Dell XPS M1330 Review

Dell XPS laptops have been known to pull off performance feats usually associated with desktops. The Dell XPS M1210 (Vista), for instance, has embodied what performance should be like in an ultraportable. But what started off as a stylish design two years ago is now quickly losing ground to trendsetters such as Apple, HP, and Sony. Clearly, it was time for Dell to spice things up. The Dell XPS M1330 ($2,200 direct) is both refreshing and really quite amazing once you factor in both design and performance. Dell slips all the latest technology trends into a very sleek crimson unit while keeping its performance ahead of the competition. It's a breakthrough improvement, which is why I'm giving it the Editors' Choice in the ultraportable category.

If any single notebook can bring Dell out of its recent slump, the XPS M1330 is it. This portable's combination of light weight, stylish design, powerful performance, and built-in mobile broadband makes it a top choice for business travelers and hipsters alike (view photo gallery). Add in a stellar screen and keyboard and long battery life, and you have one of the top contenders for notebook of the year.
 
The M1330's soft-touch, crimson exterior is a new look for Dell, but the round logo on the lid is reminiscent of the one on the XPS M1210, this system's predecessor. Only 4.8 pounds (or as light as 4 pounds, depending on the battery), our configuration came with a built-in webcam, nine-cell battery, and travel remote. Although the VGA webcam no longer swivels as it did on the M1210, this one comes with tons of capabilities via software, including pan and zoom, face tracking, and special effects. All the webcam features worked reasonably well, and the picture was bright and clear, albeit washed out.
 
Along the right side you'll find an ExpressCard slot (with a mini remote control inside), a slot-loading DVD+/-RW drive, a Wi-Fi Catcher, and one USB 2.0 port. The left side houses another USB port, along with FireWire, VGA, Ethernet, and HDMI ports. An 8-in-1 memory card reader, dual headphones jacks, and a microphone jack grace the front.

Specification:

Core 2 Duo T7100 1.8GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2MB L2 cache
2×1GB DDR2-667 RAM
13.3″ widescreen LED backlit display WXGA (1280×800) with VGA webcam
NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS 128MB GDDR3
120GB 5400RPM HDD (Hitachi 5K160 series, 8MB cache)
8X DVD+-RW slot load ODD
Intel Pro/Wireless 3945abg
Fingerprint reader
6-cell and 9-cell batteries
Microsoft Vista Home Premium
Dimensions: 12.5″ (31.8cm) x 9.4″ (23.8cm) x 0.87″-1.33″ (2.21cm-3.38cm)
Weight: 3.97 lbs w/ 4-cell, 4.3lbs w/ 6-cell

Introduction

Dell launched the new line of Inspiron laptops and desktops with much fanfare on June 26th, 2007 at a Macy's department store in New York. The flagship laptop, the dell XPS M1330 battery, garnered a lot of press coverage. The launch coincided with a revamping of Dell's marketing efforts in an attempt to lose the 'beige-box' manufacturer cachet and move more upstream by making the brand more appealing to a wider demographic.

Aside from the redesigns to the notebook line-up, Dell was also touting the multitude of colored lids that the new laptops would ship with, allowing a bit of personalization by customers. In addition, the XPS M1330 was touted as the thinnest 13.3″ notebook and boasted a radically new design for Dell, challenging manufacturers such as Sony and Apple, who were traditionally viewed as more 'stylish' companies, known for their design. There was substantial press coverage for the launch as well as for the new product line, something that hasn't been terribly common for Dell in recent memory. After years of building my own computers, I decided to give Dell a try and ordered the XPS M1330.

The XPS M1330 battery with its 13.3″ widescreen display falls somewhere between the thin-and-light and ultra-portable categories. Its weight, at just under 4 lbs with the 4-cell battery and LED backlit display, puts it squarely in ultra-portable space, but its relatively large footprint means it's not an ultra-portable in the strictest sense of the word. Nevertheless, at under 0.9 inches thick at its thinnest point, with the LED backlit display, it's a very stylish and small laptop, convenient for carrying around and using in all but the tightest of spaces.

The good:
Thin, sexy design; strong performance; backlit-LED display; included media remote control.

The bad:
Small touchpad; some options (SSD hard drives, Blu-ray) not available yet; not as many color options as Dell's new Inspiron line.

The bottom line:
Dell has finally put design first with the head-turning XPS M1330 laptop, emphasizing both the "thin" and "light" aspects of the thin-and-light category without sacrificing features or performance.