Dell Latitude 15 5000 E5550 Business-Class Notebook

The Dell Latitude 15 5000 E5550 is a 15.6-inch laptop PC aimed at business users. It provides good performance delivered by the latest Intel processors, optional touch and Full HD display options, and advanced system management and security features. They are all packed in a sturdy chassis with a relatively low starting weight of 4.7 pounds. The display back is made of glass fiber reinforced plastic or magnesium alloy, depending on customers’ choice, while the base is plastic.

Regarding the display, the basic 1366-by-768-pixel one has anti-glare coating and lacks IPS wide viewing angle technology, while the Full HD 1920×1080 non-touch panel has IPS and is anti-glare too. Another choice is a Full HD touch screen covered with scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla glass and apparently without IPS.

On the E5550, keyboard backlight is optional. There are a dedicated number pad, a multi-touch touchpad with physical click buttons, and optionally a pointing stick device located in the middle of the keyboard.

The 5th Generation Intel Core i3, i5 or i7 Broadwell processors and their Intel HD 5500 integrated graphics are the heart of Dell’s Latitude E5550. They offer sufficient power for the daily office tasks, but aren’t optimized for stuff like 3D modeling. In addition, select CPU models have built-in Intel vPro advanced management technology. A downside of the E5550 in comparison to similar laptops including the cheaper Latitude 15 3000 3550 is presence of only one RAM slot. This means you can have only 4GB or 8GB of system memory. For data storage you can choose either a 500GB hard drive at 7,200rpm speed or a 128GB solid state drive. A DVD burner is missing.

On the other hand, the connectivity and security feature set is robust. Besides 802.11AC wireless and Bluetooth, Ethernet LAN, optional 3G / 4G mobile broadband, three USB 3.0 ports, an SD memory card reader, HDMI and VGA video jacks, and a port for “E-Docking” compatible docks, it includes optional SmartCard and fingerprint readers, and the Trusted Platform Module technology.

The notebook has stereo speakers and a 720p or Full HD web camera, depending on a configuration.

The battery of the laptop has a capacity of 38 or 51 WHr. There’s no exact info on battery life, but Dell claims it lasts “all day”, presumably an 8-hour working day.