What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Dell Business Laptops is selling straight to end users, as most of our customers consist of buying the Latitude series, which is normally the standard business laptop. For power users such as engineers and developers, we sometimes sell the Dell Precision laptops to them because they provide high performance, but overall, my focus remains on selling to end users.
Most of the users I support with Dell Business Laptops are standard business workers, while for more high-powered users such as engineers and developers, they will use Dell Precision laptops, which come with their own strengths for high performance.
Dell Business Laptops are deployed in my organization on-premise, as we provide laptops to every single new user. When selling, we deliver boxes from a distributor through to the end user, who then receives them all and manages them on-premise, all with asset tags, and they can manually view them.
We are currently looking at various models, but I confirm that I am using the Latitude 5540, a 15.6-inch laptop, while we have other users that use smaller screen sizes, and for high-performance roles such as engineers and developers, they might use Dell Precision laptops.
What is most valuable?
The positive impact of Dell Business Laptops on my organization and my customers' organizations comes from their reliability, enterprise support, and easy device management, in addition to their build quality. We have many meetings with large enterprises that need assurance they are compatible and work reliably, and I would rate them an eight out of ten for reliability and being well-supported. They last around three to five years in an environment, and the support reduces downtime, allowing you to maintain and keep using your devices, which makes it a great positive for return on investment.
For both myself and my customers, the best features of Dell Business Laptops are reliability, strong enterprise support, and ease of device management, along with good build quality for long-term use in corporate environments. Another factor is the availability of ProSupport with Dell, which helps us resolve hardware issues quickly when they arise.
From an IT perspective, the device management aspect of Dell Business Laptops makes things easier for both me and my customers as they are fairly easy to manage and integrate well with enterprise management tools. The drivers and firmware updates are straightforward, helping keep devices secure and updated without too much effort, allowing us to maintain easily managed monitoring over all of the devices.
What needs improvement?
One area Dell Business Laptops can improve is pricing, as they can be slightly more expensive compared to other competitors. However, that ties back to my previous point about longevity—while the upfront cost may be higher, they provide a lot more value and return on investment over time. Another improvement could also be in battery life for some of the models, as after a couple of years of heavy use, we see a bit of a downgrade and reduced performance on the battery.
I assess the battery life of Dell Business Laptops in my daily operations as something that needs improvement, especially as I am nearing the end of five years with my device. I have noticed that I have to plug it in more now, and after about ten minutes of use, the battery has decreased by twenty percent, whereas initially, this would have only seen a drop of one or two percent.
Both pricing and battery life are very easy, measurable things for reviewers to consider, noting that with time, you might need to plug in the device more than is necessary. While the price is higher during quoting, the return on investment over a five or six-year period solidifies this advantage since you are not refreshing every two years but rather every five.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Dell Business Laptops for the last two years and a half.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Dell Business Laptops are stable, and their scalability is determined by the environment and infrastructure because there will always be demand for products such as these. We ensure we have sufficient stock and effectively manage distribution to partners and customers, keeping scalability smooth.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Dell Business Laptops are stable, and their scalability is determined by the environment and infrastructure because there will always be demand for products such as these. We ensure we have sufficient stock and effectively manage distribution to partners and customers, keeping scalability smooth.
How are customer service and support?
Customer support for Dell Business Laptops is really good and reliable, earning a nine out of ten rating for how we evaluate their services, as all products are well-supported.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have always stuck with this solution, and when looking at products, we tend to select the best-in-breed that we house and sell. While there are other less expensive products, we value reliability and enterprise support—which are key advantages for paying a higher upfront cost compared to some competitors.
How was the initial setup?
Integrating Dell Business Laptops with my existing IT infrastructure is very easy as we run managed MDRs with Arctic Wolf, along with our Microsoft applications, and other tools such as Slack, that work well with our setup.
The procurement of Dell Business Laptops is super easy as we deal through distribution, working from vendor products and looking to sell into our channel partners across the United Kingdom. We engage with all the top channel partners who then procure that through to their end users, whether in private, public sector, or tender bids.
What about the implementation team?
The laptops allow for easy management by IT staff, as we have our whole SE team that manages asset tagging and centralized management, which makes the management of Dell Business Laptops efficient. Although I do not manage them myself, I know that Kobe and his team recently handled this and had it completed in a couple of minutes.
What was our ROI?
I see a return on investment with Dell Business Laptops as the money and time saved go hand-in-hand, since keeping the same products reduces the need for a completely different product refresh. By not having to spend money every two years, but rather every five or six, you maintain consistent return on investment and value.
Most PC refreshes or hardware refreshes now look at five to six years, rather than before when we would be looking at two years maximum with different brands.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing reveals that we are tailored to the higher end of the pricing spectrum, but considering the value and return on investment over a few years, it is more favorable to not refresh every eighteen months to two years but rather aiming for five or six years for optimal return.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We assess various competitors across the market when evaluating options, and while looking at all solutions, we remain focused on best-in-breed products. In this case, we ensure we are considering the superior support services and management offered over that of other vendors.
What other advice do I have?
I take my Dell Business Laptop everywhere in my backpack, and despite this daily wear and tear, there is barely any noticeable damage. The device remains very accessible for plugging in wires when connecting to screens, and there is no wear and tear on the side ports.
I am not the technical person, so I would not know about utilizing the security features such as TPM chips and BIOS-level protections on Dell Business Laptops, and when we are selling them, we are simply selling and using them.
The AI-enhanced performance features of Dell Business Laptops, including noise cancellation, high-quality webcams, and fast boot times, have positively influenced my team's productivity levels, especially with Copilot that is very effective when used on the Dell device. The quality of the camera during calls makes my workload run much more smoothly as I do not have to deal with technical issues.
I advise medium to large enterprise organizations looking for reliable products with strong vendor support and long life-cycle management to consider Dell Business Laptops, as I believe they are among the better options available.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner