Mobility is one of the most important design aspects of the Dell Latitude D430. It would be worth nothing, if the smallest an lightest notebook could not be run more than two ours in battery mode.
Of course the battery runtime of the D430 is longer. The longest runtime measured under Windows XP was more than 6 hours – indeed this is a good value. This is even more impressing, if you consider the relatively small battery with just 42 Wh of the reviewed notebook. This fully-fledged mobile computer demands clearly below ten Watt energy. How is this possible?
The basis of such is of course the choice of low-energy components. Here the ULV processor and a chip-set which was optimized for subnotebooks are more important. Furthermore, the SSD hard disk definitely also contributes to energy saving in practice. Finally, also Windows XP is somewhat less demanding than its successor, Vista.
But that is still not all. Also that the LAN interface is automatically deactivated, helps saving energy. As soon as the notebook switches to battery mode, the operating system deactivates the LAN interface and displays an according message on the screen. If idle the runtime is increased by one and a half hour because of this. In other tests the difference is still measurably, but less obvious. Unfortunately there are still weaknesses. If the Dell Latitude D430 is launched in battery mode, but, with plugged LAN cable, Windows still deactivates the interface. So, you need to manually activate it, if required.
Other battery tests prove that the runtime is the lower the higher the demand on calculation power. The runtime is with brightest display and without network connection still clearly above four hours. If you use WLAN the battery runtime is still above three and a half hour. Under full load the battery is empty after two hours. A 9-cell battery with a runtime better than the 6 cell battery of the reviewed notebook is also available.
From left to right: WiFi toggle switch, power button.
From left to right: Ethernet, modem, 2x USB, VGA-out, 1x USB (also used for DVD drive connection), IEEE 1394 Firewire 400 port, and the AC power jack.
The Intel 3945 802.11a/b/g WiFi card works perfectly fine. I have no issues connecting to the networks I frequent, no disconnections, and few problems at all. The only problem is that when resuming from standby or hibernate, I sometimes have to ‘reboot' the WiFi card (via a repair option available by right clicking the WiFi task bar icon) to get it to connect again. But I do not think this is D430-specific, as I've seen this happen on many other laptops.
Another interesting feature about the WiFi card is a hardware switch that can toggle the card on and off, and a quick flick of the switch can make a popup list appear with all local networks shown. When turned off, the switch's light supposedly tells you if there is an unprotected network nearby, but since I only use encrypted networks I cannot yet test that feature. However, the switch does require a little bit too much of a nudge to toggle the on/off position of the switch.
I find the switch to be more annoying than anything for me. I cannot benefit from it, and it gives a little too much between the "On" and "Check Networks" positions. Even more so, the button is hard to toggle to the "Off" position and yet too easy to turn it back "On." Overall, this button is a worthless feature for the laptop and the space should have been used to install a side USB port which would have been more useful.
In the last month or so, I've had to travel extensively with the laptop, and often without the benefit of a wall plug nearby. As previously mentioned, this is one of the large benefits of having a ULV processor and low powered parts. Even with the relatively puny 6-cell battery, the laptop still squeezes out an incredible battery life.
With the screen at the maximum brightness, wireless ON, in the presentation power mode (which keeps the processor down to 800MHz), and while performing moderately difficult tasks on the D430, the laptop managed to clock in at a battery life of about 2 hours and 16 minutes. Considering I was frequently using the computer, accessing data and playing music, etc, etc, that is a fairly good lifetime. Estimates indicated that under heavy load the laptop should still last over an hour at least, possibly more than 90 minutes.
With the screen at the minimum brightness, wireless ON, presentation mode, and leaving the computer at idle most of the time while occasionally typing this review and browsing the internet, the laptop managed to score an impressive 3 hours and 18 minutes.
During other tests, there were times that my estimated battery life was 4-5 hours, but I was never able to actually achieve that projected battery life. But the potential is apparently there.
One concern I am sure users will have is the power button on the side of the notebook. It could potentially be easy to hit when the laptop is in a backpack or luggage or briefcase. Everyone knows that an active laptop is such a small space could cause heat related failures, and Dell was aware of this as well. Fortunately, Dell programmed the BIOS of the laptop to NOT turn on if the laptop is closed. If you hit the power button and the D430 boots while shut, the POST sequence will recognize that the computer needs to shut down, which protects the laptop.
