Dell e6430 i7- 3520m

The Dell Latitude E6430's backlit, spill-resistant keyboard provides a strong level of tactile response. Combine that with an very comfortable soft-touch plastic palm rest and you have one of the best typing experiences on a notebook. We were able to achieve a strong score of 92 words per minute with just a 1 percent error rate on the Ten Thumbs Typing Test, well above our 80 word-per-minute average.

By hitting Fn + right arrow, we were able to configure the keyboard's backlighting, choosing between five modes: off, 25 percent, 50 percent, 75 percent and 100 percent brightness. Even at 100 percent, the light was not particularly bright, and it shined up from the crevices between the keys.

The 3.2 x 1.75-inch touchpad provided accurate navigation around the desktop, and even provided reliable multitouch gesture support. Pinch-to-zoom, rotate and three-finger flicks all worked smoothly. The two discrete buttons offered just the right amount of feedback.

In addition to its touchpad, the Latitude E6430 includes another navigation option: a pointing stick between its G and H keys. While we're huge fans of the TrackPoint sticks that Lenovo puts on its ThinkPads, Dell's rubber nub sits too low relative to the keys around it, making it uncomfortable to touch. If Dell wants to continue offering pointing sticks on its business notebooks, it needs to revisit this annoying design..

The 1600 x 900 matte 14-inch screen provided bright, sharp images and solid viewing angles, though its colors seemed muted at times. At 237 lux on our light meter, the Latitude E6430's screen is brighter than the 203 lux thin-and-light notebook category average. The configuration of the T430 we reviewed had a 1366 x 768 display, and was rather dim at 147 lux.

When we watched 1080p QuickTime trailers for both "The Avengers" and "The Expendables 2," most images stayed true at greater than 45 degrees, though dark scenes occasionally washed out. Even viewed head-on, colors like the red in Iron Man's armor or the blue in Captain America's suit seemed dull, and blacks in particular seemed washed out and noisy.

The Latitude E6430's dual, front-facing speakers provide accurate audio that's good enough for watching videos and presentations, but not to serve as your stereo. When we played Patrice Rushen's bass-heavy "Forget Me Nots," sound was clear and smooth, but not particularly rich. The Scorpions' heavy metal "No One Like You" did not sound distorted, but it was hollow and monotone with little separation of sound between speakers. In both cases, the maximum volume was barely loud enough to fill a room.

Dell packs the Latitude E6430 with a solid selection of ports, including some you won't find everywhere else. On the right side sits an ExpressCard/54 slot, a rarity among even business notebooks, a hardware Wi-Fi switch, an optical drive and three USB ports, two of which are USB 3.0 compatible and one of which doubles as an eSATA port.

The back houses an HDMI port, a Kensington lock slot and an Ethernet connector. The left side contains a SmartCard slot, a headphone/mic jack, a VGA port and a USB 2.0 port.

The 1.3-megapixel webcam provided sharp, noise-free images, even in low light. However, colors were bland and our face appeared shadowed, even when we were sitting in a well-lit room..

Our Latitude E6430 only had Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics, so it's no gaming machine. On 3DMark11, a synthetic benchmark that measures overall graphics prowess, the E6430 scored a solid 717, which is just a little below the 755 category average.

Still, when we played "World of Warcraft" at default settings, the Latitude E6430 provided a good frame rate of 53 fps. Just don't expect to keep things playable with the special effects turned up; the rate dropped to 26 fps.

The Latitude E6430 has a lot going for it: strong performance, extraordinary battery life, a world-class keyboard and an attractive chassis that's designed to take some punishment.