Amazon renewed products are indeed a bit of a gamble in terms of the condition of the product. But, if you’re looking for the best rugged laptop or best laptop on a budget, it is one of the only options you have in order to purchase older laptops at a cheaper price than MSRP. The Dell Latitude 5414 Rugged notebook is one of the better laptops you can buy in this category.
Why We Like It – Dell Latitude 5414 Rugged
You can find many older laptops for cheap nowadays. But the Dell Latitude 5414 Rugged is one of the very few rugged laptops that actually comes with capable hardware components inside. On top of that, both the keyboard and the touchpad are excellent, something that you don’t normally get with a lot of older laptops of this kind. And it also includes a 128GB SSD for faster boot times and a smooth operating system (Windows).
- 16GB DDR4 RAM built-in
- Long battery life
- Compatible with Dell Rugged Desk Dock and other Rugged branded accessories
- Non-backlit keyboard
Power & Performance
It sports an Intel Core i7 6600U dual core CPU, so obviously, the performance isn’t going to be anything super amazing, but it’s not bad either, considering the sub $800 price. Also, the 16GB DDR4 2133MHz memory and 128GB SSD are going to help extend the longevity of this system greatly. If you need better performance, you’re going to have to spend more on a Lenovo ThinkPad P52 workstation.
Battery
Intel moved to the smaller, more efficient 14nm node from the 6th gen processors, and they are still on the same node even on the current-gen processors (on the desktop side). So the dual core CPU inside isn’t going to be anything less efficient than the newer processors. And that’s why, even though the battery isn’t anything extraordinary, it’ll still provide you up to 12 hours of battery life. And that should easily be enough for one workday, so you don’t need to carry around the power adapter everywhere all the time. If you’re still not satisfied with its battery life, you should grab the LG Gram 17 ultrabook instead.
Ports & Expandability
The way it comes by default, it actually lacks a lot of ports. However, you can add a lot of those by buying different Rugged branded accessories for this laptop that’ll just slot in and provide extra functionalities. We have seen these kinds of modular designs a lot in the rugged laptop market, so it’s nothing surprising. But, you do get a SuperMulti-DVD Burner by default. Unfortunately, there’s no memory card reader by default, and there’s no official accessory/dock that adds a memory card reader. So, if you really need a memory card reader, get the Panasonic Toughbook 2-in-1.
Build Quality
As you might’ve guessed, it is overall built like a tank. And the best part is that Dell didn’t compromise on the build quality on the cheaper model that comes with an Intel Core i5 instead. Both the keyboard and the trackpad are similarly great.
Value
On one hand, the Dell Latitude 5414 does seem pretty enticing as it comes with pretty good hardware and battery life below $800. On the other hand, the lack of dual-band Wi-Fi without the Dell wireless module accessory, lack of a lot of necessary ports, and essentially lack of a lot of functionalities in case you don’t buy all the accessories really don’t paint a pretty picture for this laptop.
Dell Latitude 5414 Rugged Wrap Up
All in all, the Dell Latitude 5414 Rugged laptop is excellent for everyone who wants a long-lasting laptop for cheap. And you get free shipping depending on the seller and your area.
