Dell Product Information - GX series, SX Series, Latitude and Optiplex

Dell Optiplex and Latitude Info

Dell OptiPlex
Dell, Inc. targets its OptiPlex™ line of desktop computers for sale into the corporate, government and education markets. These systems typically contain Pentium CPUs from Intel, although Dell sells some models with Celeron CPUs as well. They contain business-oriented components (such as Gigabit Ethernet, which Dell makes available only on its Precision, OptiPlex and PowerEdge systems) and software.

The newest OptiPlex models break from Dell's proprietary form factors and follow, for the most part, the BTX standard.

The OptiPlex series comes in four different form factors - Tower, Desktop, Small form Factor, and Ultra Small Form factors.

Models

* G1 - came equipped with Intel's Pentium II processors.
* GX1 - along with the IBM 300PL, one of the most widely-used business desktops of the 1999 - 2005 era. Some organizations have only recently started to replace them. GX1 machines used Pentium II and Pentium III CPUs.
* GX50 - equipped with Intel Celeron CPUs (up to 1.2GHz) and SDRAM memory; budget version of the GX150
* GX60 - equipped with Intel Celeron CPUs from the Pentium 4 family and DDR SDRAM; budget version of the GX260
* GX100 & GX110 - came equipped with Intel's Pentium III processors or Intel's Celeron processors.
* GX150 - equipped with Intel Pentium III and Celeron-derivative CPUs from 600 to 1000 MHz
* GX240 - an early Pentium-4-equipped 200 series OptiPlex
* GX260 and GX270 - Dell's first Ultra small form factor systems, capable of having monitors mounted to them.
* GX280 - a more recent model with a Pentium 4 CPU and no PS/2 peripheral ports.
* GX520 and GX620 - the latest models containing a Pentium 4 or Pentium D CPU and a trusted platform module. This model has a BTX form factor. The GX620 comes in four sizes.
* 170L and 210L - models with Pentium 4 or Celeron CPUs; budget systems

A typical SFF PC is similar to a shoebox or book size in dimensions with a fairly square front profile. Expandability is very limited due to the small form factor, with most commercial offering only providing for one 3.5" and 5.25" external drivebays. They are also typically limited with only two expansion card slots: one for a GPU and one for a PCI/PCI-e x1 card. Some high-end graphics cards may occupy two slots due to large cooling fans/heatsinks. This may limit expansion further, and must be considered when building a high-performance SFF machine.

Uses

As a result of the smaller motherboard, SFF computers can be far smaller than typical computer cases and are often used in space limited confined areas where normal computers cannot be placed. SFF computers are finding a niche as Home theater PCs as well as for Mobile applications. Small form factor PCs are also commonly used in industrial applications by Scientific, Military, Telecommunications, Industrial, and Control markets.

Cases can come in many different sizes or form factors. In 2006, the most popular form factor is ATX, although small form factor cases are becoming popular for a variety of different uses.

A case with an ATX motherboard and power supply, for example, may still take on one of several specific shapes, also known as form factors. Common case form factors include towers (such as mini tower, mid-sized tower, and full-sized tower); desktops and slim desktops, which integrate the display into the housing. Tower cases are taller and typically have more room while desktop cases are more compact and are more popular in business environments.

Small form factor cases are a variety of cases that are becoming more and more common. Companies like Dell, Compaq and Hewlett Packard have been producing such cases and Mini-ITX is the most common motherboard designed for these cases. See our range of Dell Optiplex GX240, GX260, SX270 or CompaQ Evo's for SFF or USFF
A desktop computer is an independent personal computer that is made especially for use on a desk in an office or home. The term is used mainly to distinguish this type of personal computer from portable computers and laptops, but also to distinguish other types of computers like the PDA, server or mainframe.

Desktops are currently the most affordable and most common computers, and are frequently used by businesses, schools, households and other organizations; they are used not only to produce text documents, or pictures and video but also to communicate them. Nearly all modern desktop computers are modular, meaning that the components can easily be replaced or upgraded. A desktop computer can also refer to a computer whose case is oriented horizontally (usually, the monitor is placed on top of the case). Such cases are called Desktops as opposed to Towers that stand upright and tend to have more drive bays for both Hard drives or optical drives. Tower unit afford the most scope for upgrades as they are easy to open and bays or components are accessable.

Dell Latitude Laptops

The Latitude laptop brand is specifically targeted at the commercial market (as opposed to the Dell Inspiron aimed at the consumer market). The laptops have a similar design and parts as the Inspiron model. Current models include the X1, D410, D820, D620 and the D520.
* Processor: Pentium M or Intel Core Duo
* Screen: Depending on the model selected screen size varies from 12.1 inches WXGA on the X1 to a 15.4 inches WUXGA on the D810. Widescreen models available for D620 or D820.
* Operating System: Choice of Windows XP Home or Professional
* Hard Drive: Range from 40 GB to 120 GB hard drives.
* Ports: Features a wide range of ports including: two to four(Only for D620 & D820) USB 2.0 (including one via D/bay connector); IEEE 1394; VGA; Fast (10/100) or Gigabit (10/100/1000) ethernet via RJ-45 port; Modem; Audio; SDI/O, CF
* Intel Centrino models including 845 chipset and wireless network are also available

The Latitude C-series notebooks covered the range of processors from the Pentium 166 MHz to the Pentium 3-M. Models in this series included the CP (Pentium processors), CPi (Pentium II processors), CPx, C600 and C800 (Mobile Pentium III processors), CPt, C500 and C510 (Celeron processors), C400, C610 and C810 (Pentium 3-M processors) and C640 and C840 (Mobile Pentium 4 processors).

C series laptops were notable for their consistent and interchangeable accessories across this wide range of processors. The series was one of the first to offer the UXGA 1600x1200 resolution display and included a NVidia GeForce MX400 32 MiB Video Accelerator to complement the display requirements. A robust design made it a favorite in harsher climates; however, this design lacked the visual appeal of many of its competitors. The most popular of the C-series included the C800, C810, C840, and later the C640.

An interesting note on the C840 is that it contained a Pentium 4 Processor and utillised Rambus-DRAM instead of the standard SDRAM modules, giving a performance boost to an aging model.