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Dell launches rugged educational netbook

The rubberised Latitude 2100 is Dell's first foray into the educational netbook market, and the manufacturer's first netbook not to fall under the Inspiron brand
By David Meyer, Contributor
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1 of 5 David Meyer/ZDNET

Dell has launched a new 10-inch-screened netbook for the educational sector: the Latitude 2100.

The low-cost subnotebook is Dell's first netbook that does not fall into its Inspiron range. It can also be differentiated from the manufacturer's Inspiron Mini 9, Mini 10 and Mini 10v by the fact it is ruggedised for school use.

The manufacturer is also pitching the 2100 at "any business or public institution that needs affordable, durable, internet-ready devices for email and collaboration".

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2 of 5 David Meyer/ZDNET

The above picture shows both the rubberised nature of the Latitude 2100 and the handle children can use to carry the netbook around.

The device's lid also has a Network Activity Light, so teachers can monitor the wireless connection of their pupils' netbooks.

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3 of 5 David Meyer/ZDNET

Apart from the bright hues of the cover, the appearance of the Latitude 2100 is more businesslike than its Inspiron netbook counterparts. Unlike the Inspiron netbooks, the 2100 comes with a touchscreen option.

The internals of the machine, however, are very close to those of the newly announced Mini 10v: a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, up to 1GB of RAM, Wi-Fi, Ethernet and Bluetooth capability.

Buyers will have a choice of solid-state or hard-disk drives, and of three-cell or six-cell batteries.

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4 of 5 David Meyer/ZDNET

Schools and organisations that buy the Latitude 2100 will also be able to get a mobile-computing station, which can store up to 24 of the netbooks.

The mobile-computing station allows the storage, management and networking of multiple netbooks using one Ethernet connection and power cord.

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5 of 5 David Meyer/ZDNET

The Latitude 2100 was made available in the UK on Tuesday, with prices starting at £259.

The device is available in a variety of colours, as shown in the image above.

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