Case
While the consumer world is opting for thin, flat, and light attributes, Dell has instead chosen to add a little on top. The weight of 2.33 grams lies heavy in the hand, and the cumbersome height of 2.4 centimeters will prevent it from slipping out of your hands by accident. The weight and dimensions may have a slightly detrimental effect on the mobility, but they provide for stability and quality. Dell has opted for high-quality but heavy materials. Although 'ruggedized' is not quite appropriate, the 14 inch notebooks is definitely built for day to day use.

Keyboard
The keys with a crisp pressure point and a long key travel give a very good feedback. The separated arrow keys (+ page up/down) stand out from the keyboard, and can definitely be operated without looking. An alphanumeric keypad is out of the question due to the form factor of the device. Users have the opportunity to use this via key conversion using the Fn keys. The corresponding numbers and calculation symbols are marked in red on the letter keys.
The base of the keys of the Latitude E5420 is generally firm, and provides the user with a firm end stop (not hard). The keys are pleasantly grippy. Merely the keys above the optical drive (;, ', [) are a little bouncy when pushing them hard.

Display
The non-reflective LED panel (type: Samsung LTN156AT02P01) has a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels with an aspect ratio of 16:9. The WXGA resolution is the standard for 14 and 13 inch notebooks. The measured black level lies at 1.42 cd/m², which comes with a very bad contrast of 131:1. Blacks are therefore not very dark, but have more of a gray glimmer.