Dell Latitude 12 5000 Series Review
by Brett Howse on January 19, 2015 10:30 AM ESTSystem Performance
Our Latitude 12 5000 model uses the Haswell based Core i5-4310U, which is a dual-core, quad-thread processor with Turbo Boost. Base clocks are 2.0 GHz, and the boost frequency is 3.0 GHz under a 15 watt TDP. Integrated graphics are provided by the Intel HD 4400 GPU, with a 200 MHz base frequency and 1.1 GHz boost frequency. The Haswell-U range is well-known in our benchmarks at this time, so we do not expect any surprises. The sample we received does have 8 GB of memory, but it is single channel only, so performance could be better if Dell instead offered 2x4 GB. Dell does offer their Power Vault software, so you can tune whether you want the system to target quiet, balanced, or performance depending on your needs. With all of our benchmarks, we run at maximum performance to reduce the chance of throttling.
Performance Graphs
For general performance, PCMark 8 from from FutureMark covers a large range of scenarios including Home, Creative, and Work. TouchXPRT runs tests based on five usage scenarios in the Modern environment. As a comparison, most of these laptops are U series CPUs, but I have included the Retina Macbook Pro and HP Stream 11 to bracket the scores with a higher wattage quad-core part and a low wattage Atom part. You can compare the E5250 with any other device we have tested with our online database, Bench.
For normal tasks, the i5-4310U does a good job. For those that need more performance, the Core i7 models will be of interest. As Broadwell is an option now, it would be great to get the identical device but with the 5th gen Core part as a comparison.
Storage Performance
The model we received has the Samsung PM851 based 128 GB SSD. This is a very popular OEM SSD from Samsung based on the TLC 840 EVO. The smaller capacity might have led to the slightly lower score in PCMark 8’s Storage benchmark, although the difference is negligible.
This device is offered with spinning disk options, which I would not recommend for anyone concerned about performance. For those that require encryption, Dell offers several models with SSD encryption as well.
GPU Performance
This is a business laptop, so I won’t bother with our normal game benchmarks, mostly because we have tested them on the Yoga 2 Pro and found that all of our games were unplayable with the built in graphics. We can still run the synthetics though to get a feel for where this device fits in.
The Intel HD4400 GPU is no powerhouse. Gaming on this device will be restricted to games with low graphics demand, or Windows Store, Flash or basic Unity games.
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bischofs - Thursday, January 22, 2015 - link
I am slightly annoyed that the meat of the business segment is now running integrated gpus and yet the cost has not gone down because of this. Its almost impossible now to find a decent laptop with a real gpu that doesn't have a pointless shiny touchscreen on it.ravib123 - Sunday, January 25, 2015 - link
Just to point this out, the connectivity is the same (including physical docking port) on the latitude 7000 ultra book. The 7000 series also supports wigig docking if you'd prefer that.I've used both docking methods and found them equally reliable.
ravib123 - Sunday, January 25, 2015 - link
Oh yeah, they share the same keyboard too.CSMR - Sunday, January 25, 2015 - link
Does this model take HDD+SSD (with a 2.5" slot and an mSATA or M.2 slot) ?BlueBlazer - Sunday, January 25, 2015 - link
And this one is still using Haswell. When can we see a comprehensive review of newer laptops using the new Broadwell? Quite a few hardware websites has already published some reviews.gobaers - Monday, January 26, 2015 - link
Does this unit have the same improved trackpad as the XPS 13 shown at CES?martey - Thursday, January 29, 2015 - link
This review says the Latitude 12 5000 has an ALPS touchpad. Multiple reviews of the new XPS 13 have stated that it has a touchpad made by Microsoft.This difference in manufacturer makes sense since the XPS 13 is a clickpad, and the Latitude has dedicated buttons.
Christopher1 - Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - link
Said it before and I will say it again: These things considering what you are getting in them are DAMNED GOOD MACHINES! Light enough for almost anyone including my 80 year old Aunt.