For most Dell laptops, it has specific designs for corresponding uses. And just like this laptop, it is specifically intended for small businesses. And while some would acquire laptops for fashion shows in malls and school canteens and libraries, this one can do much better than that.

The glossy casing of the Vostro 1320 is prone to finger markings. However, cleaning these prints is easy by just wiping it with a smooth fabric. It could be delicate while looking at it, but it is strong and sturdy. Though this business laptop is not at all a beauty-and-brain thing, but it can give a good performance in doing its workloads. The covering of this laptop can surely protect the inside parts and will endure unwanted bumping and short fallings.

This 13.3-inch notebook is weighing at around 4.73lbs, which enables this laptop to grab a passing rate for portability. This might not be lightweight enough, but as long as you are not joining the death march, the weight of this thing is manageable. But on the brighter side on this aspect, it is thin with its 1.5 inches of thickness.

The Vostro 1320’s screen comes in to options – the matte display and the TrueLife Display. The former has the glossy finish which can emit a lot of reflections from the screens when under heavy light conditions. With the matte display, reflections are not an issue. However, there’s nothing special about the screen which has a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. Moreover, when changing your viewing angles, it can’t be that amusing specifically in altering vertical angles.

Dell Vostro 1320 is quite impressive when it comes to its power and performance. Its brains consist of the Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 CPU with a clock of 2.53GHz. These hardware are working with 1GB of DDR2 RAM.  For its powerful graphic display features, it houses nVidia GeForce 9300M GS graphics adapter. But this isn’t powerful enough when you are trying to use engineering design softwares or video editing tools that require heavy graphic and imaging processes.

For its connectivity, ports, and slots, it offers fair value for your money as it carries the standard expansions. If we run through a short check, the left side of the Vostro 1320 displays heat vent, one USB port, FireWire, ExpressCard, memory card reader, microphone jack, and the headphone jack. On the right side we can see the optical drive, another three USB ports, wireless switch, and the power connector. At the rear part, it is where the battery, the monitor out port, and the Ethernet. And on the front, there’s nothing but a power light indicator.

The Vostro 1320 is a good label for business laptops. As this comes with a price that starts from $549, this rate does go well with the kind of specifications this notebook possesses. Because of this, this business notebook might not be rated high, but it can surely serve as a business laptop for every business professionals. Perhaps, this might be a good option for users who are practical and contended for the basic functionalities.

Technical Specifications:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T6570 (2.0GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)

Graphics: Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD

Hard Drive Storage: 250GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive

Memory: 3GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz, 2 DIMM (1GB and 2GB sticks)

Screen: 13.3 inch WXGA Anti-Glare LED Display

Media: 8X DVD+/-RW with double-layer DVD+/-R write capability

Battery: 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

Wireless: Dell Wireless 1397 802.11b/g Mini Card

Ports: 4 USB 2.0, VGA out connector, Ethernet, Modem, 8-in-1 media card reader, 54mm ExpressCard slot, FireWire (IEEE 1394)

Weight: 4.75lbs

Width: 12.48 inches / 316.9mm

Height: 0.9 inch / 23.8mm (front) – 1.46″ / 37.2mm (back)

Depth: 9.57 inches / 243.2mm

OS: Windows Vista Home Premium

The Vostro 1220 is a laptop designed for extra transportability for business professionals. It is 12 inches in size, lightweight, can run faster for data processing, and has an extended battery life. If it is to sit side by side with the Inspiron Mini 12, this can be more powerful with its Core 2 Duo processor. And with its design, it is more exiting and classy making it more likeable not only for small and medium range businessmen but also for the students. Moreover, it comes with a lesser price.

Starting from its power, the Intel Core 2 Duo processor is making it possible for this mini laptop to function in a fast and speedy process.  It works with a 2.1GHz of 2GB of DDR2 RAM. Plus, a 160GB of hard drive, it can be functional for business operations. In fact, the Vostro 1220 is estimated to be seven times faster than the Inspiron Mini 12. Now this would clearly mean that any office applications and business software are so much accessible. Even browsing or surfing the net, it enables you to do multitasking. But if you’ll utilize this portable computing machine as a graphics or video editor, you need to have an extensive hard disk drive to accommodate heavy graphic files. Despite its high intensity of functionality, this high-powered mini business laptop is so efficient when it comes to its energy usage.

However, this new notebook has its downsides as well. As consumers would know it, its build is not that sturdy. There are other issues as well such as the bouncing-back of the keypads from the keyboard and the unnecessary noise from the chassis when in contact with the optical drive.

But if you are after the portability and functionality, this laptop is always a thumbs-up. Basically, it weighs at around 3.4lbs., light enough to be handheld even when in long minutes of walk from the client to the office. As this is designed for business purposes, it supports business oriented softwares that are very imperative for doing small business transactions.

Overall, this 12-inch business laptop can do more than what netbooks are expected to deliver. Aside from the features stated above, it also has the standard connections for notebooks and a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. With this, it can satisfy your thirst in laptop functionality as well as your hunger with a notebook’s extreme portability. At a price starting from $799, you can own this notebook hassle-free.

Technical Specifications:

Processor: Intel® Celeron™ 900 (2.2GHz, 1M L2 Cache, 800Mhz FSB) 35w

Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic

Optical Drives: 8X DVD+/-RW DVD+/-R Roxio and Cyberlink PowerDVD™ DX 8.2

Memory: 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz, 2 DIMM

Hard Drive: 160GB2 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive

Wireless Cards: Dell Wireless™ 1397 802.11b/g Mini Card

Primary Battery: 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

Ports: 3 USB 2.0, ethernet, modem, VGA and audio in/out, card reader

Graphics: 12″ LCD at 1280×800, Integrated Intel GMA Graphics

If you are familiar with Dell’s Inspiron Mini 9, the Vostro A90 is its newest version. The thing that differentiates them, for one, is their color options. This laptop is ultraportable with its 8.9-inch display size and 2.36lbs of weight. Now, this can boost Dell’s pride in producing another business laptop that adds to their line up of notebooks. And this might excel on its physical aspect, but if we are to see the inner side of it, this could be less viable.

This small business laptop is housing a 1GB RAM that is ticking with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor. Noticeably, this is another one of the specifications that A90 and Mini 9 have in common. This is then where the users find this laptop a little frail as it can lag when processing huge amount of data. As most customers would say, this is not the fastest laptop but it can somehow do what it has to do. Another downside is its not-so-impressive 1024 x 600 resolution display. Another thing, it has a low-capacity SSD.

But on the bright side, the minimal weight and the minute size is really a great plus factor of this design. It can be placed at any given small bags which enables you to walk carelessly without the idea of you bringing an additional weight wherever you may go. The working hours of this laptop is also acceptable with its battery life. It can give you enough time to finish your half-day of work before signing out.

The feature that keeps this laptop cling on the top list is its capability to be upgraded easily. It can be considered feeble during your first few runs but if you upgrade some of the stock elements that plays a vital role in processing data, then it could run smoothly without lagging.

The keyboard of the Vostro A90 is in good insertion. It has a great combination of keycap spacing while it is downsized. With this, it can let you experience a touch typist’s ideal keyboard. Along with its keyboard is its touchpad that is smooth and sensitive.

In totality, the Vostro A90 is a good business laptop from Dell. It provides transportability and durability in a great way. Though it can run in a lesser speed and power in processing data, it can possibly do its work at a given time. Therefore, this might not be that fast, but it can ease up your workload. The architecture of this laptop is suited for business professionals from small to medium-ange one.

Technical Specifications:

Processors: Intel®  AtomTM  N270 (L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB)

Operating Systems: Windows XP Home Edition

Screen: 8.9 inches, Wide Screen WSVGA (1024 x 600 screen resolution) TrueLife

Memory: Up to 1GB DDR2 Single Channel 533MHz

Primary Storage: Up to 16GB Solid State Drive

Graphics: Integrated Intel 945GSE graphics card

Connectivity: Integrated 10/100 RJ 45 Ethernet, network interface, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi standard, Integrated Bluetooth Module

Audio: Two audio speakers, Optional 0.3 mega pixel camera with integrated microphone

Port and Chassis: Externally Accesible, 3 USB 2.0 compliant 4-pin ports, 15-pin VGA video connector, 10/100 RJ 45 Ethernet network interface, 3-in-1 media memory card reader SD/SDIO/MMC, Microphone-in and Headphone-output jacks, Security cable slot, AC adapter connector

Internal Card Slots: 1 internal mini-card slots (WLAN mini card), One USB based card slot for optional Bluetooth

Height: 1.07 inches (27.2mm) front / 1.25 inches (31.7mm) back

Width: 9.13 inches/ 232mm

Depth: 6.77 inches/ 172mm

(Weight starting at 1.07kg / 2.36lbs with 4-cell battery.)

Here is another high-end business laptop from Dell – the Latitude E4200. This notebook comes in high altitude when it comes to comfort, security, and high-tech features.

The Latitude E4200 is a huge break for Dell as it comes huge having a measure of 11.46 inches x 8.03 inches x 0.78 inch (291mm x 204mm x 19.95mm) in its dimension and weighs only about 2.6lbs. This means that this mega-laptop is a slim fit one and indeed a portable machine. What is more appealing with this laptop is that it doesn’t compromise any of its advanced features just to give way to transportability, except for one – the optical drive. Even so, it houses the high-tech features that only few of its competitors can go side by side with.

The 12.1-inch screen of the Latitude E4200 has a fair resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. It incorporates a light sensor which enables the notebook to adjust the illumination of the screen with respect to the environment you are in. This might be helpful in saving energy but sometimes could be annoying for it can deteriorate the quality of images it projects.

Directly below the screen is the keyboard that is excellently placed by Dell to this business laptop. It maximizes the space provided by the notebook thus giving the keycaps the required gaps for excellent navigation of the fingers throughout the keyboard. The trackpad is getting enough attention even if it appears nothing unusual. In actual fact, Dell just maintained the sensitivity of their touchpads with the Latitude series.

The power of this laptop is not that impressive. With its Intel Core 2 Duo U9400 clicking at 1.4GHz and 2GB of DDR3 RAM, it can run fast but has its limitations that could not satisfy the owner. Moreover, it has an extendable 64GB solid state drive. But all of these features can be upgraded thus making it faster and more efficient when it comes to processing bulks of data and volumes of information.

If we have to take a complete view of the sides, we can find the availability of extending the connections and ports of this business laptop. On the left side, we can find the VGA output, the USB/eSATA port, the microphone jack, the headphone jack, ExpressCard, and a SmartCard reader. On the opposite side, we can see the Ethernet, another USB port, FireWire, memory card reader, and a wireless radio switch. On the rear part, we can possibly have the power input and the lock slot. This leaves us the front side empty.

All in all, Dell’s Latitude E4200 is an elegant business laptop which can cater the needs and serve the purpose for its users.  It does have the power and functionality that is coupled with a battery life of five hours, this might be enough for some business professionals but for some, it is a drought. The screen could also be a plus factor as well as the keyboard but the downside doesn’t justify the price tag which is starting at $1,719.

Technical Specifications:

Processors: Intel®  Core™2 Duo Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) Processors

Operating Systems: Genuine Windows Vista®  Ultimate

Chipset: Mobile Intel®  GS45 Express Chipsets

Displays: 12.1″ Premium, UltraSharpTM  WXGA (1280 x 800) LED Display

Memory: Dual Channel DDR3 Memory, 1 GB on board and one Memory slot offering up to a combined 5 GB

Memory Bandwidth: 800MHz

Primary Storage: UltraPerformance Solid State Drive up to 64GB Solid State Drive up to 128GB

Graphics Cards:    Intel  Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD

Wired:    10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet network interface adaptor

Wireless LAN: Dell Wireless 1397 (802.11g), Dell Wireless 1510 (802.11 a/g/n 2×2), Intel  WiFi Link 5100 [802.11a/g/n (1x2)], Intel WiFi Link 5300 [802.11a/g/n (3x3)]

Mobile Broadband8 & GPS: Dell Wireless 5720 (EvDO & GPS) Mobile Broadband Mini Card, Dell Wireless 5530 (Tri-band HSDPA 7.2/HSUPA 2.0 & GPS) Mini-Card

Bluetooth: Dell Wireless 365 Bluetooth®  2.1 (optional)

Physical Security: Magnesium-reinforced Cable Lock Slots, Media Module and Hard Drive Locks.

User & System Security:    Smart Card Reader, Fingerprint Reader (optional), TPM 1.2, ControlVault – secure credential management within a trusted boundary

Network Security: 802.11 Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), 802.11i (WPA2), Virtual Private Networks (VPN) 802.1x with EAP modes and compatible with CCX 4.0

Multimedia: 1 speaker, digital microphone

Slots:    Expresscard 34, SD/MMC

Docking: E-Port, E-Port Plus, E-Legacy Extender, E-Flat Panel Stand, E-Monitor Stand, E-View Laptop Stand, E-Media Bay

Modular Options:    E-Family modular media bay (optional): 8X DVD-ROM, 24X CDRW/DVD, 8X DVD+/-RW, second Hard Drive or Travel Lite Module

Media base (optional): DVD-RW

Chassis: Magnesium Alloy LCD back and Base

Starting weight: 2.2 lbs/1.0 kg9

Width: 11.4 inches/291mm

Depth: 8.0 inches/204mm

Height: 0.79 inch/19.95mm

Ports:    IEEE – 1394, docking connector, VGA, RJ-45, USB 2.0 (x1) with USB PowerShare, eSATA/USB Combo (x1), headphone/speaker out, mic, Smartcard

Power Supply: 45Watt AC adapter with cord wrapping, 65w Auto/Air/AC Travel Adapter, 4-cell Prismatic Primary battery featuring ExpressChargeTM  6-cell extended primary battery; 6 cell battery slice

This Dell’s new product is something that, not only businessman would love to buy, but also for students and teachers as well. This 10-inch laptop has its functions on a tough laptop but a netbook in its looks. Finally, the designers from Dell have come up with a business laptop that is flexible enough to serve as an educational laptop for learners and their instructors as well.

Looking at its design, Latitude 2100 has given us the option to enjoy youthful glows through its color and appearance. As it caters the needs for students or teachers, the appeal is extremely intense making this laptop a versatile one. Some would love to bring this just to turn heads and others are grabbing it for its functionality. The rubberized covering from the top to the bottom is an indication that Dell is serious in giving the demands for safety handling. It offers colors basically with blue, black, and red.

The display of this laptop is not that impressive compared to other well-known notebooks. But apparently, this can offer the optional touchscreen. This can give you an advantage in enhancing the ability to access and process information and data in a classy way. As this laptop projects its rugged covering, the inside provides an elegant touch. The display can only give us 1024 x 576 pixel resolution, which therefore is limited in providing quality images.

With the connections and ports, this houses the basic slots for connectivity options. It has three USB ports, VGA port, Ethernet, microphone jack, Bluetooth, and headphone jack. It also has a webcam and an 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi card for more connectivity.

With its keyboard, the design is amazing considering its compact size. It can give enough space for the fingers to run through comfortably. Although there are keys that are minimized, most of the keycaps are normally sized to maintain stress-free typing.

As we go along, performance of Dell’s Latitude 2100 is unquestionably awesome. Though the memory is available only for 1GB of RAM, it still can provide good performance. This netbook is running with 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU. It can give up to 250GB of hard disk drive.

This laptop can do well with its battery life. It can last up to almost five hours of work time. But if you think about the size of the battery, it’s a little bit off. The normal sized battery can provide the same working hours with what Latitude 2100 given that it has its expanded size.

In total, Dell Latitude 2100 can primarily deliver basic services that small and medium range businessmen, as well as students and faculty members in educational institutions, are trying to find. It is tough, yet elegant. It is limited, yet functional. With a price starting from $499, it is practical for a classy and effective netbook from Dell.

Technical Specifications:

Processor:

Intel® Atom™ N270 (1.60 GHz, 512KB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB)
Operating Systems
Genuine Windows Vista®  Home Basic SP1
Genuine Windows®  XP Home SP3 available via downgrade rights
Ubuntu Linux version 8.10

Chipset:

Intel 945 GS Express Chipset

Displays:

10.1″ WSVGA (1024 x 576) LED Display
10.1″ WSVGA (1024 x 576) LED Display with touchscreen

Input Options:

Touchpad
Optional touchscreen

Memory:

Dual Channel DDR2 Memory
Up to 1GB Integrated Memory
One Memory Slot offering up to additional 1GB (total memory up to 2GB)
Memory Bandwidth 533MHz

Hard Drives:

Solid State Drives up to 16GB
5400rpm Hard Drives up to 250GB1

Graphics:

Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950

Connectivity:

10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet

Wireless LAN:

Dell Wireless 1397 (802.11g)
Dell Wireless 1510 (802.11a/g/n 2×2)
Intel WiFi Link 5100 [802.11a/g/n (1x2)]
Intel WiFi Link 5300 [802.11a/g/n (3x3)]

Bluetooth:
Dell Wireless 365 Bluetooth 2.1

Security Options:

Dual Kensington Lock Slots

External Media:

Optional 8X DVD±RW/±R External USB 2.0 Rewritable Drive

Collaboration:

2 speakers, digital microphone, optional VGA camera

Expandability:

3-in-1 card reader

Weight & Dimensions:

Starting weight with 3-cell battery 2.91 lbs/1.32 kg9

Width: 10.43 inches/265mm
Depth: 7.36 inches/187mm
Height: 0.89 – 1.57 inches/22.5-39.9mm

Ports:

USB 2.0 (x3), VGA, headphone/speaker out, mic

Power / Battery:

3-cell or 6-cell “Smart” Lithium-Ion Primary battery featuring Express Charge™
65W AC Adapter featuring cord wrapping

Key Accessories:

Carrying Handle, Shoulder Strap, Keyboard with antimicrobial protection (US only), Dell Mobile Computing Station (US only)

Dell XPS M1530 Laptop

With the size of  0.94 inch (23.77mm) at its thinnest point and 1.38 inches (35.1mm) at the back and a starting weight of 5.73lbs (2.6kg), how can this be too thick and too heavy to handle?

The XPS M1530 is the sexiest 15-inch notebook over the past few years, as popular as its elder, yet smaller, brother Dell XPS M1330. The previous model (XPS M1330) was just amazing that it was considered as one of the best laptops ever produced in the history of mankind. But Dell, making consideration of its size thinking that a larger version might be superior, made XPS M1530 but with a few changes.

The increased laptop size and its new powerful build is the new edge of this XPS series. The 15.4” widescreen display is gorgeously bright and brilliant with its straight and horizontal viewing and so with the vertical angles. Moreover, its built-in HDMI is a wonderful thing to look up to for a digital video output. The difference between M1530 and M1330 is that the former offers an XGA (1280×800) display, while the latter had the option for a thinner and more power efficient LED backlit display. However, M1530 provides 2.0MP web cam with the standard thinker CCFL screen.

And who’s got the better feel? Well, the keyboards of the two XPS models are just the same. The touch of the keypad is firm and has good cushions. It may produce clicking sounds while at work though but still comfort covers the whole noise. Also, its scroll areas are friendly.

Additionally, the XPS M1530 has a more powerful graphics card, the nVidia 8600M GT, for a better graphic display performance compared to that of an nVidia 8400 GS of XPS M1330. Also, the M1530 offers up to 2.80GHz Intel T7800 processor while M1330 had 2.2GHz Intel T7500 processor. Moreover, XPS 1530 uses GDDR3 RAM rather than GDDR2 which is commonly used.

In XPS M1530, the ports and connections can never be found at the back. On its front are the microphone and headphone jacks and the memory card reader. On its left side are the DC power jack, 2 USB ports, VGA out, Ethernet/LAN, HDMI, and FireWire. And on the right corner, we can see the ExpressCard slot, Wi-Fi switch, WiFi catcher, slot-loading optical drive, USB port, S-Video out, and Kensington lock slot.

When it comes to audio performance, we can have it rated as average because of the absence of a subwoofer. And they are exactly the same with XPS M1330. The speaker is located at the top of the keyboard. Other than music and sound effects, the natural scream of slot-loading optical drive is clearly audible. And this issue always involves the hard drive. It’s quite a big off really.

On a brighter side, the battery attached to XPS M1530 is a 9-cell battery which provides longer working hours. It is set to give more than 4-hour life span to the notebook.

In totality, we can say that Dell’s XPS M1530 is good but not enough. With its downside on noisy hard drives and limited options for screen optimization, it could fall to second-best to its counterparts within the price of $1089.

Technical Specifications:

· Processors: Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T7800 (2.60GHz,4M L2 Cache,800MHz FSB)

· Operating Systems: Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate

· Memory: Up to 4GB45 Dual Channel 667MHz DDR2

· Graphics: 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT

· Screen: 15.4″ Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) display with TrueLifeTM (CCFL, 220 nits)

· Hard Drives: Up to 320GB22 configured with a single 5400 RPM SATAII hard drive.

· Solid State Drives: Up to 128GB22 configured with a Solid State hard drive.

· Optical Drives: Slot Load DVD+/-RW, Slot Load Blu-rayTM Disc

· Weight & Dimensions:

Weight: Starting at 5.78 lbs6 (2.62 kg)

Width: 14.06 inches (357 mm)

Height: 0.93 – 1.38 inches (23.7 mm – 35.1 mm wedge)

Depth: 10.34 inches (263 mm)

· I/O Ports: 3 USB 2.0

HDMI

VGA

Firewire (IEEE 1394a)

RJ45 Ethernet port (10/100)

8-in-1 card reader

1 ExpressCard 54 mm slot

Stereo in & headphone/speaker out (x2) dual digital array mics

· Power: 9-cell 85WHr Li-Ion Battery 6-cell 56WHr Li-Ion Battery

· Camera: Integrated 2.0 MP Camera

· Multimedia Capability: Dell MediaDirect 3.3, Media Buttons

· Color Options: Tuxedo Black, Crimson Red, Midnight Blue, Flamingo Pink,

· Wi-Fi Options: Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini Card Wireless, Dell Wireless 1490 802.11a/g Mini Card Wireless, Dell Wireless 1505 Wireless-N Mini Card, Intel Pro/Wireless 3945 802.11 a/g Mini Card Wireless, Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini Card

· Long Range Wireless: Dell Wireless 5520 HSDPA, Dell Wireless 5720 EVDO

· Additional Options: Bluetooth  2.0, USB External TV Tuner Card

Dell has finally come up with a 16-inch notebook that has a 16:9 aspect. Coupled it with new features and style, Dell has conceived the Studio XPS 16. A hybrid of Studio lines and XPS series, this laptop provides excellent performance with its multimedia features.

First, we have to look at the external design of the said machine.

Now this new notebook integrates the elegant look with superior designs for comfort and style. At a first look, you are likely to be convinced that this is indeed a new approach for Dell. Gone was the monotonous laptop fashion. They did brush off the aluminium inflection and added few features on chassis design to accommodate strength into its plus-factor lists. It also adopted some touch from the XPSM1330 and M1530, namely the wedge-shaped profile, drop hinge, slot-loading optical drive, and sensitive media buttons.

Studio XPS 16 comes only in single color – the piano black. This color matches the leader accent located at the rear part of the cover. Though the leather thing adds to the elegance but some would find it unattractive and unnecessary.

On the interior, we can find the LCD screen more vibrant and in good contrast because of 1080p Full HD RGBLED display. This will give us an excellent movie experience together with the built-in Blu-ray player. Most of the viewing angles are fantastic except for the lower viewing. If you tilt the screen forward, you will notice that the colors will disfigure. And if you are exposed in an extremely lit environment, there will be so much reflections from the screen making it hard for you to see anything from it.

Below the screen is a backlit keyboard with good spacing on its keys. It is firm and soft on your fingers, a necessity for touch typists. But the slight new curve of the keyboard may require a bit of a practice for you to make use to it. The touchpad works great but only a bit small ideally. Media buttons are also backlit and sensitive.

Now, here’s the great part; Studio XPS 16 is brained by Intel’s 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 CPU. And with a 4GB of RAM and a 64-bit version of Windows Vista, this hybrid notebook is merely powerful compared to other products. Multitasking will never be a problem using this unit. Additionally, the 512MB ATI Radeon HD3670 is good for multimedia system.

On the other hand, this great power comes with great weakness – its battery life. Its 6-cell battery can only give you 2 hours and 50 minutes life span. Therefore, if you will go to the lesser 6-cell battery unit, you can have 2 hours at most.

If the power isn’t enough, you can plug in its power cord located at the right side of the notebook alongside the ExpressCard slot, card reader, FireWire, slot-loading optical drive, combo USB/eSATA port. On the left side, we have the security lock slot, VGA, TV tuner antenna jack, Ethernet, DisplayPort, HDMI, 2 USB, microphone jack and 2 headphone jacks. At the front you can only see indicator lights and IR port. And at the back, like most Dell’s do, it’s clean with ports and connections. Only a heat exhaust is visible.

Now we’ve come to the sad part. Controlling heat in Studio XPS 16 is a problem, especially if we are to work with graphics extremely. This flaw on the design is a huge drag for heat can greatly affect laptop’s performance and speed. As it heats up, hardware can’t normally function which therefore can lead to short life span of the unit itself.

So, if there’s someone who wants stylish and powerful laptop, this could be the one you’re looking for. But if you dislike the idea of getting sweaty laps and burning jeans, then this is not a good option. You can work with this notebook heavily if you are in an air-conditioned room and an attached power cord in it.

Buy Studop XPS 16 from Dell

Technical Specifications:

· Processor: Intel^® Core™2 Duo P8400 (2.2GHz/1066MHz FSB/3M L2Cache)

· Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista^® Ultimate x64 Edition

· Memory: Up to 8GB 1067MHz DDR3 SDRAM

· Chipset: Intel^® PM45 with Centrino^® 2

· Graphics: ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3670-512MB

· LCD Display: Edge-to-edge Glossy 16 inch HD WLED LCD display (720p)

· Audio and Speakers: 7 Watt Integrated Stereo Speakers with Subwoofer

· Hard Drives: Up to 500GB³ 5400RPM Hard Drive

· Optical Drives: 8X DVD+/-RW Slot-load Drive

· Power: 6 cell Battery

· Camera and Microphones: 2.0MP Integrated Webcam, Dual Digital Array Microphones

· Wireless:

Wi-Fi Options: Dell 1515 Wireless N Mini-Card, Intel^® 5100 Wireless N Half Mini-Card, Intel^® 5300 Wireless N Half Mini-Card

Mobile Broadband: Dell Wireless 5530 Mini-Card for AT&T, Dell Wireless 5720s Mini-Card for Sprint, Dell Wireless 5720v Mini-Card for Verizon

Bluetooth Options: Bluetooth^® Internal (2.0) mini-card- Standard

· Ports, Slots, Chassis:

Externally Accessible: (2) USB 2.0 compliant ports, (1) USB 2.0 compliant / e-SATA port with PowerShare, 15-pin VGA video connector, IEEE compliant 1394a port, Integrated network connector 10/100/1000 LAN (RJ45), 54mm Express Card slot, Display Port, HDMI Port, AC adapter connector, Audio jacks (2 line-out, 1 Mic-in), 8-in-1 Media Card Reader

Dimensions & Weight: Width: 15.15 inches (384.9mm), Height: 0.95 inches (24.1mm) front / 1.34 inches (33.95mm) back, Depth: 10.02 inches (254.6mm), Weight: Starting weight of 6.4 lbs. (2.91 kg)(16″ WLED display 6 cell battery). Weights will vary depending on configurations and manufacturing variability.

The main concerns of both laptop producers and laptop consumers are on the basic functions and performance of the computer. But with Studio XPS 13, the level of power is tied with an elegant look. At a first glance, you will notice its classy look but there’s more to it than its covering – the nVidia Hybrid SLI graphics. Hybrid power enabled switching the graphics card to a low power consuming state and the SLI enables scaling the graphics power to the integrated NVIDIA motherboard GPU. And amazingly, you can hardly experience lagging using this elegant notebook. As we can see, it offers up to 8GB of RAM. A pretty fast one if utilized.

This 13-inch notebook comes in two screen design options – the CCFL screen (compatible with 2MP camera) and the WLED screen (compatible with 1.3MP camera) which is a brighter one. But both has a resolution of about 1280×800, good enough to be incorporated with facial recognition software which can be configured as a security feature.

More features that you can enjoy in the Studio XPS 13 is the backlit keyboard, hinge-lights which indicate the battery charge and computer power status, the integrated webcam, and the Vista PCRestore. The keyboard is renovated to fit the small size and therefore some keys were relocated.

Its brilliant genuine leather accents and glossy surface is indeed an attractive combination. The leather part provides the grip while the glossy element provides the elegance. But these stylish cover is negated by the aluminium hinges which looks like a misplaced plastic attachment. It certainly is a distraction.

Moreover, Studio XPS 13 didn’t have enough of its ports. It only contains 2 USB ports – one is a regular USB port while the other is an e-SATA USB port where you can also plug in a regular USB device. These two ports are found on the left side of the notebook alongside the security cable slot, VGA, Ethernet, display-port connector and an HDMI port. On the opposite side, we have the ExpressCard slot, FireWire port, DVD drive, and the power connector port. The rear part is clean with ports and jacks showing only a single vent for hot air on the left-part of the base.

Now this vent has its downside with respect to its screen. The left part of the screen will result to discoloration since it blocks the vent for hot air. Now, this would further result to screen display distortion, or worse, malfunction of the screen.

Overall, this machine has great capabilities in terms of its core functions. But its drawbacks, the faulty cover function design and the minimum ports, are a bit incompetent. Considering the slight imperfections, these mistakes made the Studio XPS 13 less viable with the price of $1,524.00.

Technical Specifications:

· Processor: Intel^® Core™2 Duo P9500 (2.53GHz, 3MB L2 Cache, 1067MHz FSB)

· Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista^® Ultimate x64 Edition

· Memory: Up to 8GB² 1067MHz DDR3 SDRAM.

· Chipset: NVIDIA^® MCP79MX

· Graphics: NVIDIA^® GeForce^® 9400M G

· LCD Display: “Edge-to-edge” Glossy 13.3 inch WXGA CCFL LCD display

· Audio and Speakers: 4 Watt Integrated Stereo Speakers, 2 watts per channel, 2 channels

· Hard Drives: Up to 500GB² configured with a 5400RPM hard drive.

· Optical Drives: 8X DVD+/-RW Slot Load Drive

· Power: 6 cell 56 WHr Li-Ion Battery

· Camera: 2.0MP Integrated Webcam (with CCFL display)

· Wireless:

Wi-Fi Options: Dell 1515 Wireless N Mini-Card

Mobile Broadband Options: Dell Wireless 5530 Mini-Card for AT&T^TM

Bluetooth Options: Bluetooth^® Internal (2.0) mini-card

· Ports, Slots, Chassis:

Externally Accessible: (1) USB 2.0 compliant ports, USB 2.0 compliant / e-SATA port with Powershare, 15-pin VGA video connector, IEEE compliant 1394a port, Integrated network connector 10/100/1000 LAN (RJ45), 54mm Express Card slot, Display Port, HDMI Port, AC adapter connector, Audio jacks (2 line-out, 1 Mic-in), 8-in-1 Media Card Reader

Dimensions & Weight: Width: 12.56 inches (319mm), Height: 0.88 inches (22.55mm) front / 1.35 inches (34.34mm) back, Depth: 9.3 inches (236.12mm), Weight: Starting weight of 4.85 lbs. (2.2 kg)⁶(13.3″ display, 6 cell battery). Weights will vary depending on configurations and manufacturing variability.

Buy Dell Studio 15 laptop

At a first glance, you can tell that Dell’s Studio 15 is an affordable notebook. Its cover is so plain and simple, yet rewarded with different color options. You can choose among its seven colors: Plum Purple, Tangerine Orange, Flamingo Pink, Midnight Blue, Ruby Red, Spring Green or standard Jet Black. Dell, this time, is producing notebooks using cheaper materials.

Unlike the XPS series where elegance is at its front, Studio 15 is a good choice for those who are after inexpensive laptops but with good performance. The thicker look of this Dell product has added to its economical approach.

Dell also has enhanced its strength. With a new chassis design, bumps and impacts are tolerable. But, of course, throwing it from the 20th floor is not a good durability test.

Dell XPS Studio 15 is designed merely for its function. With lesser mobility features compared to other breeds of laptops, its edge is on the design are the elements like the wedge-shaped profile, drop hinge, slot-loading optical drive, and sensitive media buttons. And these features are borrowed from the XPS series.

This 15-inch notebook holds a usual 1280×800 XGA resolution with a regular CCFL style display with backlights. Though you can have higher resolutions to enjoy your audio-visual presentations and movies in a higher-definition format like the Blu-ray drive, which is optional at this time.

Studio 15’s keyboard is properly arranged and has a good gap between key caps. The only thing that concerns us is the clanking when pressing these keys. On the other hand, it offers an optional backlight on keyboard if it suits your needs. The touch pad, however, is nice to work on because of its sensitivity.

The ports and connections are quite good for this laptop. We can find the IR port at the front which is essential in using remote control. But on the left side, it is packed with ports, namely WiFir on/off, security lock slot, WiFi catcher/locator, HDMI, VGA, 2 USB ports, Ethernet port, microphone jack, 2 headphone jacks, ExpressCard slot, and an 8-in-1 memory card reader. On the right side, we can see the Firewire, another 2 USB ports, slot-loading optical drive, power jack, and the power button.

The audio quality of this notebook is not so good compared to other laptops which have built-in subwoofers. But in a regular basis, it is enough for normal users. And with a noise so minimal when loading and ejecting a disk, there will be a minimal issue on unwanted noise.

Now, if we are to look at the hardware that is responsible for its performance, the Studio 15 can compete with its main counterparts. It comprises a 3GB of RAM and a 250GB HDD. It also has an Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 2.0GHz speed. But its graphic quality is not that impressive as it offers the minimal quality Dell could offer. If users are satisfied with Intel X300’s performance for graphics, then this notebook is acceptable.

In utilizing the power saving tool of Studio 15, the 6-cell battery is enough. It can give you up to 3 hours and 40 minutes of life. But if this isn’t satisfactory, then you can go with the 9-cell battery option. This might be the answer for your lengthy paperwork requirements.

So, this another business laptop Dell has developed, it is surely a good quality product in its price range. And if you don’t need better quality graphic outputs, then this notebook is recommendable for your daily needs causing you a $649 less on your wallet.

Buy Studio 15 from Dell

Technical Specifications:

· Processors: Up to Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T9400 (2.53GHz, 6MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB), High bin speed available: T9550, T9600, T9800

· Operating Systems: Up to 64-bit Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate

· Memory: Up to 8GB Dual Channel 800MHz DDR2 memory support.

· Chipset: Upto Intel® Cantiga GM45 (for UMA) and PM45 (for Discrete)

· Graphics: Intel® Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD

Studio 15 discrete upsells: 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570, 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570

· LCD Display: Glossy widescreen 15.6 inch LED HD display (1366 x 768)

· Audio and Speakers: Intel High Definition Audio 2.2, Optional Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi MB Software Suite

· Hard Drives: Up to 500GB3 configured with a 5400 RPM SATA hard drive, Up to 320GB3 with a 7200 RPM SATA HDD

· Optical Drives: 8X Slot Load CD/DVD Writer (DVD+/-RW), 6X Slot Load Blue-ray/CD/DVD Combo Drive

· Power: 4-cell 37WHr Li-Ion Battery, 6-cell 56WHr Li-Ion Battery, 9-cell 85WHr Li-Ion Battery

· Camera: Built-in 2.0MP webcam

· Wireless:

Wi-Fi Options: Dell Wireless 1397 802.11b/g Half Mini Card, Intel WiFi Link 5100 802.11 a/g/n Half Mini Card, Dell 1510 802.11 n Half Mini Card, Intel WiFi Link 5300 802.11 a/g/n Half Mini Card

Mobile Broadband Options: Dell 5530 HSPA mini-card

Bluetooth Options: Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Internal (2.1) mini-card

· Ports, Slots, Chassis:

Externally Accessible: (2) USB 2.0 compliant 4-pin ports, USB/eSATA combination port, HDMI connector, 15-pin VGA video connector, Integrated network connector 10/100/1000 LAN (RJ45), AC adapter connector, Audio jacks (1 line-in, 1-line out, 1 Mic-in), 4-pin IEEE 1394 port, 34 mm ExpressCard slot,

Internal Card Slots: 2 Mini-Card, 1 Half Mini-Card, 2 Full Mini-Card

Dimensions & Weight: Width: 14.6 inches (371.6mm), Height: 1.0 inch (25.3mm) front / 1.5 inches (38.9mm) back, Depth: 10.0 inches (252.9mm), Weight: Starting weight of 5.54 lbs. (2.515 kg) with 15.6” HD TL LED, 6-cell battery, integrated graphics and a DVD+RW5 drive. Weights will vary depending on configurations and manufacturing variability.

The Inspiron 15 is a dedicated multimedia machine that enables you to watch movie and view photos in its 15.6” HD widescreen display. It offers a WXGA resolution screen like the Inspiron 1520, but more, you do have an option – either to choose the glossy or the matt screen. Either way, the quality of viewing angles is sharp. The only downbeat for a glossy screen is it can have too much reflection.

If you want to use your beautiful face as a security code, then this mobile technology is everything you would want! Yes, you can secure your notebook entirely with the face-recognition security software that makes encoding your lengthy passwords a passé.

This Dell’s Inspiron 15 also has a great value for its looks. It offers 6 lively colors which is a perfect add-on for trendsetters. Plus, the materials used to mold this laptop are devoted to make the case solid. With the firm hinges and a solid cover, it is enough to protect the screen and everything inside it.

Speaking of the inside, the keyboard of this notebook is very well positioned making it a bet for touch typists. Its firmness and the grip it provides is also a plus factor.

So much for its beauty, the Inspiron 15 is less powerful than the previous released Inspiron 1520 because of its graphic card which is dedicated only for average users. Therefore, this does not conform to the demand of challenging and more demanding tasks. It would be as limited as for office uses and not for multimedia assignments. Though booting is fast because of its Intel Dual Core processor, still, its performance is not exactly for extreme users.

On its ports and connections, it is somewhat standard for usual multimedia laptops. You can see the microphone and headphone jacks at the front part together with the memory card slot. On its left are lock slot, DC jack, 2 USB ports, VGA out, Ethernet and modem ports, HDMI and FireWire. On the right side are the ExpressCard slot, optical drive, Wi-Fi switch, S-video port, and 2 USB 2.0 ports. And, surprisingly or unsurprisingly, there’s nothing you can see at the back. Now these jacks and ports will allow easy transfers on digital images, music and video files from your camera phone, DSLRs, and MP3 players.

About audio and speakers, Inspiron 15 has it located at the top of the keyboard. The audio quality is just the same with all other notebooks, and so with the noise emissions. In a quite environment where all seems asleep, minus the snoring, all you can hear is the humming fan amazingly controlling the system’s mounting heat.

In utilizing its power, the 6-cell battery can give you almost 3 hours of access on your favorite office software and websites. And if you move up to a 9-cell battery, it might last for 5 hours depending on the intensity of its usage.

In general, Inspiron 15 is another good product from Dell. Only, it won’t be ideal for users with so much to do on his laptop. However, it is recommendable for users who perform tasks only for office works and multimedia presentations who doesn’t need much as they wanted to spend less – not more than $399.

Technological Specifications:

• Processors: Intel^® Pentium^TM Dual Core, Intel^® Core™2 Duo
• Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista^® Home Basic SP1 32-Bit, Genuine Windows Vista^® Home Premium SP1 32-Bit, Genuine Windows Vista^® Home Premium SP1 64-Bit (English & French only)

· Memory: Up to 4GB⁶ Dual Channel 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM.

· Chipset: Intel^® Cantiga GM45 Chipset

· Graphics: Intel^® Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD

· LCD Display: Glossy 15.6″ Widescreen XGA (1366×768)

· Audio and Speakers: Intel High Definition Audio 2.0

· Hard Drives: Up to 320GB³ configured with a 5400 RPM SATA hard drive.

· Optical Drives:DVD+/-RW with Dual Layer DVD+R write capability, Blu-Ray/CD/DVD Combo Drive

· Power: 4-cell 2.0AHr Battery

6-cell 2.2AHr Battery

9-cell 2.2AHr Battery

· Camera: Built-in 1.3MP webcam

· Wireless:

Wi-Fi Options: Dell Wireless 1397 802.11g Mini-Card

Dell Wireless 1515 Wireless-N Mini-Card

Intel^® Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card

Bluetooth Options: Dell Wireless 365 Bluetooth^® Internal (2.0) mini-card

· Ports, Slots, Chassis:

Externally Accessible: (3) USB 2.0 compliant 4-pin ports, 15-pin VGA video connector, Integrated network connector 10/100 LAN (RJ45), AC adapter connector, Audio jacks (1-line out, 1 Mic-in), 34 mm ExpressCard slot, 7-in-1 Media Card Reader

Internal Card Slots: 1 Half Mini-Card

Dimensions & Weight: Width: 14.7 inches (343.5mm), Height: 1.02 inches (25.9mm) front / 1.48 inches (37.8mm) back, Depth: 9.6inches (244mm), Weight: Starting weight of 5.8 lbs. (2.64 kg)⁷ (15.6″ WXGA glossy display, 6 cell battery, DVD +/- RW, integrated graphics). Weights will vary depending on configurations and manufacturing variability.