Dell Latitude 7480 (7600U, FHD) Laptop Review

[Redaktion]

Business as usual. With its redesigned chassis, lighter weight and much-improved battery life, the upper-class Latitude once again ticks all the right check boxes when it comes to business notebooks. The 14-inch 7480 is equipped with current-generation hardware, offers great performance and features a top-notch keyboard. Coil whine is very noticeable, however.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-Latitude-7480-7600U-FHD-Laptop-Review.210920.0.html

[Trevesco]

Hello, comprehensive review you have there.

Just wondering if the laptop was configured with touch screen?

Because on the dell official website it states the starting weight is 1.26KG, compared with the 1.5KG stated in this review.

[Anton123]

A heavy and slow dual-core laptop gets 90% rating? Nonsense!

Stop rewarding manufacturers for giving zero care about their users to the extend that they don't bother finding a decent component supplier to avoid coil whining.

[YS]

I've been waiting for this and it's perfect!

Easy Maintenance - check
Dual DDR4 (not soldered) -  check
WWAN - check
NVME support - check
Acceptable weight range - check (unlike 7470)


This is perfect for travelling, can't wait to get one!

@Anton

This is an awesome business class ultrabook, what did you expect it to have?

Care about users? huh?

[Anton123]

@YS:
I would expect to have 4-core for that weight, or 2-core with 1kg weight.

Also power-efficient LPDDR3/4 memory in a portable machine. WWAN slot with antennas is available in most business laptops, ask your IT guys to fill it is not a problem. Buy a desired config and you won't need maintenance. Lots of ports is its only business advantage, but how many did you actually use in the last month?

My main objection is while very few laptops ever received 90+ rating on Anandtech, it's sad to see 90% on such an off-the-shelf basic Intel ULV laptop. And I don't like saving 50 cents on inductors that result in side noises in an expensive business laptop.

[iznak]

Important to note that from my experience with the Dell 7480, only the i7 version with vPro has thunderbolt 3 in the usb-c port, the i5 version does not have thunderbolt.

[Bernie Pechlaner]

Hello, comprehensive review you have there.

Just wondering if the laptop was configured with touch screen?

Because on the dell official website it states the starting weight is 1.26KG, compared with the 1.5KG stated in this review.

Hi Trevesco,

The version that weights less has a 40 Wh battery instead of 60 Wh...

Thanks,

Bernie

[Bernie Pechlaner]

Important to note that from my experience with the Dell 7480, only the i7 version with vPro has thunderbolt 3 in the usb-c port, the i5 version does not have thunderbolt.

Hi iynak,

When I checked the various configurations initially, I did find the Thunderbolt-3-option for both i7 and i5...although these are of course subject to change at any moment When I started writing the review, for example, I'm sure I saw an option for the Tri-Band wireless card needed for WiGig...alas, right now it's not offered....

Thanks,

Bernie

[Renaud]

In Belgium the 42Wh battery is not available :/ (42Wh is available on dell.com).
With 12h stamina for the 60Wh I would be happy with a 40Wh !

Thunderbolt appears only on i7 configurations.

[powerslave12r]

This would have been a perfect machine if they had kept the power connector on the back. Now the ring light from the power connector is going to be right there in your face and the cable's going to be in the way when kept on a lap while charging.

The loss of multiple status indicator lights is a downgrade IMHO.

Full sized SD card removal is really bad.

Otherwise this would have been a perfect machine.

[Paolo]

Wrong aspect ration in the specs, it's 16:9 not 16:10  ;)

[dthrp]

Dear NBC, please review the 15" Latitude 5580 as well. It comes with a 92 Whr battery configuration and optional dual and quad core processors. It's a potential competitor to the Lenovo Thinkpad T570.

[Bernie Pechlaner]

Wrong aspect ration in the specs, it's 16:9 not 16:10  ;)

Thanks for pointing that out Paolo - I corrected it :-)

Bernie

[Renaud]

Hello,

I try to figure out the soft finish of the case. Bernie says "black soft-touch paint finish". I own a 5450, whose back is made of a soft finish, sort of rubber.

The palm rest of this 5450 is made of plastic, a hard and matte one, but not the kind I'd call "soft".

Is the palm rest of the 7480 made of the same "rubberized" finish as the lid of the 5450 ? I'd like to avoid a soft palm rest as the XPS 13 has. I don't really like the feel of it (and it's always dirty ;-)). I like easy-to-clean surfaces, even if they don't look premium.

Thank you for any advice !

[wojtow]

I've used this model (same config as reviewed-except I have the PCIe NVM disk) for about a month now and can confirm pretty much everything in the review with a few exceptions.

I have not experienced any of the "coil whine" mentioned with my unit. Fan comes up to barely audible only during sustained max-load conditions. So I consider it to be silent for practical purposes.

The "black soft-touch paint finish" feels great and looks great (when clean)... However, if fingerprints really, really bother you, this is probably not the machine for you!   As stated, it is a fingerprint magnet.   They bug me, but I'm learning to live with it as I otherwise love nearly everything else about it.  A wipedown as part of my daily routine has gone a long way to keep it tolerable.    The same problem exists with higher end Lenovos with the similar finish. 

Speaking of fingerprints, ironically the only significant issue I've had is that the fingerprint sensor (for login) only worked intermittently.  Dell dispatched an on-site tech with a replacement part, but he said he corrected a sensor cable issue.  But it is still not working right, so I guess I'll have them back out and ask them to replace the sensor this time.   Despite not being initially successful, I've otherwise been impressed with the courtesy and speed of the Dell service process.  The phone dispatcher took my issue seriously and made arrangements without any of the scripted or condescending type of treatment you sometimes get from tech companies.   

They even gave me the option to replace the part myself... which I certainly would have in most cases... but I had declined and opted for the included-in-warranty on-site service because of all the parts, the fingerprint sensor is the most difficult to replace as _everything_ else needs to come out of the unit.  Otherwise, I did take the back cover off and see that all the main parts you'd want to replace or upgrade like RAM, SSD were readily accessible.

Other than these caveats, I've been extremely satisfied.  All day battery life (with rapid charging), 16GB of RAM lets me keep lots of apps open, the PCIe NVM disk is plenty fast, keyboard and screen are excellent.   Enough horsepower for software development work while docked at my desk, but plenty portable for the other half of my job where I'm going between rooms and buildings to meet with people.

Would choose again.