Slightly less sturdy than previous Dell models we have seen, the D500 is finished in attractive silver bezel housing, the keyboard is comfortable to use and offers all the functionality of standard-sized desktop keyboards.

Jumping straight under the hood we find Intel's low-voltage, battery-efficient Pentium-M processor clocked at 1.3GHz, half a gigabyte of DDR and a 40GB hard disk drive. Designed with mobility in mind, Dell has chosen Intel's Pentium-M processor (a key component of the Centrino package) as it offers excellent battery times. No slouch, it returned over three hours of full usage under a productivity workload in MobileMark 2002.

Running this book through the hoops it finished with 152 overall in SYSmark2002, 19 behind the higher-clocked 1.6GHz Pentium-M (July 2003, page 40) – impressive results given the $2,000+ price deficit.

A little lean on the features side, this notebook boasts only two rear-mounted USB ports and lacks FireWire connectivity. It has a 14.1in display that is a little flimsy as the LCD backing is not reinforced ABS plastic.

Included is an 802.11b/g wireless card adaptor, although despite inclusion of Intel's 855 chipset and Pentium-M, it isn't eligible for Centrino branding due to the use of a non-Intel ‘Calexico' WLAN card, as all three must be Intel's offerings.

If you're away from mains power for long stretches, this notey does offer plenty of battery life and although supplied with only a limited littering of ports, this would make a reasonable every day unit. Well priced for a low voltage small form-factored unit, it may not be Centrino certified, but it's an easy-to-use and portable machine that's ideal for business.

Dell also includes a comprehensive one-year next business day parts and on-site labour warranty. Weighing in just shy of 2.5kg, the Latitude D500 is fairly light to travel with, perfect for road warriors.