Dell XPS M1330 Review

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by Andrew Baxter and Jerry Jackson

Overview and Introduction

The Dell XPS M1330 is designed for those that want power on the go. If you're also fashion conscious and like to standout in a crowd, the looks of the XPS M1330 will help you in that area too. Sleek design coupled with a portable form factor and powerful components come together to make for a compelling notebook.

Build and Design

Our pre-production XPS M1330 as equipped:

• 13.3-inch WXGA screen with LED backlight
• &quot;Crimson&quot; red paint (also available in &quot;Tuxedo&quot; black or &quot;Pearl&quot; white)
• 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7300 processor, Santa Rosa chipset (up to 2.4GHz available)
• 2GB DDR2-667 SDRAM (up to 4GB DDR2 SDRAM available)
• 160GB 5400 RPM SATA HDD (32GB SSD drive available)
• Slot-loading dual-layer DVD±RW drive
• 128MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS
• WWAN option for Verizon
• Ethernet, 802.11a/g/n (Intel 4965), Bluetooth option
• Integrated VGA webcam
• HDMI, VGA, 1394, two USB 2.0 ports, integrated media reader (MS, SD, xD), fingerprint reader
• Media Center remote located in ExpressCard slot
• Windows Vista Home Premium
• Dimensions 12.5&quot; x 9.4&quot; x 0.87&quot; - 1.33&quot;
• Weight starts at 4 pounds with 6-cell battery

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The design of the XPS M1330 really sets it apart. The design is, in a word, striking. The sloping look and stunning lid, available in three different colors, are immediately attention grabbing. The slope is akin to a fast car tear drop look. And while the XPS M1330 isn't designed to go fast in the physical sense, it looks like it could if you just put wheels on it.

Once opened the M1330 provides more eye candy in terms of design. The buttons along the top edge are touch sensitive and light up with a soft glow when pressed. They look very stylish. The LED buttons are a bright blue and also eye-catching in their appearance. The silver colored keyboard and brushed aluminum casing on the inside give a slightly industrial look that would tell you there's some muscle to this machine.

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The hinge on the M1330 is quite unique, it's very rounded in its look and rotates to bring the screen about even with the keyboard for a slightly lower overall profile. The LED backlit screen is super thin, which keeps weight down and again contributes to the looks. An integrated web camera sits at the top of the screen, it's well hidden but noticeable.

Overall we have to say that the M1330 is one of the best looking notebooks on the market today.

Screen

When configuring the XPS M1330 you have two options for the screen -- a backlit 13.3&quot; LED display that's thin and light or regular cathode backlit display that's slightly thicker and not as bright and evenly lit as the LED backlit display. We were lucky enough to have the LED backlit display, and while it costs $150 more than the standard display, it's a worthwhile upgrade. The picture and brightness you get is just amazing! It offers 330 nits of brightness and is simply gorgeous to look at. It's glossy in nature so you'll get some reflection, but the rich and bold colors that come with having this type of screen finish is worth it.

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The only downside to the LED backlit display is the fact that you can only get a VGA webcam. If you get the regular WXGA display you can configure a 2MP web camera. We think VGA resolution is enough for things such as video chat applications, but if you really feel the need for a higher resolution web camera and want to save a bit of money too, then go with the regular WXGA screen option.

Speakers

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The speakers for the M1330 are located at the top of the keyboard area. There's not much to write home about the speakers, they get loud enough that's for sure, but the sound is slightly tinny as is the case with nearly all laptop speakers. The volume audio controls are touch sensitive buttons along the top right side of the keyboard. It's a little hard to use these buttons if you have big fingers, and there's no on screen feedback to tell you you've actually pressed the button. Overall the volume control buttons are tough to use, though they look nice, an old fashioned volume dial control is easier to use.

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If you prefer to use headphones to the built-in, you're set. There are two headphone ports to capture audio from, both are located on the front of the notebook. If you're trying to attach external speakers this isn't as handy, but since this is an on the go notebook it's probably not an issue.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The keyboard on the XPS M1330 is fairly similar to the older XPS M1210, though it does feel more spread out with larger keys so overall the keyboard is better. One thing that's definitely better with M1330 is that the keyboard is more firm. On the M1210 there was some sink on the right side of the keyboard, but with the M1330 it's firm and solid all over. The XPS M1330 is really quite a pleasure to type on. The only complaint I have for the keyboard is that if your fingernails are slightly long they might get caught under the keys, this shouldn't be a problem for most males though.

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One thing to mention is that with the 9-cell battery in you get an overall greater slope to the keyboard, we actually like this for ergonomics, it feels more comfortable for typing.

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The touchpad works well enough, though it's on the small side. The Apple MacBook is a 13.3&quot; screen notebook and the touchpad is probably twice the size of what you get on the M1330. The mouse buttons are fine, though Andrew would prefer they had a little more travel to them. The good news with the touchpad is that it's responsive, has dedicated scroll areas and the textured feel is good.

Performance and Benchmarks

The M1330 is a remarkably capable performer in its price range thanks to the Intel Santa Rosa processor platform and the Nvidia GeForce Go 8400M GS video card with 128MB of dedicated graphics memory. While there are better performing gaming systems on the market in the $1,500 to $2,000 price range with 256MB of dedicated memory, the M1330 provides more than enough power for casual gaming ... even with some of the newest games.

That said, we experienced some problems getting 3DMark05 and 3DMark06 to run smoothly on the pre-production M1330 straight out of the box thanks to some Vista driver issues. After spending a few hours running Windows Update and hunting for drivers online Jerry was able to get both 3DMark05 and 3DMark06 to run consistently and managed to improve some of the benchmark numbers from our first look review.

Hopefully any driver issues will be sorted out when Dell ships actual production units of the M1330 to customers. However, the driver issue we experienced shouldn't deter anyone from this genuinely impressive system.

Super Pi comparison results:

Notebook	Time
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300)	0m 58s
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300)	1m 01s
Lenovo 3000 V200 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300)	0m 59s
HP dv2500t (1.80GHz Intel 7100)	1m 09s
Lenovo ThinkPad T61 (2.00GHz Core 2 Duo Intel T7300)	0m 59s
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.00GHz Core 2 Duo T7200)	1m 03s
Toshiba Satellite P205-S6287 (1.73 GHz Core 2 Duo Intel T5300)	1m 24s
Toshiba Satellite A205 (1.66GHz Core 2 Duo)	1m 34s
HP Compaq 6515b (1.6GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-52)	2m 05s
HP dv6000t (2.16 GHz Intel T2400)	0m 59s
Dell Inspiron e1705 (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo)	1m 02s

PCMark05 comparison results:

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS)	4,591 PCMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	4,153 PCMarks
Lenovo 3000 V200 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	3,987 PCMarks
Lenovo T60 Widescreen (2.0GHz Intel T7200, ATI X1400 128MB)	4,189 PCMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	4,234 PCMarks
Fujitsu N6410 (1.66GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400)	3,487 PCMarks
Alienware M7700 (AMD Athlon FX-60, Nvidia Go 7800GTX)	5,597 PCMarks
Sony Vaio SZ-110B in Speed Mode (Using Nvidia GeForce Go 7400)	3,637 PCMarks
Asus V6J (1.86GHz Core Duo T2400, Nvidia Go 7400)	3,646 PCMarks

3DMark05 comparison results:

Notebook	3D Mark 05 Results
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB)	3,116 3DMarks
HP Compaq 6510b (2.20GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, Intel X3100)	916 3DMarks
HP Compaq 6515b (1.6GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-52, ATI x1270)	871 3DMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16 GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	2,013 3D Marks
Dell Inspiron e1705 (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400)	1,791 3D Marks
Acer TravelMate 8204WLMi (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 256MB)	4,236 3DMarks
Alienware Aurora M-7700(AMD Dual Core FX-60, ATI X1600 256MB)	7,078 3D Marks
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400 128MB)	2,092 3D Marks
Asus V6Va (2.13 GHz Pentium M, ATI x700 128 MB)	2,530 3D Marks
Fujitsu n6410 (1.66 GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400 128MB)	2,273 3DMarks
Dell XPS M1210 (2.16 GHz Core Duo, nVidia Go 7400 256MB)	2,090 3D Marks

3DMark06 comparison results:

Notebook	3DMark06 Score
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB)	1,408 3DMarks
Samsung Q70 (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7300 and nVidia 8400M G GPU)	1,069 3DMarks
Asus F3sv-A1 (Core 2 Duo T7300 2.0GHz, Nvidia 8600M GS 256MB)	2,344 3DMarks
Alienware Area 51 m5550 (2.33GHz Core 2 Duo, nVidia GeForce Go 7600 256MB	2,183 3DMarks
Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Xi 1526 (1.66 Core Duo, nVidia 7600Go 256 MB)	2,144 3DMarks
Samsung X60plus (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7200, ATI X1700 256MB)	1,831 3DMarks
Asus A6J (1.83GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 128MB)	1,819 3DMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16 GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	827 3DMarks
Sony Vaio SZ-110B in Speed Mode (Using Nvidia GeForce Go 7400)	794 3DMarks
Samsung R20 (1.73GHz T2250 and ATI 1250M chipset / GPU)	476 3DMarks

HDTune results:

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Heat and Noise

The system fan and heatsinks in the M1330 do a great job managing heat when the system is under load ... as we discovered when we ran multiple benchmarks back to back. The CPU temperature peaked at only 58 degrees Celsius during multiple 3DMark05 and 3DMark06 tests. The fan moved a significant amount of hot air but the noise was reasonably low and wasn't noticeable over background noise unless the room was perfectly quiet.

One thing to mention is that we kept the 9-cell extended life battery attached to the M1330 during these benchmarks. The extended life battery lifts the system off the desk and allows air to move under the notebook case ... helping to cool the system. When we performed the same benchmarks with the standard 4-cell battery (with the case resting flush against the desk) the CPU temperatures peaked at 64 degrees Celsius.

The attractive brushed aluminum surface of the palm rests did heat up during benchmarking, but the temperatures remained at comfortable levels. The left palm rest was slightly warmer than the right. If you are particularly sensitive to temperatures you might find the warmth uncomfortable, but most users will be unlikely to complain about this.

The hard drive in our pre-production unit was virtually silent and made no audible squeals or scratching noises. The overall lack of noise coming from the fan and hard drive on the M1330 should be a welcome surprise for people with sensitive hearing ... particularly for those who owned the M1210. In fact, the only noticeable amount of unwelcome noise coming from the M1330 is from the slot-loading drive when it loads or ejects a disk.

Input and Output Ports

The port selection of the M1330 is remarkably good for a notebook of this size. Here's a quick rundown of what you get:

• Two USB 2.0 ports (one on the left and one on the right)
• IEEE 1394 / FireWire port
• VGA monitor out port
• HDMI port
• Dual headphone / line-out ports
• Microphone in port
• ExpressCard slot
• Ethernet LAN port
• SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro/xD card slot reader
• Biometric security/finger print reader

The top of the M1330 (left) with a sexy red paintjob trimmed in aluminum. The M1210 is on the right. (view large image)

The bottom of the M1330 with memory expansion access, vents, and battery. (view large image)

Compared to the M1210 (right) the front of the M1330 (left) has dual headphone ports, microphone port, and multi-card reader. (view large image)

Compared to the M1210 (right) the M1330 (left) the right side has an ExpressCard slot (Media Center remote), wireless on/off, slot-loading optical drive, USB port, and security lock slot. (view large image)

Again, compared to the M1210 (right) the left side of the M1330 has a power jack, VGA port, USB port, HDMI port, and Firewire port. (view large image)

There's nothing to see on the back of the M1330 (left) except the fan vent. (view large image)

OS and Software

Dell was gracious enough to install a minimal amount of bloatware on the pre-production M1330 we received. While most experienced users will likely spend the first 30 to 60 minutes uninstalling some bloatware from the system, the many less technically minded owners will find the included applications quite useful.

Of course, Microsoft Vista is a bit of a mixed bag for users as of this writing. There will continue to be minor headaches with drivers, updates, and application patches until Vista becomes a more seasoned and widespread OS. That said, anyone already familiar with Vista should have no trouble with the M1330 and less experienced users should only need a few weeks to feel perfectly comfortable with the interface.

Camera

As previously mentioned, the M1330 comes with either a VGA web camera (with the LED backlight display) or a two-megapixel web camera with the standard display. Even with the lower resolution VGA camera in our test unit we can safely say the M1330 is a capable performer for teleconference or online gaming. Brightness, color and contrast are all near perfect, and the face tracking feature lets you keep your face front and center during video conferences. If you can manage to keep your face &quot;somewhere&quot; near the front of the computer the camera's face tracking feature will frame your mug nicely.

Battery

The 9-cell battery is the way to go if you're doing any traveling, which you likely will be if you decide to purchase this notebook. With the screen set to 3/8 brightness, wireless on, and idling without doing any work the XPS M1330 squeezed out 4 hours and 45 minutes of battery life. If you're watching a DVD on this notebook you'll get somewhere just over 3 hours of battery life with the 9-cell. If you go for the smaller 4-cell battery the run life will be more than cut in half, but you'll have a lighter overall notebook. It's always a tough decision when deciding between a lighter weight battery that costs less and gives you less life or a larger battery that weighs more and costs more. You'll just have to decide which battery better fits your needs. If money is no object, get both batteries and use whichever one suits you best for the occasion!

Conclusion

With a design that is second to none in its price range and excellent performance the Dell XPS M1330 is sure to be one of the most popular notebooks of 2007. As of this writing the M1330 First Look Review is already the most popular article in our forums based on views and replies.

While issues like warm palm rests, awkward media buttons, a noisy slot-loading drive, and somewhat heavy weight with the 9-cell battery will make some demanding buyers look elsewhere, most consumers looking for a 13.3-inch notebook will be hard pressed to find a better notebook in the same price range.

Pros:

• Attractive design
• Solid build quality
• Excellent performance
• LED backlit display is amazing
• Good built-in camera ... even the VGA unit
• Nice keyboard
• Attractive design (Yes, we said it twice.)

Cons:

• 4.5 pounds with 9-cell battery
• Gets a little too warm particularly on palm rests
• Touch sensative media buttons don't work very well
• Slot-loading drive is a little loud

 

 

Nice review! Looks really nice... wish I had the $$$ to buy one =/

 

Nice review, though I'm quite tired of seeing 3DMark 2005/2006 as the ONLY gaming benchmarks, since they have little to no basis in real-world gaming at all.

Also, you say that the slot-loading DVD drive is quite loud. Do you mean the loading mechanism is loud or actual drive reading is loud?

Thanks again!

 

If they had an 8600m GT available for the m1330, I would have immediately bought one of those. Instead I decided to go with the 1520.

But other than that, nice review!

 

Wow...nice review! Looks like Dell's first attempt at this kind of notebook (very thin and 13.3") was fairly good, but they could improve in a few places...but overall, nice!

 

Great review!

I'm kinda disappointed by the battery life though, I was expecting to see more out of a 9 cell battery at a higher brightness level. I guess LED backlights aren't what they were cracked up to be.

 

I really liked the review, you made me feel REALLY secure about my purchase and I endlessly thank you for that.

But one question. You mention the fact that the 9-cell battery weighs a lot more and gives you much more battery power, and the 4 cell is light with less than half of the capacity. Why no mention of the 6-cell battery? Just a thought.

Really nice review though! I'm gonna go read it again now.

 

LED backlight screens still look better then LCD screens.

 

Now I am more excited than ever. Nice review covered a lot of the things I was thinking about. A couple of minor suggestions for the future.

Maybe think about getting a nicer camera. Some of the shots were pretty grainy, and while thats a little nit-picky it would be nice to see full colors and high res pics of the screen and metal case etc.

Overall nice review though.

 

I think one can do better than 4.75 hours if they just underclock the GPU, undervolt the CPU and then disable the ethernet card. This should be plenty of power for web surfing. I am guessing 6.5 hours or more after those mods.

 

its such a relief to hear that there is no cpu whine!! omg!!!!
thank you so much for the awesome review
One question though how does its quietness compare to the new macbook pro santa rosa. My bro has one of the mac book pro and its noiseless even when playing CS source

 

I think that having only 2 USB ports should be listed as a con. I regularly use two and need a third every time I'm handed a USB memory stick.

Also, I've been reading about a whine coming from the Core2Duo processors (Chaz has posted about this). Can you hear it on this machine?

Other than that it seems like a winner for Dell!



Jokkton, I didn't see mention of CPU whine, only HDD noise

 

Can I enlarge it for 1.99$ ?

I'd like to see it in a 17" (LED) size with a 8800m GPU and 2xHD .

 

the review did specifically mentioned the notebook is virtually silent
and he also mentioned that for those m1210 owners with sensitive hearing should be happy with it or something like that. I assume that he was referring to the cpu whine

 

funny.

Undervolting won't decrease wattage by a lot (maybe 10 to 30% idle to load), but it'd be an interesting test.

 

Just one thing.. Could you confirm whether the screen's 6 bit? The manual lists this too as a 262K colour screen.. Unbelievable.. I guess they did a very bad job with the manuals for all new nbs..

 

A couple of questions:

1. The Dell site indicates a 6-cell battery option. I think someone may already have mentioned this. Do you know if the 6-cell option has the form factor of the 4-cell or the 9-cell battery --- or something else entirely?

2. I assume that the integrated graphics option would improve battery life, but do you think it would also noticeably reduce heat output? (And as an aside, would the Aero interface run snappily enough if I supplemented the GMA X3100 with 2 GB or RAM?)

The troublesome media key responsiveness is unfortunate news. Alas.

 

I think he means disable the ethernet card that connects to the internet via the ethernet cable. That, in turn, would provide power for wireless surfing.

 

Since the review unit came with a dedicated video card, which supposedly reduces battery life, instead of an integrated one and got 4.45 hrs, how much more would an integrated card get w/ the 9-cell? Also, Cnet said "The m1330 ran for two hours and 23 minutes on our DVD battery drain test, using the included six-cell battery" and their unit included the dedicated video as well. So how much would the 6-cell get w/ an integrated card? Anyone know?
Also, the 6-cell battery looks the same as the 4-cell. Neither sticks out, only the 9-cell.

 

really nice and informative review. i find it looks super awkward because it's so slanted. I'd have to see it in person.

Do you think this Dell is a better buy than the Macbook? Arggg, so many choices! I was thinking to go with the x61 but the xps and the macbook seem to have much more features....if the XPS came with OS X , I would go for it! The macbook comes with a better software package (although that is subjective - whether or not you know/like OS X is a factor here) but the Dell clearly has more advanced hardware (clearly), and is lighter. The small touchpad kind of bothers me.

 

Thanks a lot for the review! One thing I'm interested in is whether battery life has been measured using Nvidia PowerMizer. Don't know if it's integrated in provided drivers.
Additionally, as CodeMonkeyX stated, high-res pictures would be nice

 

Yeah, I think the slanted shape is a turn-off. I would've prefer it to be flat like other laptops.

 

I'm also curious on how turning up the screen to full brightness would effect battery life, since its fairly new technology there might be less of a difference on battery life. In other words, I would like to know if dimming the LEDs would save over having them on full brightness.

330 nitts is also pretty bright, my desktop LCD is 300 nitts and use it at 75% brightness for comfort. An advantage of using the really bright screen while traveling could be to override the annoying glare and shadows if your working in a brightly lit area.

 

Yeah, the angle looks pretty steep. Kinda weird...I guess with the lighter battery it isn't as noticeable.

Oh yeah, I take it that you're into chemistry?

 

Very nice review and very timely as I was looking to replace my e1705 with a smaller and more mobile notebook.

 

What is the optical drive used in the M1330?

I've just been browsing the Owner's Manual and notice a couple of points: (i) The display brightness is stated as:

The manual also states that there are three Type IIIA Mini Card slots and includes guidance on the installation of a Turbo Memory card.

John

 

Hello,

The battery paragraph is short! Damn!
Could you test the battery in wifi surfing, brightness at 3/8, without bluetooth to have a real world battery life ??
Because a idling autonomy is quite useless i think...


Your review would be perfect with this little improvement!

 

Does that thing come with an optical SPDIF out?

 

To question 1:

6 Cell : 0,33kg 47,5mm Length
9 Cell : 0,48kg 67,5mm Length

 

The 6 cell is flush with the laptop, as is the 4 cell.. Only the 9 cell sticks out...

 

You seem to know quite good the tall of the different kind of batteries. Do you know the height of the m1330 on the back with the 9cell ?
It is no more 3,4cm but how much more?

 

What is the pixel response time of the LED screen?

 

First of all, nice review!

The laptop specs are nice, but I really can't understand what all the hype is about when it comes to the design. Taste is really a personal thing but having seen many stylish notebooks, the M1330 IMHO is not even close to being attractive, design wise. I actually think it looks a bit cheap due to the silver plasticy keyboard area, etc.

Once again, the specs and performance are really nice though.

 

The manual says 2.66 inches.. And for the 6/4 cells, it says 1.87 inches..

 

I'm glad you sorted out the driver issues for 3DMark, Andrew. Those benchmarks, by the way, are exactly where they should be for the 8400M GS.

 

Waw! It's quite huge no?
The Dell.be site (i'm Belgian) states:

And you said 1,87" or 4,75cm minimum. Huge difference...
And for the 9cell a thickness of 2,66" ? Are you sure?



I'd like to be sure to buy a sleeve case...

 

I'm starting to think you need to slightly change the way you review laptops from "The screen looks amazing!" to something more detailed like "The screen is very good with 500:1 contrast ratio & 250cd/m^2 brightness which is above average for notebooks...etc".

Anyhow nice review!

 

The loading/ejecting mechanism is the only thing that's loud about the drive. If you're used to the relatively quiet "pop" from a standard optical drive when it ejects then you'll find the motorized grinding noise of the slot-loading optical drive to be a little annoying.

The slot-loading drive is not any louder or quieter than a standard drive in terms of the actual reading of the disk.

So if you're in a quiet room with other people (like a library or open office space) expect to have everyone around you turn and look at you when you load or eject a disk from the slot-loading drive.

 

What? No love for me?

I was the guy who took the M1330 home over the weekend to install and uninstall various updates and drivers for several hours in order to get the benchmarks to run.

No respect, I tell ya. :cry:

 

Great review Andrew - I know you're a fan of smaller laptops so I can imagine that you'll have a tough time sending this one back!

That is a really good-looking machine . . . and I mean really good-looking. I'd like to see how many orders Dell has to fulfill for this machine. I'd also like to see the average selling price.

 

Anyone who knows the answer ?

 

I was seriously considering purchasing this notebook, but couldn't justify the price, because after I configured it to my liking it was just about $2000.

I then looked at the Macbook Pro Santa Rosa, and it had many of the features as this, such as the LED screen, webcam, same amount of RAM, Hard disk space, beautiful design, is just 1" thick through, and weighs just about half a pound more, at 5.4 pounds.

It's a bit bigger, yes, but better resolution. But the MBP is $1800 with a student discount, plus you get a 200$ mail-in rebate towards the purchase of a new iPod.

After comparing the two, there was hardly any decision to make. Spend $200 less, and get so much more.

 

great review on this guy. it seems that after Dell bought out Alienware, they have really turned their design department around. now, whether or not what they have been designing looks good is a personal taste, but I'm happy their notebooks no longer look so blah and eh.

I've never been a fan of silver or white keyboards and I think they should've at least offered the black as an option. I'm not sure why they haven't been able to incorporate the dual graphics like the Sony SZ series, it can't be that hard. Use onboard when you need all the juice you can get and dedicated when you're plugged in and want to use some graphics intense apps/games.

I do have to say that when I had my Asus W2 that had a slot loading drive, it looked so cool and slick, but when I popped a disc in, it was like a jet taking off, so loud that I was scared to load anything in a quiet environment where I wasn't alone. Not sure if its the same with the Macs out there but it seems like its the mechanical nature of slot loading drives.

I do appluad Dell for taking steps in the right direction on this one though.

 

That was an oversight on my part not to mention the 6-cell, I think for those that asked questions regarding the size that has been answered by now -- the 4-cell and 6-cell are flush while the 9-cell sticks out.

We do have an SLR or two, the lighting in that room wasn't the greatest, we should have taken the time to reshoot pictures but the story is that Dell contacted us yesterday and said the laptop has to go back today (yesterday) immediately because CNBC needs it for a TV spot so Jerry and I sort of rushed and didn't get time to retake pictures

I would say they're about the same. One thing to keep in mind is that Jerry and I are both in our late 20's so we don't pickup those really high-pitch noises the teens out there will hear. If there's a high-pitch noise and we miss it, I blame it on age.

Bruce, I would agree with you, two USB ports is stingy. I suffer with that on my ThinkPad T43.

Yes, integrated graphics will always give you better battery life. The media keys are not a whole lot different to what's on the HP dv series right now, I sort of wish mfrs. would go back to old fashioned buttons that are easy to push.

I've never come across a WSEXY resolution display, but I guess we're guilty of being lazy and using shorthand to express screen resolutions. Will work to change that.

The refresh rate is 60Hz

I already mentioned this, but our time with the M1330 ended yesterday. It'll actually be making a TV appearance today or tomorrow on CNBC so look for our review machine there

 

in the manual, the battery dimensions are as follows:
Dimensions:
Depth 67.6 mm (2.66 inches) (9 cell)
47.5 mm (1.87 inches) (6 cell)
Height 20.4 mm (0.8 inch)
Width 209.9 mm (8.26 inches)
Weight 0.48 kg (1.06 lb) (9 cell)
0.33 kg (0.7 lb) (6 cell)

This is subtracting the specs. of the 4 cell. So for instance, the dimensions of the 6 cell and 4 cell are the same. So they don't stick out. The 9 cell adds .8in to the depth, so it sticks out .8in in the back. If you want to know about the weight of the AC adaptor added to the computer:
Dimensions:
Height 29.0 mm (1.14 in)
Width 46.5 mm (1.83 in)
Depth 107.0 mm (4.21 in)
Weight (with cables) 0.25 kg (.55 lb)

so the added weight of the AC adaptor with cables is half a pound. So if you got the 6 cell, then the total weight is about 4.7lbs. If you got the 9 cell, the total weight is around 5.1lbs, and if you got the 4-cell then the weight is around 4.5 lbs.

 

Link, if you just wants specs, then you can look at the spec sheet. If you want opinion from people who have seen hundreds of notebooks, read the review. FWIW, a high contrast ratio or certain brightness levels don't ensure a great screen...there's a lot more at play than just specs.

 

thx for all the news and this great review !

 

Great review Andrew and Jerry. The 1330 is such a cool looking notebook and in my opinion the Red Lid is pretty spiffy. Oh and the pictures looked fine to me. =)

 

I have to admit, I haven't been fond of Dell designs in the past, but this M1330 is definitely a looker. I'd want to hold one in my hands before full judgement since look and feel can be quite different, but it doesn't seem bad at all. And doesn't that hinge look like the W3J hinge?

I hope Apple is paying attention for their long-rumoured 12" ultra-portable MacBook Pro since the M1330 has put forward a strong showing. I wonder if Dell or Apple could fit in a 8400M GT since a 8400M GS just doesn't quite do it for me. I'd imagine they would hit a thermal wall at full load though for such small designs so they can be forgiven.

 

To be honest I prefer a subjective opinion. On CNet they just spout out lots of tech specs and say how wonderful it is. But as we all know, LCD Response times, contrast ratios, etc can all be fudged. I would rather know what a human thinks when they look at it.

That being said though, I would like a slightly more detailed explanation. Maybe comment on the whites and blacks, how vibrant the colors look, washed out? stuff like that.