Review of DELL E7240 laptop

Dell is one of the first manufacturers migrating to the new Haswell architecture in the business range this year. The Dell Latitude E6540 was one of the first business notebooks featuring Intel's fourth generation Core i CPUs. Meanwhile there are also competitors from other manufacturers, e.g. the Lenovo ThinkPad S440 available, while Dell has gradually updated its complete product range.

The Dell Latitude E7240 is a mobile 12-inch ultrabook, which should balance the advantages of a slim design and the high demands of professional business customers. 

However, Dell currently only offers a limited number of options in its online shop. Apart from further CPU options, a touch-capable full HD display, more RAM, integrated WWAN or more storage capacity should be optionally available in the future. Our test device features an Intel Core i5-4200U-CPU with integrated Intel HD Graphics 4400, 4 GB RAM, a 128 GB SSD and a matte HD display. In Dell's online shop, the net price was about 930 Euros (approximately 1110 Euros including VAT/~$1256 and $1499 respectively) after deduction of all discounts at the beginning of the test. Meanwhile the base price of a slightly different model increased to 1069 Euros (~$1444) without VAT. 

Dell advertises that this laptop meets the MIL-STD-810G standard in a video about the Latitude 7000 series, but it does not specify what portions of the standard it fulfills. MIL-STD-810G consists of tests with extreme temperatures, air pressure, sunlight, moisture, chemicals, accelerations, and vibrations.

The build quality of the Dell Latitude E7240 is very good; the palm rests show no depressions when pressed with a finger, the display hinge holds the screen safely in place and the design of the case appears to be solid.

Although the weight is not especially low, it is still very portable at 1340 g (~3 pounds). The replaceable battery and the conventional docking port are advantages.

The connectivity is good for an ultrabook. Apart from USB 3.0 ports (1x with charging function), which became standard in the meanwhile, the Dell Latitude E7240 laptop features a standard HDMI interface and a mini DisplayPort for digital connection of external displays. In addition, it has a card reader and a conventional Gigabit LAN interface. In our opinion, the interface layout is good. There are sufficient interfaces for connecting the usual peripherals like printer, external display, hard drives or optical drive on the rear side without disturbing cables left or right of the notebook. The right side houses another USB port, which can be used to quickly connect a digital camera or a smartphone. In addition, a card reader is placed there, making it easily accessible. 

Our test model does not have a built-in Bluetooth module. Apparently, the Dell Latitude E7240 only supports Bluetooth, if it is already integrated in the WLAN module. For example, Dell's Wireless 1601 does, but it is not yet available. The same is true for the WWAN modules (HSPA+ or LTE) mentioned in the specs.

An HD web cam, a dual array microphone (both in the display bezel) and a standard Gigabit Ethernet port complete the communication equipment. Despite focusing on premium quality, the web cam's image quality is only modest and might only fulfill basic requirements of video conferences. Colors hardly look natural, there is visible noise and brightness differences worsen the impression.

 DELL E7240  laptop Battery
 

• Battery Chemical: Li-polymer
• Battery Voltage: 7.4V/ 11.1V
• Battery Capacity: 3600mAh
• Battery Color: Black
• Type: original
• Warranty: one year
• Source: http://www.laptop-battery.org.uk/laptopbattery/dell/latitude%20e7240-batteries.htm