Dell XPS 15z Review

The XPS 15z makes an impressive alternative to a 15-inch MacBook Pro if you can live with a less-than-perfect keyboard. The Dell XPS 15z has an ultra-thin metal chassis, a beautiful 1080p display and a backlit keyboard. Add to that an Intel Core i7 processor and Nvidia GeForce dedicated graphics for serious multimedia performance. Is this a worthy competitor to the Apple MacBook Pro?. Build and Design The XPS 15z resembles a MacBook Pro especially when the lid is closed; the darker-colored palm rest and hinge design are major differentiators.

This notebook is mostly constructed out of high-quality metal; the bright silver outside is milled aluminum and the dark gray palm rest is magnesium alloy. Even the screen bezel is metal. The XPS 15z feels very solid to the touch and it is; the chassis hardly bends when flexed and the lid's aluminum backing keeps it from twisting too much.

Dell Vostro V131 Review

The Dell Vostro V131 delivers a great balance of price, performance and battery life if you can live less than perfect build quality. The 13.3-inch Dell Vostro V131 is a solid small-to-medium business notebook with exceptional battery life, a backlit keyboard, a business-friendly matte display, and plenty of power to handle any office productivity task you throw at it.

Keep reading to find out if this is the right notebook to purchase for your office. The Dell Vostro V131 has a clean, business-casual design wrapped in black surfaces and silver accents. The notebook is mostly encased in matte, but has a few glossy silver lines around the touchpad and keyboard. The lid is a bit more stylish; it's mostly silver and has a design that is close to glitter in appearance. There is a trademark Dell logo in the center, also glossy silver, and you can see the screen hinges on the lid.
It's one of the thinnest notebooks I've reviewed to date, at .63 of an inch thick if measuring the thickness from the front and .83 of an inch if measuring from the back. It's a bit thicker from the back because the battery is of a higher capacity and it sticks out; but that's OK, we'll take more battery life over a thinner form factor. Its full dimensions are 12.96 x 0.63 (F)-0.83 (B) x 9.36 inches and it weighs 4.03 pounds.

DELL INSPIRON 14R Laptop

Dell inspiron 14r has introduced a new laptop in the world that is powered by new 2010 Intel mobile core i3 processor, packs ATI Radeon HD recharge graphics and revised each memory controller.

Build and Design
The design of the Inspiron 14 looks like an enlarged version of the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 and Mini 10 netbooks. At first glance you can easily see that Dell designers are trying to establish clearly identifiable designs for all Dell notebooks: all Inspiron laptops look similar, Studio laptops have the same general design as other Studio laptops, and one Studio XPS notebook likewise looks like other Studio XPS notebooks. At this point shoppers should be able to identify Dell's entry-level products (Inspiron), mid-range products (Studio) and high-end products (Studio XPS) with little more than a glance.

The chassis of the Inspiron is constructed from a combination of exterior plastics and an alloy interior framework for a balance of affordability, durability, and light weight. While the Inspiron 14 doesn't feel quite as durable as the new Studio 14z, the Inspiron 14 should survive the average use and abuse by college students ... although the plastics may start to show some wear and tear after some time inside a book bag.

The keyboard in the pre-production unit felt quite firm with good key spacing and a good depth to the key throw. There was some keyboard flex above the optical drive in the pre-production unit, but nothing that isn't normal for a budget notebook. Each key has a textured black finish and a relatively flat surface similar to the keyboards on the Dell Mini series of netbooks ... only larger. Unlike the Studio 14z, there is no optional backlit keyboard, so students will need to keep the lights on during late-night study sessions.

Performance and Features
We didn't have an opportunity to benchmark the pre-production unit of the Inspiron 14, but Dell made it very clear that this notebook is aimed at students who want a good laptop for general use at an affordable price and don't need all of the features found on the more expensive Studio 14z. For example, the Inspiron 14 lacks FireWire and eSATA and the starting price only includes Intel integrated graphics. On the other hand, the optional 1600 x 900 screen, optional Blu-ray drive, and optional ATI discrete graphics give the Inspiron 14 some impressive bang for the buck.

This is where the $449 starting price of the Inspiron 14 looks extremely impressive compared to the $649 starting price of the Studio 14z. Sure, the starting price of the Studio 14z includes a better processor, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics and a better selection of ports, but the Inspiron 14 still offers a built-in optical drive and dedicated 7-in-1 media card reader. Bottom line, back-to-school shoppers are going to have two very impressive options from Dell this year.

Laptop Dell Latitude 2120 Review

Dell is launching a new Latitude 2120 netbook at CES. This 2120 has the same specs that previously 2110 had but its computing power is more of the single core Intel Atom N470, chipset used in its predecessor was dual core N550. But this new device has the highly upgraded processor with an optional Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator.

The 2120 at first glance looks like something out of a toy catalog – it's thick, block-like, and blue. My first impression was, "There's no way Dell is serious with this design." But they are, and the kid-friendly design fits with the education market, so let's take a closer look.

The blue exterior is actually a rubber coating; it has an inlaid square pattern and feels soft yet durable. It extends to the underside of the machine as well, save for the battery. As a computer intended for business use, this might not have been the best color choice though. The 2120 is constructed out of high-strength ABS plastic. The matte black plastic has a slightly granular texture and is quite solid. Keeping in tradition with business notebooks, there is no glossy plastic used on the exterior.

The overall build quality is excellent. None of the plastics flex under pressure. The display resists twisting well yet could use more protection from the back; I was able to produce some ripples by pressing on the back. The display hinges are strong and do not allow the display to wobble back and forth.

Dell Latitude 2120 review unit has the following specifications:

* 10.1-inch display with anti-glare coating (1024x600 resolution)
* Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit
* Intel Atom N550 dual-core processor (2.0GHz, 512k cache, 533MHz FSB)
* Integrated Intel GMA 3150 graphics
* 2GB DDR2 RAM
* 250GB 5400RPM Western Digital hard drive (WD2500BEVT)
* Dell Wireless 1520 802.11n wireless LAN
* No internal Bluetooth
* No internal optical drive
* 6-cell extended battery (11.1V, 56Wh)
* 1-year limited warranty
* Weight: 3.1 lbs.
* Dimensions: 10.43 x 0.89-1.57 x 7.36 inches
* MSRP: $608 (starting price: $414)