Touchpad
The E6230's touchpad is identical to the E6320's. Measuring 80 mm x 40 mm (BxH), it is quite small on the vertical side. The touchpad's size is also restricted by the independent mouse keys which are positioned directly in front of it. Other manufacturers have proceeded to integrate these keys below the touch pad (clickpad), especially with ultra-mobile devices. This design, however, is not used in any unit of the Latitude E-series. dell 24DRM,dell 312-1387,dell 312-1390,dell 312-1392,dell 312-1433

The Dell touchpad was manufactured by Alps Electric and supports multi-touch gestures if it is configured accordingly. By default, only scrolling is activated. The surface also is matte and allows for precise control of the mouse cursor.

Both touchpad keys have a pleasant, almost velvety feel and respond well over their whole width. Their stroke distance is short, the pressure point distinct and they work relatively silently. ,dell 49VTP,dell 4DMNG,dell 4WY7C,dell 68DTP

In accord with current standards, the built-in 12.5-inch HD screen is lighted by LEDs and comes with an anti-glare finish. It offers a resolution of 1366x768 pixels and thus an aspect ratio of 16:9. Dell does not offer alternatives, but considering the screen diagonal, this is a balanced choice. Considering the 12.5-inch size, this resolution is not perceived as being too fine; it still offers a much better desktop overview than lower resolutions one would often find in cheaper and less efficient small devices (netbooks). ,dell 6HY59,dell 6K73M,dell 6KP1N,dell 6XH00,dell 8RT13,dell 8TT5W,dell 9K1VP


Having an average brightness of about 180 cd/m², the screen does not belong to the brightest in its class. On top of that, the illumination ratio of 70% is relatively uneven. Actually, when testing a plain, bright background, the lower right corner appears to be a bit darker than the rest of the screen. Lenovo's ThinkPad X230 (280 cd/m²) does a much better job with its bright IPS screen with wide viewing angles. Fujitsu's Lifebook P772 (200 cd/m²) is a bit brighter than our review model, while HP's EliteBook 2570p (166 cd/m²) is even a little darker. ,dell DJ9W6,dell FW1MN,dell G019Y,dell G35K4,dell MK1R0

Subjectively speaking, color representation is not stunningly crisp but sufficient for Office or mobile applications. A great color spectrum is important mostly for professional graphic editing, a task this subnotebook was not designed for. Thus, as expected, the internal display clearly misses sRGB as well. ,dell N121Y,dell PVJ7J,dell T1G4M,dell V1YJ7,dell V8VNT,dell VR7HM

In outdoor use, our Latitude E6230's matte display surface proves to be an advantage. Unfortunately, its brightness is not sufficient for untroubled outdoor use, one should look for a shady place. In order to use the display under direct sunlight, a brightness level of at least 250 cd/m² would be desirable. ,dell W6XNM,dell X29KD,dell XRDW2,dell YGMTN,dell 2P2MJ,dell 312-1163

The Latitude E6230's viewing angles in no way stand out from the laptop competition. As usual, the stable viewing range is more generous horizontally than vertically. When viewing from above, the screen looks too bright; when viewing from below, quick contrast loss and color shifts occur. ,dell 312-1165,dell 312-1242,dell 312-1310,dell 312-1311,dell 312-1324,dell 312-1325

All the Latitude E6230 models are based on the QM77 (Panther Point) chip set by Intel. Depending on the base model, the subnotebook can be fitted with an Intel Core i3 (2350M), Core i5 (3360M, 3320M) or Core i7 (3520M) processor in Dell's online shop. Regardless of this, for pixel calculations each processor's integrated graphic chip is used respectively. There is no dedicated graphics card option for any Latitude E6230 model. ,dell 451-11693,dell 451-11694,dell 451-11695,dell 451-11696,dell 8858X,dell 8P3YX

Depending on the model, the mass storage provided varies; conventional hard drives with up to 500 GB capacity and solid state drives with up to 256 GB are on offer. Concerning the main memory, up to 8 GB capacity can be chosen. ,dell 911MD,dell DHT0W,dell HCJWT,dell M5Y0X,dell NHXVW,dell P8TC7,dell P9TJ0

Hence, regardless of the model choice, the E6230 is not equipped for graphic- intensive applications like games or CAD, but for typical Office and internet work. Our review model will score in system performance with its SSD, although neither its 4 GB main memory, nor its Core i5-3320M exhaust all options on offer. ,dell PRRRF,dell PRV1Y,dell R48V3,dell RU485,dell T54F3,dell T54FJ,dell UJ499,dell X57F1


In our test candidate, a Core i5-3320M dual core processor with a base clock rate of 2.6 GHz is at work. Thanks to Turbo Boost technology it can - provided appropriate cooling – clock up to 3.1 GHz putting load on both cores, and 3.3 GHz in single core applications. Also, hyperthreading enables processing up to four threads simultaneously. Please take detailed information on the processor from our special page. Our benchmark list of mobile processors enables ratings according to performance.

We will see whether the device conforms to our expectations by running a series of CPU-demanding benchmarks. We compare the results with those of three direct competitors of which two, namely Lenovo's ThinkPad X230 and Fujitsu's Lifebook P772, are equipped with the same processor and give almost the same results. HP's EliteBook 2570p is equipped with a slightly faster Core i7-3520M and yields slightly better results. Details can be taken out of the diagram below. ,dell 2P2MJ,dell 312-1163,dell 312-1165,dell 312-1242,dell 312-1310,dell 312-1311


Our review candidate owes its outstanding results in both PCMark tests mainly to its fast mass storage, an SSD. Again, detailed values can be taken from the diagram below. Unfortunately, we do not have any PCMark7 results for HP's EliteBook 2570p in our database. In the PCMarkVantage, however, it is the only one of the three direct competitors that is even slightly faster than our Latitude E6230 model, as it is also equipped with an SSD. In contrast, Fujitsu's Lifebook P772 and Lenovo's X230 are much slower than our review model, with -36% in PCMarkVantage and -44% and -30% respectively in PCMark 7. However, if one chose a configuration with an SSD for these two, they would catch up. ,dell 312-1324,dell 312-1325,dell 451-11693,dell 451-11694,dell 451-11695,dell 451-11696,dell 8858X,dell 8P3YX,dell 911MD,dell DHT0W,dell HCJWT,dell M5Y0X,dell NHXVW,dell P8TC7,dell P9TJ0,dell PRRRF,dell PRV1Y,dell R48V3,dell RU485,dell T54F3,dell T54FJ,dell UJ499,dell X57F1