But it can still be had in aluminum, which turns the chassis silver and brings the weight up to 2.89 pounds. The Carbon is such a favorite among corporate execs and IT buyers that Dell may have felt compelled to add a carbon-fiber option to the Latitude 7420. Those are impressive dimensions for the category, though the class-leading ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 8 is a bit trimmer (0.59 inch thick and 2.4 pounds). Our 7420 review unit, clad in an attractive black carbon fiber finish, measures 0.68 by 12.7 by 8.2 inches and weighs 2.7 pounds. Both have similar configuration options and are roughly the same size and weight. The Latitude 7420 is available in either the conventional clamshell seen here or a 2-in-1 convertible version that offers more physical flexibility. Both are available in a range of screen sizes and form factors to fulfill pretty much any business computing need, as long as the business in question has deep pockets. The Latitude 7000 series was Dell's flagship until the introduction of the Latitude 9000 series a few years ago. Choose the Latitude 7420 if you want a competent workhorse with excellent computing performance, even if it is a bit heavier and more expensive than the ThinkPad. This means that for the time being, it's a superior alternative to our longtime favorite enterprise ultraportable, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (whose new Gen 9 edition, which matches the Dell's move to 11th Generation Intel processors, we haven't tested yet).

The latest version doesn't fix what isn't broken, adding Intel's latest silicon and little else.

This 14-inch business laptop gets subtle improvements with each new generation. One rung below the pinnacle of Dell's corporate laptop hierarchy (the Latitude 9000 series), you'll find the excellent if somewhat staid Latitude 7420 (starts at $1,589 $2,228.08 as tested).

Dell latitude 7420 drivers