Dell's New Latitude Laptops Try to Foil Prying Eyes

Integrated privacy filters are coming to Dell Latitude laptops, making Dell the third major PC maker to offer a push-button solution to thwart snoopers looking over your shoulder at your laptop's screen.

The integrated privacy filters will be available on Latitude 7000-series laptops aimed at business users starting in June, Dell announced this week. Once you activate the filter by pushing a button, the screen automatically reduces its viewing angles, making it nearly impossible to read text unless you're directly in front of the screen.

Refreshed 13- and 14-inch versions of the Dell Latitude 7000 laptop line are among the first to offer the privacy filter, called SafeScreen, as an optional extra. Dell is rather late to the market with the feature—HP and Lenovo have offered a similar technology on some laptops for more than a year—but Dell says it has spent the additional time on research and improvements.

Instead of building additional components into the display to reduce viewing angles, Dell's SafeScreen uses only the display's backlight. This could reduce the drawbacks that HP's first privacy filter-equipped laptops experienced, such as decreased image quality and battery life.

During a brief demonstration of SafeScreen for PCMag, the screen quality did indeed appear to be what consumers might expect from an ordinary full HD (1,920 by 1,080, or 1080p) display with SafeScreen turned off. Once activated, however, SafeScreen made text harder to read at every angle, including when viewed head-on.

SafeScreen's impact on battery life remains to be seen. Dell said it hasn't completed its internal testing yet, so we'll have to wait until we get a SafeScreen-equipped Latitude in for testing to be sure.

In addition to the privacy filter, the Latitude 7000 series laptops are receiving several other minor improvements, including up to a 6 percent size reduction from the previous generation, an optional carbon fiber weave for the display lid, and new Intel 8th Generation Core processors with vPro support. The Latitude 7000's starting list price is $1,299, although large corporate orders typically receive significant discounts.

Joining the 13- and 14-inch Latitude 7000 series for Dell's spring business laptop lineup is a new 12-inch tablet with a detachable keyboard called the Latitude 7200 2-in-1. This competitor to the Microsoft Surface Pro 6 ($799.99 at Amazon) lacks the SafeScreen option, but includes a nifty built-in stand that automatically pops open when you apply pressure to the top of the tablet. Its starting list price is $999.

Smallest Business 2-in-1

One rung below the premium Latitude 7000 series, the Latitude 5000 series is also getting a makeover. Highlights include a brand-new Latitude 5300 2-in-1 laptop, complete with a hinge that lets it rotate 360 degrees to transform into a tablet. Dell is calling the 3.15-pound Latitude 5300 the "world's smallest mainstream business-class 13-inch 2-in-1." The 5000 series, with models starting at $801, will also receive Intel's latest vPro processors and boast up to 22 hours of battery life.

Meanwhile, a new 13-inch Latitude 3301 (pictured below) made of plastic will represent the bottom of the refreshed Latitude lineup. Its starting list price is $599, but the upgraded version Dell showed off during a brief demo for PCMag looks anything but cheap. With narrow borders around the screen and a full-size HDMI video output, it should appeal to many small- and medium-sized businesses that don't need the vPro support and other enterprise security features of the 7000 and 5000 series.

Dell also refreshed its Vostro and Precision lineups this week. Like the Latitude 3000 series, the new Vostro 13 5000 (starting at $849) and Vostro 15 7000 (starting at $1,149) laptops are aimed at small businesses. Meanwhile, the new Precision 3540 is an entry-level workstation laptop that includes independent software vendor (ISV) certifications and starts at $799.

Dell's new business offerings arrive as Lenovo is expected to start selling its own improved business lineup, including new generations of the premium ThinkPad X series unveiled at CES in January.

HP has also refreshed several of its EliteBook premium business laptops over the past few months, which means that now could be a good time for IT departments in the market for a refresh to begin negotiations. We're eager to get our hands on many of the new Latitude models announced this week for full testing.

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