage isn’t as bad as I thought.

The Latitude E6420’s HDD storage was able to boot to Windows 7 professional in a decent 66 seconds. This boot time is exactly on par with the category average.

Furthermore, I conducted a file transfer test to further determine the Latitude E6420’s 360 GB 7200 RPM SATA HDD speed. It took the laptop’s HDD 2 minutes and 27 seconds to transfer 4.97 GB of multimedia files.

Moreover, it does this at a decent transfer rate of 34.6 MBps. This transfer rate is faster than the 28.3 MBps achieved by the ASUS B43J.

Furthermore, I also carried out a CrystalDiskMark test to further assess the performance/speed of the laptop’s HDD. According to the CrystalDiskMark test, the Latitude E6420’s HDD has a sequential read speed of 83.06 MB/s.

In addition to its sequential read speed, it also has a sequential write speed of 78.45 MB/s. Comparatively, the ThinkPad T420 has a better sequential read and write speed.

Specifically, the Lenovo ThinkPad T420 has a sequential read and write speed of 94.39 MB/s and 94.25 MB/s respectively.

Furthermore, when compared to its predecessor, the Latitude E6420 once again have a slower read and write speed. Its predecessor, the Latitude E6410 has both sequential read and write speeds of 86.43 MB/s.

Finally, I will rate the Dell Latitude E6420 a seven in this storage review section. This rating is based on its 7200 RPM SATA HDD performance.

Dell Latitude E6420: Graphic Card Performance

Just like its predecessor (Latitude E6410), the Dell Latitude E6420 offers two graphics options. These graphics options include Intel HD Graphics and NVIDIA NVS 4200M.

The NVIDIA NVS 4200M graphics option is a dedicated graphics card with a 1 GB DDR3 dedicated VRAM. The Intel HD Graphics, on the other hand, is an integrated graphics card that doesn’t feature dedicated VRAM.

This is because, as an integrated graphics card, it is embedded into the CPU. As a result, it can only perform by sharing memory with the processor.

So, since it shares memory with the processor, don’t expect to enjoy gaming with it, or run graphic-demanding apps. Therefore, if you are a graphic designer or uses graphic-demanding applications regularly, the NVIDIA NVS 4200M is highly recommended.

Moving on to the graphics options clock speed. The Intel HD Graphics runs at a base GPU frequency of 650 MHz and a boost GPU frequency of 1300 MHz.

The NVIDIA NVS 4200M, on the other hand, only runs at a based GPU frequency of 810 MHz. The Latitude E6420 laptop I review came with an NVIDIA NVS 4200M graphics card.

Thanks to the graphics card dedicated VRAM, the Latitude E6420 was able to play most title games smoothly. For instance, the Latitude E6420 delivered a frame rate of 95 fps while playing Dirt 3.

However, on more demanding games such as Far Cry 2, it delivered a playable frame rate of 40 fps.

Moving on, I also carried out a 3DMark 06 test to further determine the E6420’s graphics performance with the NVIDIA NVS 4200M. On this test, the Latitude E6420 delivered a score of 4,906 points.

Comparatively, the Latitude E6420 performs better than Lenovo’s ThinkPad T410. The ThinkPad T410 which is equipped with an NVIDIA GeForce 3100M graphics card scored 3,712 points on the 3DMark test.

Also, the Latitude E6420 performs better than its predecessor, the Latitude E6410. The Latitude E6410 which uses an NVIDIA NVS 3100M graphics card scored 3,675 points on the 3DMark 06 test.

In conclusion, the Latitude E6420 offers multiple graphics card options, which is quite impressive for a non-gaming business laptop. Also, with its NVIDIA NVS 4200M graphic card option, it performed fairly better than its predecessor.

Therefore, I will rate the Dell Latitude E6420 an eight out of ten. This rating is based on its NVIDIA NVS 4200M graphics performance.

Dell Latitude E6420: Battery Life & Performance

The Dell Latitude E6420 offers three battery options, just like its predecessor. Specifically, you can get the laptop with either a 4-cell, 6-cell, or 9-cell Lithium-Ion battery.

The Dell Latitude E6420 I reviewed ships with a 9-cell Lithium-Ion battery. With this battery, the Latitude E6420 lasted an outstanding 8 hours and 59 minutes on a battery test I conducted. 

The battery test involved using a WI-FI network to continuously browse the internet till the laptop run low. Comparatively, the Latitude E6420 has a longer battery life than the ThinkPad T410 and its predecessor, the Latitude E6410.

The ThinkPad T410 lasted only 6 hours and 2 minutes on the battery test. Its predecessor (Latitude E6410), on the other hand, lasted 7 hours and 2 minutes.

In conclusion, I will rate the Dell Latitude E6420 a nine out of ten for its outstanding battery performance. This rating is actually based on the Dell Latitude E6420’s 9-cell Lithium-Ion battery performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The Dell Latitude E6420 comes with a lot of features, including a sleek design, a fantastic keyboard, solid performance, and long battery life. On top of that, the laptop is reasonably priced.

However, due to its sturdy Tri-metal construction, it is quite hefty, also, its display is somewhat poor. Nevertheless, the Dell Latitude E6420 has more pros than cons.

In short, the Dell Latitude E6420 is an excellent choice for business users on a budget. Therefore, if you need an affordable top-notch business laptop, the Dell Latitude E6420 is the right way to go!

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