Dell Latitude E5410 review: Dell Latitude E5410

The laptops in Dell’s business range may not be beautiful, but they are generally well put together and available in a wide range of configurations. The Dell Latitude E5410, which costs around £689, fits in nicely to the current Latitude line-up.

Boxing strength 

In terms of design, the E5410 is not exactly what you’d call a looker. It has a very boxy, industrial-looking chassis with harsh angles. To give it its dues, though, it does feel like it could go ten rounds with David Haye and come off none the worse. It’s not as boring-looking as Dell’s E4310, either, with a two-tone colour scheme of gunmetal grey on the lid and wrist rest, and matte black on the rest of the chassis.

Although the laptop isn’t overly large for a 14-inch model at 338 by 22 by 244mm, it is quite heavy, weighing in at a hefty 2.36kg. As a result, it’s not a great option if you need a machine to use on the move.

As with most business laptops, this model uses a display with a matte rather than glossy finish. This helps to cut down hugely on reflections and makes the screen more comfortable to use indoors under bright lights for longer periods. The 14.1-inch display has an older-style 4:3 aspect ratio and a pretty pedestrian resolution of 1,280×800 pixels. Nevertheless, the screen is quite bright and its viewing angles are good. Colours don’t look quite as vibrant as they do on many consumer laptops, but this won’t be an issue for most business users.

Key points

The keyboard features traditional tapered keys and, although the layout is decent, Dell hasn’t managed to squeeze in a numerical keypad. While the keys do have a suitable amount of travel and feel responsive under your fingertips, there is a little more flex towards the middle than we would have liked.

As with most of Dell’s business laptops, this one has both a pointer and a trackpad. The trackpad is not overly roomy, but it is fast and accurate. That said, the two bottom-mounted trackpad buttons are very spongy and have too much travel, so you find your thumb pressing against the edge of the chassis when you’re tapping on them — which makes them slightly uncomfortable to use. As you would expect, there’s a second set of buttons at the top of the trackpad that are designed to be used with the speedy and responsive pointer. These buttons are actually much better to use, as they are more rigid and responsive.