Dell reveals high-end rugged hybrid notebook

Dell has announced the launch of its latest business lineup of notebooks, the Latitude 14 Rugged Extreme and Latitude 12 Rugged Extreme convertible notebook.

The notebooks, which are designed to tackle harsh and volatile conditions, "mark the beginning of a renewed and expanded commitment by Dell to the rugged space", said Kirk Schell, VP of commercial PCs and client solutions group at Dell.

Both models have been tested to "military standards", including drop tests of up to six feet. They are protected against the elements by offering sealed doors and compression gaskets while Dell's fourth-gen QuadCool thermal management system allows operation at high temperatures.

The Latitude Rugged Extreme line-up incorporates Dell's Direct-View outdoor readable display that minimises glare under harsh sunlight.

A sealed, customisable RGB backlit keyboard also features with optional 'Stealth mode', which lets users go incognito with a single keypress.

The Latitude 12 Rugged Extreme convertible has a resistive five-point multi-touch display for recognising gestures of users wearing thick gloves.

The Latitude 12 also features a rugged 'flip-hinge' convertible display.

Spec wise, both notebooks support up to 16GB of memory and up to 512GB of SSD. The pair both offer Intel's fourth generation core i3, i5 and i7 dual-core.

The Latitude 12 Rugged Extreme will sport an 11.6-inch HD (1366x768) 16:9 display with Direct-View outdoor readable display with resistive multi-touch, while the Latitude 14 has a 14.0-inch HD (1366x768) 16:9 display with Direct-View outdoor readable display with resistive touchscreen.

The Latitude 12 and 14 Rugged Extreme each claims up to 8.5 hours and 14 hours worth of battery life respectively.

The notebooks offer remote management capabilities with Intel vPro and available FIPS 140-2 compliant Trusted Platform Module, along with Dell's Data Protection, Encryption and ControlVault authenticator.

Dell's Latitude Rugged Extreme convertible notebooks begin at AUD$4999 and will be available from May.