Vostro 1310 owners...

The 1310 comes default with Alps touchpad, but then it will be shown as Synaptics once you run Windows Update.

My company has Thinkpads assigned to most staff (mostly T61s) but the built quality of the 1310 is better than those Thinkpads. I could hold my 1310 at just one corner without worrying that it will break apart. However the 1310 is quite a bit on the heavy side for a 13 incher. The slot-loading drive is cool but it has this annoying sound when you wake your laptop from sleep mode.

 

Another 1310 owner here - I was going to get an XPS M1330 but I got a really good deal on the 1310 and it had a matt screen option (hate glossy) and IMO looks much nicer in straight black than multi-coloured like the XPS.

So far it's run everything I've wanted it to with no problems - I'm not a great gamer but it's excellent for Civ4 and Neverwinter Nights 2. The only thing that really lets it down is the speaker is absolutely dire which is a shame - very tinny and hardly any volume.

BTW if you look in the review section on this site there's one for the 1310 with a fair few pics and a video.

 

Yup, I do agree that the Vostro has a better design than the XPS. M1330 is just too stylish to my liking and I dislike silver rims as they tend to peel/get dirty after sometime.

I am not an avid gamer; my IGP serves me very well in fact. Sound wise, the speakers are awfully soft and monotonous. Other minor nitpicks include: LCD screen is thick but very sturdy and that contributes to the weight of the entire unit. The air vents are at the left of the laptop which I would prefer if it is at the back instead. The media buttons are very cool at first but it is a tad too annoying as they are housed on a piece of glossy plate and it will get smudged with fingerprints in no time. I would rather use the Fn-key combinations to change the volume and eject my discs.

Touchpad is too small and you have to press the buttons deeply. Oh well, the built is still much better than the Inspiron 1420 and I still prefer the 1310 over M1330 even though there are quite a number of drawbacks. But then if I were to choose again, I would go for the Latitude D630 instead. Oh well, have to accept what I’d bought. Still, it is a lovely laptop nevertheless.

 

Finally I placed order for XPS M1330. The reason because there is no good discount on vostro here. For the same config as XPS M1330 There was hardly 100$ or 150$ difference. Then i thought to go wid 1330 by paying some extra.

Btw thanks for help guys.

 

Thanks for your reviews...

Does anyone else have anything to say about the Vostro 1310? I'm thinking about getting one..

 

I have had one for nearly a month now, and whilst this machine was purely bought as a quick and cheap stop-gap measure I must say it has been performing admirably

The machine I bought as the following specs:

Intel T5870 2.0 GHz
4.0 GB of DDR2 667 Memory
Nvidia 8400M 128M (yes THAT GPU)
250G HDD
and the glossy screen (as opposed to the stadard matte)

My impressions thus far:

Overall the build quality is ok given the price - it really does feel cheap and plasticky though, especially around the palm rest areas. The keyboard is pretty solid and as I touch type it is quite good for that as well.

Performance wise this model was a configuration offered by Dell and I never bothered to change anything - CPU performance can be a little laggy at times, but I am sure if the CPU was changed for something more powerful it wouldn't be a drama. As for 4 Gigs of memory, currently I am still trying to get a 64bit version of Vista Business through Dell - no point in giving people 4G of memory and only a 32bit operating system after all

In regards to the GPU I have had no issues with it, then again it has only been about a month, the only 3D intensive game I have played on this thing is WoW and I run it on a Zalman NC1000 cooler on my desk when gaming. Besides as stated earlier this is a stop gap measure until I can more of a desktop replacement to my liking therefore I don't envisage the GPU failure rate being an issue for me in the near future. Temps are a lot lower even without a cooler than on the buggy XPS 1330 installed GPU.

When it came to the screen (this was the only thing I changed on the order) I went for the glossy over the matte as I will never be using this notebook outside anywhere, it looks a lot brighter and clearer than the matte screen version Vostro I had seen someone else with and it is better for mulitmedia or games if you are into that sort of thing. Some people like matte screens - I prefer glossy

The other complaint if you like, well not really a complaint as such, would be the noisy slot loading DVD-RW - c'mon Dell even cheap and nasty in-car slot loading CD players are better than this one! It works, but it is noisy and very clunky - personally I would have preferred more of a 'mechnical' button to eject my discs however the media 'touchpad' style buttons work ok.

Which brings me to the media buttons - overall they look flashy and shiny with their bright blue lighting but not really practical in the sense that you get no feedback - but that is probably more a personal choice thing than anything else. You do need to 'jab jab jab' at the volume buttons to get them to work.

What I do like about it, despite the overt use of plastic is the plain black notebook appearance it has, I like the plain minimal design - nothing like a Vaio or an Apple when it comes to looks, but if you like simple and minimal it isnt that bad - the glossy lid is a bit gauche in my eyes, not to mention a fingerprint magnet, but some people like it I guess Dell do provide a handly little cleaning cloth that works quite well though.

Overall I am happy with it given the small financial layout required. Yes I have listed a few issues I have had with it, but for what I am currently using it for it is just fine. It runs Ubuntu out of the box (yes I have to install the Nvidia driver but that is all - all media keys work, the ACPI in Ubuntu 8.10 is pretty good now ) I run mine through a 22" Dell WS monitor when sat at home with it and it even plays WoW at the 22" native resolution at an average of 40-50fps - with a few of the eye-candy options turned off.

Well I hope that helps you out some more with another veiwpoint about the Vostro