in 1998 
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,23197/article.html
*Let’s get straight to the point: The Dell Latitude Cpi D266XT is one of the best-designed notebooks we’ve seen. Only its price keeps it from topping the chart.
We were impressed with the $3799 Latitude as soon as we saw it. The front of the charcoal-gray notebook has swept curves instead of the flat bulldog face found on most notebooks. At 1.5 inches top to bottom, it’s also a tad thinner than the standard fare.
Lifting the screen reveals a spacious, unusually functional keyboard containing tall, normal-size keys that are much easier to use than those on other notebooks. The Latitude’s key action feels pleasantly crisp, despite just a little side-to-side wiggling. We also found the touchpad responsive and accurate. But unlike older models, this Latitude doesn’t come with a trackball.
Fire up the notebook and you see a sharp 13.3-inch active-matrix screen. The side placement of the notebook’s speakers produces better-than-usual sound, with a remarkable amount of stereo separation. Other nice touches include a Yamaha wavetable synthesizer for enhanced MIDI file playback and a 4GB hard drive set in shock-absorbing mounts.
The Latitude’s Pentium II-266 processor, backed by 64MB of SDRAM, makes it among the fastest notebooks we’ve seen. But like all the other PII notebooks we’ve tested, the Latitude draws an excessive amount of battery power–battery life is just 3.75 hours. But for $169 you can buy a second battery, put it in the modular bay, and run two power packs at once.
IS managers fed up with the short shelf life of most notebooks should know that Dell promises not to significantly change its Latitude CP line until fall 1999. Dell’s usual classy online and hard-copy documentation is included. If you need a human hand, the vendor’s technical support is open around the clock. We found the tech staff’s advice to be adequate and timely in our anonymous calls.
Quality, of course, doesn’t come cheap: The Latitude costs several hundred dollars more than similarly configured notebooks. But sometimes it’s worth it.*
thanks for the laffs man…blast from the past 