Leaked: Dell Latitude E Series

Dell Latitude E-Series Engagdet is reporting on a few details about a new series from Dell, the Dell Latitude E series. Among the details, it’s going to have 12″, 13.3″, 14.1″, and 15″ models, along with LED-backlit widescreen displays. Some models will feature eSATA and DisplayPorts.

One particularly interesting bit of info – the 14.1″ model weighs in at around 4.25 pounds (1.93kg). That’s pretty lightweight for a 14.1″ laptop, even if it is widescreen – there are quite a few 13.3″ and 12″ laptops still weighing around 4 pounds.

Presumably the E Series would be replaced the D series, such as the 12″ Dell Latitude D430 which came out around the middle of last year (and the D420 which came out in 2006). Since few details have emerged, chances are it will be several months before the E series is available, which puts it about a year after the D430, and most importantly, that would allow it to make use of Intel’s upcoming mobile chipset, the Montevina platform. As well, backlit-LED displays and flash-based solid state drives (SSD) should be considerably cheaper.

A few weeks ago, Digitimes reported on the Montevina platform, saying that it would be out in May (or shortly thereafter) with a wide range of releases, including 3GHZ Quad-Core CPUs (obviously those wouldn’t make it into the smallest of the Latitude E lineup).