Help me understand Dell Latitude model numbers
This link gives some useful detail about Dell Latitude model numbers.
https://en.tab-tv.com/dell-latitude-identification-and-decoding-of-the-laptop-model/
Unfortunately, it only goes up to 2017.
The first digit is the "series". There are several series, higher numbers are better.
The second digit is the screen size. 1=11", 2=12", ..., 7=17".
The third digit is the year. 1=2010, 2=2011, ..., 7=2016, 8=2017.
The forth digit is connected to form factor - standard, removable screen, transformer.
My question is whether there's a similar decoder ring for newer models.
EDIT:
Okay, so, newer models appear to follow similar convention, with slight changes to last two digits for year.
eg, Dell Latitude 9510 = premium ultrabook, 15" screen, released 2020.
eg Dell Latitude 7440 = ultrabook, 14" screen, released 2023
The first digit identifies the range:
- 9 = premium ultrabook
- 7 = ultrabook
- 5 = mid range
- 3 = entry level
The second digit is the screen size:
- 5 = 15"
- 4 = 14"
- 3 = 13.3"
- 2 = 12.5"
- 1 = 11.6"
The last two digits give the release year:
- 90 = 2018
- 00 = 2019
- 10 = 2020
- 20 = 2021
- 30 = 2022
- 40 = 2023
Dell warranty technician here.
Yes, you've got the scheme correct, especially with your edit. I would say that the third 'year' digit doesn't exactly refer to year, but more the iteration of the model. That's why it seems to be a year off. This comes from my own observation and experience, because Dell themselves explain it as you did.
The final digit doesn't just refer to form factor, also. Certain primary components will affect that digit as well. For instance, model versions with AMD procs will have a 5 for the last digit if the form factor is notebook.
From my experience fixing these things, I'd say avoid both the 3xxx and 9xxx ranges for different reasons. The 3xxx have lackluster build quality and are often not QCed very well. The 9xxx range has the opposite problem in that it's bizarrely over-engineered. The best example of this is that the webcam shutter is internal to the display assembly, and is software-controlled. (My deskside support homies just shuddered uncontrollably at that.)
I originally had another few paragraphs with purchasing advice, but most of it is only helpful to purchasers for large corporate environments and there probably aren't an awful lot of those types here. If you are one of those and would care to hear my advice, let me know and I'll edit it in.
I would actually be curious - I don't do the purchasing itself but I give input on the purchase of units in the range of a few dozen a year. I mentioned in my post we tend to stick to either Precision 55#0 for people more concerned with weight (who do a lot of air travel) or Precision 76#0/77#0 for software devs who care about horsepower over size. I personally try to stick to the 7000s just because they've felt a bit more reliable to me when I had them, plus the dual Intel/Nvidia gpu system seems to work better under Linux because they have discrete paths to drive the display rather than the Nvidia having to drive the display through the Intel on the 5000s.
Also a curiosity. I used to have a 7760 and I had all kinds of thermal throttling problems with it. I ended up redoing the thermal pads and paste myself, and checked a couple others in our lab - whoever was assembling those things just did not care about actually getting the thermal pads on right, apparently, they were significantly off whatever item they were supposed to be cooling on every system, plus repasting the GPU and CPU got me about 10% faster clocks. Have you seen similar thermal issues with them, that generation or others?
Edit: I forgot to address your thermal question. Yes, there are a couple of Precision models that have problems with their thermal assemblies, but it's not as high a failure rate as some problems I've seen, like the Lenovo problem I discuss in this comment.
Edit 2: It should be noted in fairness to Lenovo that the only reason I know the story about the firm I mentioned is because Lenovo has paid for me to go out and fix some of those computers. They have made efforts to fix the problem, as far as they're able.
It sounds as though you already know about half of what I'd suggest, which is "purchase for your need, not your pocketbook." I don't think you'd be surprised by how many executives I meet who demand Precisions because they're expensive and slick, and then do nothing but Teams calls and light spreadsheet work on them. I also see a fair number of people doing compiling or heavy-duty spreadsheet/database stuff on Latitude 5xxxs with 8GB RAM. Madness.
The only other thing I'd really recommend it sounds like you might already be doing, which is not to do all your hardware refreshes all at once with machines purchased in large lots. Rotate by thirds or less if possible. Sometimes purchasers get suckered into buying hundreds of identical machines all at once because the OEM sales rep offers a killer deal. That can work out, but the potential downside is just not worth it. I have a little story that illustrates why.
I know a company, a pretty large accounting firm. They got a sweetheart deal on Lenovo X1 Carbon Gen 9's, and went all in. 1,400 units for their workforce nationwide. Word came from on high: "we're doing a massive refresh over the next couple months; turn in your old stuff so we can sell it off on consignment and make some of our money back." This was done. What a coup!
Interesting thing about the X1 Carbon Gen 9 and its sister model the Yoga Gen 6: the USB-C ports used for docking and DC-in were sourced in the middle of the worst of the pandemic supply chain problems, and simply weren't up to snuff. I think they went with under-specced parts because that was all that was available.
Lenovo long ago issued an advisory alert on these, which is as close as they get to a proper recall. They say a BIOS update will fix it, but from my experience this is pure placebo. Besides, you can't do a BIOS update when the machine has a drained battery and both USB-C ports are dead because the end user started using the other port when the main one died, and never bothered to tell deskside support, and now neither port works.
This accounting firm is now stuck with 1,400 of these things, and have no fallback units because the bean counters sold all the old stuff off. Last I heard, they were looking at a 40% failure rate and climbing. Lots of lost productivity there, all because someone got a "deal."
The lesson here is that sometimes bad production runs happen, and the only way to limit your exposure to them is to stagger your purchasing and deployment so you aren't getting all your hardware from one run. Even better if you can rotate over different iterations, models and form factors.
I'm sure there are other things I could advise, but those are the main ones I see frequently.
That Lenovo story, OMG. I used to actually have brand loyalty to the ThinkPad line, now the only thing I can recommend is their compact Bluetooth keyboard (or anything pre-Lenovo takeover).
I currently have an old X1 Carbon Tablet (Gen 3, I think?), and over time various parts just start breaking. Touchscreen doesn't work anymore, stylus digitizer works, but gets funky around where I assume the processor is (I assume something overheated), the fancy pro stylus bluetooth button stopped working within days of use, and the spring supplied to hold the battery in place came too short from the factory....so it constantly disconnects as the battery jiggles around inside (I ended up sticking a coil of solder underneath to make up the difference).
The sad thing is, Lenovo and Asus seem to be the only two companies working on folding tablets with Bluetooth keyboards and styli, which is exactly the "form factor" I would be looking for in my next work device, and I don't really trust the build quality from either company.
It's really only the Carbon Gen 9 and Yoga Gen 6 (they're the exact same machine aside from display and stylus) that have this problem. Later models fare much better. At least no worse than any other business-class laptop using USB-C as primary charging port, but that's a whole other tirade right there.
There are some things about Lenovos that I really appreciate. Their diagnostics are much better than Dell's for an on-site technician. I have a thumb drive with a Linux efi chock-full of neat software toys for nailing down issues. They have a publicly accessible mobile app that decodes POST failure beep codes and gives much better problem descriptions than most other diagnostics tools I've used.
Most of their laptop models are very straightforward to service, which unfortunately and inevitably means wholesale motherboard replacement, but all the OEMs do that nowadays. It's an ecological disaster, but it makes sense from a business standpoint.
Their displays are pure, uncut dogshit for fixing, though. I have a personal grudge there.
Thanks for this, that's really useful about the 9xxx series. I always thought they looked great but a bit much, and it's nice to see that confirmed.
I've had several 7xxx laptops and they're great for what I want. Really solid, nicely repairable, machines.
Information from people who know what they're talking about is always welcome on Tildes, even if it's a bit of a niche!
I don't really see 5xxx or 7xxx machines all that often, which tells you something. Usually it's just a USB-C charging problem, or a busted LCD–things that happen to any laptop, in other words.
As an alternative anecdote, my company issues 7xxx class machines. I don’t remember the exact models though. I had nothing but issues across my first year or so at this job. It seemed like every month it would come up with a new unrelated issue, possibly related to the SSD. I mailed back and forth to our IT department numerous times. Finally they issued me a brand new laptop. It has actually been somewhat reliable across a year, but it has one issue. The screen is not lined up in the bezel correctly, so the bottom portion of the screen is cut off. I can’t see the windows 10 open program indicators on the taskbar. I use the laptop in clamshell mode most of the time, so it doesn’t affect me too much. If I bought it with my own money I would be pissed and have returned it day one. I am firmly in the macOS ecosystem for my personal computers, but if I needed a windows laptop, it would take a lot of convincing to get me to buy a latitude.
Yeah, individual machines can be lemons, and sometimes iterations of good models can have systemic problems. It should go without saying that YMMV.
I've seen hundreds of business-class laptops (EDIT: on reflection, it's easily into the thousands by now), and by far the most reliable of the lot have been Latitude 54xx and 74xx models. I've also seen a couple units of those same models depot'd three or more times for intermittent or unusual faults. Often that comes down to memory or CPU faults, because those are sometimes the hardest to diagnose.
Shit happens, as the wise say.
Dell Precision commercial grade units are similar. We use a lot of Precisions at work. The people who want a nice svelte travel notebook tend to get 55X0s, and those of us who want Chunky Machine With Actual Ports (like me) get a 76#0/77#0. The release year numbers are more out of sync though. My most recent system that I got new just three months ago is an 80, for example (7680, I love this thing).