Questions about the d620 I just bought

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I've bought a dell d620 and waiting for it to be delivered. Needless to say, I've never owned a laptop before and wanted to know if it has a built-in smart card reader? But here's the thing, I've read somewhere that smart cards are good only for passwords to boot-up, what's the scoop? AND, what's up with the fingerprint reader? Anything anyone can tell me about this d620 will be appreciated. To be honest, I can't get any straight answers anywhere I look.

Posted 27-Feb-11 9:59am

Richard Dixson

Updated 27-Feb-11 10:02am

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Dave Kreskowiak · Answer 1 · 2011-02-27T14:47:00

Solution 1

Did you bother to ask Dell when you bought the machine?

Does it have a smart-card reader? You and Dell are the only ones who are going to know that. You ordered the machine, didn't you?

Posted 27-Feb-11 14:47pm

Dave Kreskowiak

Andrew Brock · Answer 2 · 2011-02-27T16:50:00

Finger print readers are deceptively insecure and are more just for convenience.
In essence all they do is type your password in for you, while leaving the option to still type the password in, making it no more secure.
I use my fingerprint reader because it is quicker than typing a long password.
All fingerprint readers that I have used don't work if your fingers are sweaty.

As for smart-cards I don't know. This is often an optional extra that I would recommend not spending the money on. I imagine they would be the same as the fingerprint reader in that they simply enter your password for you.

This is for Windows computers. Linux may differ.