The Dell XPS M1210 is a new 12.1-inch screen portable laptop that features the Intel Core Duo processor, rotating 1.3MP web camera, built-in EVDO and an nVidia Go 7400 graphics card. The XPS M1210 features a new design for Dell laptops and offers possibly the best performance on the market for this sized laptop. Following is a full review of the XPS M1210.
Product summary
The good:
Wide-aspect display; lengthy battery life (with high-capacity cell); comfortable keyboard; tons of ports; integrated optical drive.
The bad:
High-end configs are expensive; thick case; tinny speakers; cramped touch pad.
The bottom line
Though its higher-end (and high-performance) configurations are expensive, the Dell XPS M1210 should appeal to everyday users who want a relatively light but still full-featured Media Center computer.
Dell XPS M1210 Specs:
LIKE MANY THINGS IN the PC industry these days, laptop computers are a fairly mature sort of product. We all know about the basic types and sizes, and how the inevitable tradeoffs in display performance, size, weight, dell xps m1210 battery life and display real estate tend to work. If you're a road warrior, you can get a svelte, compact machine with understated design cues and six hours of battery life; you'll just have to sacrifice performance for that mobility. If you're a gamer, you can get a graphics and processing powerhouse with Pontiac-style ribbed body cladding and a display large enough to double as the main sail on a small yacht; you'll just have to accept the additional weight, heat, and battery drain that comes with it. For most of us, buying a laptop means deciding what set of tradeoffs we're willing to make and then looking into the various choices in our preferred weight class.
The Dell XPS M1210, however, embodies an uncommon concept in portable computers. Like its bigger brothers in the XPS line, it looks to bring near-desktop-class performance into a mobile form factor. Unlike its sibilings, though, it targets the true ultraportable form factor, the featherweight class of laptops with 12.1" wide-aspect displays. Combining these two goals may sound like a recipe for dissonance, but Dell has managed to pull off the feat with surprising style. The result is a laptop PC that packs more computing power per pound and per square inch than any other solution I can think of—you know, casually, while sitting here, not really Googling for it or anything.
The point is that the M1210 is both refreshing and really quite good, and we've worked up a full review of it for your reading pleasure. We've also taken the opportunity to compare the M1210 to a couple of older laptops in way that gives us a look at three generations of Centrino mobile technology.
I look at the spec sheet above and think our M1210 is fairly well appointed, but like many high-end ultraportables, a fully-loaded XPS M1210 offers a whole range of communications gizmos and mobility widgets that our review unit lacks. Those include a Bluetooth module, a webcam with integrated microphone, a DVD burner rather than a DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo, and a WWAN card for mobile broadband connectivity via cell phone networks. You could also pick a slower 5400-RPM hard drive (blech) or a slower CPU (which might be a sensible money-saving choice).
Battery
Instead of running battery benchmark tests I used a real world battery drain test. At 100% charge I set the screen to half-brightness and pulled the plug on the XPS M1210. I then performed various tasks such as downloading and installing Half Life 2 and playing it for a bit, surfing the web, downloading and installing 3DMark05, watching 10 minutes of a DVD, edited some photos for this review and also turned off wireless and just let the M1210 idle for some time. In doing all of this the 9-cell battery ran down to 5% charge and Windows shut the notebook down at 2h 58 mins of usage. Since the XPS M1210 here is configured with a dedicated graphics card and faster processor and I left wi-fi on, that time isn't bad. If you had integrated graphics, wi-fi off and set your screen brightness lower you could easily achieve 4.5 hours. My test was pretty abusive in terms of using demanding programs while on battery power.
The power adapter for the M1210 isn't exactly small, it's only somewhat smaller to those you get with other Dell notebooks, so that part of the system doesn't fall under 'ultraportable' either.
Product summary
The good:
Wide-aspect display; lengthy battery life (with high-capacity cell); comfortable keyboard; tons of ports; integrated optical drive.
The bad:
High-end configs are expensive; thick case; tinny speakers; cramped touch pad.
The bottom line
Though its higher-end (and high-performance) configurations are expensive, the Dell XPS M1210 should appeal to everyday users who want a relatively light but still full-featured Media Center computer.
Dell XPS M1210 Specs:
- Processor Options:
- Intel Core Duo Processor T2600 (2.16GHz/667MHz FSB/2MB Cache)
- Intel Core Duo Processor T2500 (2GHz/667MHz FSB/2MB Cache)
- Intel Core Duo Processor T2400 (1.83GHz/667MHz FSB/2MB Cache)
- Intel Core Duo Processor T2300E (1.66GHz/667MHz FSB/2MB Cache)
- Screen: 12.1" WXGA (Widescreen 1280x800) display with TrueLife (glossy display)
- Memory Options: 512MB - 4GB (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM) (1.00GB in review unit)
- Hard drive: 60GB - 120GB @ 5400 RPM or 60GB - 100GB @ 7200RPM (100GB @ 7200RPM hard drive in review unit)
- Video Graphics Options:
- Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (with up to 256MB of shared memory)
- 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 TurboCache (64MB/ up to 192MB shared)
- Optical Drive Options: DVD/CD-RW Combo, DVD+/-RW with Dual Layer DVD+R write capacity
- Battery Options: 6-cell 53WHr Li-Ion Battery, 9-cell 80WHr Li-Ion Battery
- Wi-Fi Options: Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini Card Wireless, Dell Wireless 1490 802.11a/g Mini Card Wireless, Intel Pro/Wireless 3945 802.11 a/b/g Mini Card
- Bluetooth built-in
- Wide Area Network / Cell Communication Options
- Dell Wireless 5700 Mobile Broadband (CDMA EVDO) Mini-Card for Verizon Wireless service
- Dell Wireless 5500 Mobile Broadband (3G HSDPA) Mini-Card for Cingular service
- Ports and Slots: ExpressCard 54, 5-in-1 Memory Card Reader, Dual headphone jacks, VGA video output & S-Video with SPDIF & component video via S-Video dongle, IEEE 1394 (Firewire), 4 USB 2.0, Optional A/V Communications Package including: integrated 1.3 mega pixel rotating web cam, directional microphone, modem, ethernet
- Premium noise isolation ear buds included when AV Communication option is selected
- Operating System Options: Microsoft Windows XP Home, Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, Microsoft Windows XP Professional
- Media Direct software installed for quick boot up to play movies, music and view photos on your hard drive, optical drive or external storage devices
- Weight: Starting at 4.4lbs with 6-cell Li-Ion battery
- Dimensions: Depth 220.98 mm (8.7 inches) 11.7-inches x 8.7-inches x 1.2-inches (W x D x H)
LIKE MANY THINGS IN the PC industry these days, laptop computers are a fairly mature sort of product. We all know about the basic types and sizes, and how the inevitable tradeoffs in display performance, size, weight, dell xps m1210 battery life and display real estate tend to work. If you're a road warrior, you can get a svelte, compact machine with understated design cues and six hours of battery life; you'll just have to sacrifice performance for that mobility. If you're a gamer, you can get a graphics and processing powerhouse with Pontiac-style ribbed body cladding and a display large enough to double as the main sail on a small yacht; you'll just have to accept the additional weight, heat, and battery drain that comes with it. For most of us, buying a laptop means deciding what set of tradeoffs we're willing to make and then looking into the various choices in our preferred weight class.
The Dell XPS M1210, however, embodies an uncommon concept in portable computers. Like its bigger brothers in the XPS line, it looks to bring near-desktop-class performance into a mobile form factor. Unlike its sibilings, though, it targets the true ultraportable form factor, the featherweight class of laptops with 12.1" wide-aspect displays. Combining these two goals may sound like a recipe for dissonance, but Dell has managed to pull off the feat with surprising style. The result is a laptop PC that packs more computing power per pound and per square inch than any other solution I can think of—you know, casually, while sitting here, not really Googling for it or anything.
The point is that the M1210 is both refreshing and really quite good, and we've worked up a full review of it for your reading pleasure. We've also taken the opportunity to compare the M1210 to a couple of older laptops in way that gives us a look at three generations of Centrino mobile technology.
I look at the spec sheet above and think our M1210 is fairly well appointed, but like many high-end ultraportables, a fully-loaded XPS M1210 offers a whole range of communications gizmos and mobility widgets that our review unit lacks. Those include a Bluetooth module, a webcam with integrated microphone, a DVD burner rather than a DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo, and a WWAN card for mobile broadband connectivity via cell phone networks. You could also pick a slower 5400-RPM hard drive (blech) or a slower CPU (which might be a sensible money-saving choice).
Battery
Instead of running battery benchmark tests I used a real world battery drain test. At 100% charge I set the screen to half-brightness and pulled the plug on the XPS M1210. I then performed various tasks such as downloading and installing Half Life 2 and playing it for a bit, surfing the web, downloading and installing 3DMark05, watching 10 minutes of a DVD, edited some photos for this review and also turned off wireless and just let the M1210 idle for some time. In doing all of this the 9-cell battery ran down to 5% charge and Windows shut the notebook down at 2h 58 mins of usage. Since the XPS M1210 here is configured with a dedicated graphics card and faster processor and I left wi-fi on, that time isn't bad. If you had integrated graphics, wi-fi off and set your screen brightness lower you could easily achieve 4.5 hours. My test was pretty abusive in terms of using demanding programs while on battery power.
The power adapter for the M1210 isn't exactly small, it's only somewhat smaller to those you get with other Dell notebooks, so that part of the system doesn't fall under 'ultraportable' either.
