When the Going Gets Tough, the Laptops Get Rugged

A look at the new Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged and 7330 Rugged Extreme.

Dell has sponsored this post.

The new Dell Latitude 7330 Rugged Extreme. (Source: Dell.)

The new Dell Latitude 7330 Rugged Extreme. (Source: Dell.)

A laptop can be a thing of beauty. Manufacturers take pains to design devices with aesthetic appeal, as many of us expect nothing less. We seek sleek instruments of productivity, because when you spend so much time with an inanimate object, it might as well look good.

But there’s a clear case when function over form is indisputable, and that’s in the field. The cold, hot, wet, dry, sandy, windy, salty, muddy, sunny, dusty, snowy, rainy, smoky field. Laptops built for such environments are called rugged, because they have to be. Electronics and earth don’t mix, and makers of rugged laptops must keep one from the other.

That’s exactly what Dell has done with its two new rugged laptops: the Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged and Dell Latitude 7330 Rugged Extreme. In this article, we’ll take a look at these new rugged laptops, what sets them apart, and what makes them an appealing option for engineers who venture out of doors.

The Dell Latitude Rugged Laptops

The two new Dell Rugged laptops were unveiled last month and will be available to order on December 9th, 2021. The Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged is a 14-inch semi-rugged laptop, and the successor to the Dell Latitude 5420 Rugged. Note that there is a non-rugged Dell Latitude 5430, so buyers should make sure they click on the model that looks like it could withstand a tiger attack.

The Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged. (Source: Dell.)

The Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged. (Source: Dell.)

The Dell Latitude 7330 Rugged Extreme is a 13.3-inch fully rugged laptop, and it takes the place of the current Dell Latitude 7424 Rugged Extreme. The new model has a slightly smaller screen size, but it makes up for it with significant weight and size reductions.

The Dell Latitude 7330 Rugged Extreme. (Source: Dell.)

The Dell Latitude 7330 Rugged Extreme. (Source: Dell.)

So what’s the difference between a semi-rugged and fully rugged laptop? While both of the new laptops are designed to withstand harsh environmental conditions, the fully rugged Dell Latitude 7330 Rugged Extreme takes it just a little bit further. It’s got an ingress protection (IP) rating of 65, while the semi-rugged Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged has an IP rating of 53.

“That first number is dust, and the second number is water,” explained David Plourde, business development consultant for Dell’s Rugged division. “The higher you go, the better protection it has against both. When you get to 65, essentially it means that nothing’s going to make it in and it’s completely protected.” (There is a caveat: the Dell Rugged laptops include doors on the I/O ports that must be closed to ensure full ingress protection.)

Plourde recommends the fully rugged laptop for users who routinely expose their machines to the elements—marine biologists, for instance, who take it out in the salty sea air. For those with a little more leeway, the semi-rugged Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged has one big advantage over its fully rugged sibling: graphics. The 5430 Rugged can be optionally configured with an NVIDIA T500 discrete graphics card, marking the first time Dell has offered professional graphics in its rugged lineup.

“This is a big leap for us, going from consumer grade graphics to professional graphics,” Plourde highlighted.

Specs of the Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged and Dell Latitude 7330 Rugged Extreme

Here are the tech specs of the two new rugged laptops:

We’ve already touched on one element of the new rugged laptops that earns them the moniker—ingress protection. But there’s more to a rugged laptop than a seal against the elements.

What Makes a Rugged Laptop Rugged?

Cleanability is one important consideration. Rugged laptops are exposed to all manner of chemicals and must be designed accordingly. “Gasoline or things like that are not going to affect the surface of the [rugged] systems,” Plourde assured. “The systems are tested for their durability with certain disinfecting solutions. And that’s especially important in today’s day and age.”

Another big difference is the display. The 1920×1080 displays of the new rugged laptops aren’t as sharp as the 4K displays you might find offered on a normal workstation, but these displays are customized for extreme conditions. While standard laptops usually max out before 400 nits of peak brightness, the Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged and Dell Latitude 7330 Rugged Extreme peak at 1100 and 1400 nits, respectively. This makes them much easier to see in bright sunlight. Additionally, the touchscreen display uses Gorilla Glass, making it more durable than a standard LCD screen. The touchscreen is responsive to gloves—even thick winter gloves—and it can be used in wet conditions.

The chassis of rugged laptops is an obvious difference as well. They have that characteristic bulky look for a reason, Plourde explained.

“When you look at the pictures of these systems, you can see some heavy-duty rubberized bumpers on the corners. That’s designed to help take more shocks,” Plourde said. “The chassis has more dampening material around the components and combines magnesium alloy and aluminum.” There’s also carbon fiber on the display rear cover, a favorite material for achieving both strength and light weight.

A look inside the Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged. (Source: Dell.)

A look inside the Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged. (Source: Dell.)

Pictures of the new rugged laptops also reveal another difference from standard laptops: a handle. According to Plourde, drops are one of the leading causes of system damage to laptops. A handle handily solves this problem for rugged laptops. The handle can be customized—for example, swapped with a shoulder strap—or removed entirely.

Also entirely removable from Dell’s new rugged laptops are the batteries. Both the Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged and Dell Latitude 7330 Rugged Extreme have two hot-swappable 53Wh batteries. The dual-battery system discharges one battery at a time, so users can juggle between spares as effectively as possible. While the batteries are benchmarked for 25 hours of on-time, real-world use will likely cause them to drain quicker. But with proper planning, users effectively won’t have to worry about low batteries.

“You’ll get all-day power out of two batteries, but if you’ve got to go longer, if you had a third battery, you could pop one out, pop one in, and never interrupt your work,” described Plourde. “That’s important for field engineers who need to be out in the field all day long.”

Of course, when you’re out in the field all day long, you may not have access to a Wi-Fi network. Plourde is particularly proud of the fact that both new rugged laptops offer optional 5G connectivity, the first of Dell’s laptop lineups to check that box on every model. That, combined with the professional graphics offered in the Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged, makes for a unique rugged system.

“This is the only rugged system that’s out there with NVIDIA pro graphics that is 5G capable,” Plourde boasted.

Engineers in the Field

Engineers enjoy using the most powerful mobile workstations available. They look for strong CPUs and great graphics cards. But engineers also understand the necessity of tradeoffs, and taking a specced-out premium laptop into the wild is not a good idea.

A look inside the Dell Latitude 7330 Rugged. (Source: Dell.)

A look inside the Dell Latitude 7330 Rugged. (Source: Dell.)

That’s what rugged laptops are made for, and even though they can’t compete with the processing power of their non-rugged counterparts, they are getting better. The new Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged is the first of the company’s rugged laptops to offer professional NVIDIA graphics, the NVIDIA T500. Is it the best option for an engineer in general? No. But it may just be the best option for an engineer in the field.

“I think this is going to be a nice fit for engineering applications,” Plourde concluded.

To learn more about the Dell Latitude 5430 Rugged and Dell Latitude 7330 Rugged Extreme, visit Dell.

Written by

Michael Alba

Michael is a senior editor at engineering.com. He covers computer hardware, design software, electronics, and more. Michael holds a degree in Engineering Physics from the University of Alberta.