Dell Vostro 1540 Review
The budget laptop from Dell Australia, the Vostro 1540 is a good value laptop at just $699 – but is it a cheerful option? Whilst the current craze for tablets may be dominating much of the consumer technology business, if there is one segment that remains immune and is standing steadfast with their laptops it’s the business user, since there is no replacement for a full keyboard and a fully fledged operating system when you are trying to get some work done.
There is a lot to say for laptops in the budget range as well, since you may well end up paying much less than you would for a tablet made by one of the major companies. Budget laptops imply a more basic machine, but Dell has managed its fundamentals quite well.
- The Vostro 1540 has a responsive and wide touchpad, and whilst the keyboard does suffer from a surface which a tad bit bouncy, it remains both comfortable and snappy, nor are there any layout problems.
- The chassis is 3.3 cm thick
- The laptop is relatively lightwith a 15 inch screen and weighs in at 2.4 kg, a little less than similar laptops made by rivals. However its design makes it feel rather hollow as opposed to strong, the rest for the wrist tends to compress with only the lightest of prods, coupled with its weak base and poor screen, results in the screen bending when the rear is squeezed.
Anyone who has ever had the misfortune of having to work under a harsh light overhead, will deeply appreciate the Vostro 1540’s anti-glare matte screen. The laptop is fairly aesthetically pleasing and is made from glossy black plastic, with a sliver of chrome effect border material, which lends the design some welcome sheen. The lid has horizontal raised lines that run parallel to one another and a textured feel.
The laptop has a selection of sockets and ports that are thoughtfully scattered around the side of the machine. There are a couple of USB2 ports located on the right hand side of the machine, whilst an SD/MMC/MS card reader is located on the front of the machine alongside another single USB 2 port and HDMI and VGA outputs. Sitting on the left hand edge of the machine are a couple of audio jacks and a Gigabit Ethernet input.
The laptop is powered by an Intel 2.4 GHz dual core Core i3-370M, and whilst that processor may not be either current or high end, it provides enough force to power through most office applications.
The laptop comes with a DVD writer that is 8x, and 8.2.11n single band Wi-Fi. The laptop has 320 GB of hard drive storage, but if you are someone who used accelerated GPU applications, you will not be satisfied by the Intel integrated graphics chip, which whilst being good for either Angry Birds or playback of HD, is not good for very much else.
Battery life is fairly average, at roughly 4 hours and 46 minutes, which is acceptable, but rival products tend to perform much better in this category, nor will you be able to go through a full day’s work without a socket.
There is no question that the Dell Vostro 1540 is at the lower end of their laptops. However if budget is your main criteria, then it is certainly perfectly usable, and worth taking a look at, so long as you make sure to purchase protective casing as well.
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Dell XPS 17 3D Sets The Bar As The 3D Laptop To Beat
Dell Computers Australia is taking advantage of things 3 dimensional with its XPS 17 3D. This 17.3 inch screen 1920 x 1080 pixel notebook computer is a beast, weighing in at a monster 8.2 pounds, with cutting edge specifications.
- 2-GHz Core i7
- 12 GB of RAM,
- dual 500-GB hard drives
- Blu-ray optical drive
- The Nvidia GeForce GT 555M.
- two USB 3.0 ports
- one USB 2.0 port
- USB/eSATA combo port
- dual headphone jacks
- HDMI
- Mini-DisplayPort jack
All of which has blazed the best frame rates in video game I have ever seen, with the general application benchmarks performing solidly, though short of record highs.
None of that matters though because it is the glorious LCD of the Dell XPS that shines. Not just as the brightest laptop screen I have ever seen, but it also happens to be brighter than every all in one desktop PC I have ever reviewed in my life too. In fact this baby is brighter than the 22 inch flat panel display I have sitting on my desk, and doesn’t just light up the night sky, it lights up every angle as well.
Whilst talking about performance is important, and the Dell Coupons XPS does well here, the real measure is how well it stacks up in the third dimension. The 3D is indeed quite effective not stuttering regardless of what 3D games or movies we tested on it. If you don’t mind sitting a little away from your PC and wearing 3D glasses, then you will enjoy the experience of 3D entertainment.
In short the XPS is the most capable 3 D laptop I have used till now. The latest version of this venerable series is solid, and if 3D is what you are looking for this baby sets the bar as being the machine to beat.
Be warned though it’s a pricey little thing, and at over $2000 you really need to ask yourself whether 3D is that important to you.
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New Dell Vostro Latitutde Inspiron And XPS Models Makes Choosing Between Them Difficult
Computer manufacturing giant Dell, which trades in the country as Dell Computers Australia recently rolled out a number of new laptop models as it seeks to cater to the increasing mobile computing needs of consumers. Dell Coupons laptops aside from being eye candy, are both impressive and attractive.
Dell Coupons Inspiron R series joins the ever growing collection of Dell laptops and desktops that run 2nd generation Intel core technology. The Inspiron R laptop is sleek and has a battery life of as long as 13 hours Dell claims. The laptop makes use of USB 3.0 technology, making transferring of data such as media faster than it’s ever been. Add to all that the fact that the lid is fully customizable, this is quite a sweet little machine.
A couple of weeks ago Dell Coupons rolled out is super slim laptop offering the XPS15z, which it claims is amongst the slimmest machines on the planet, and the first model in a planned series of super slim ultra powerful laptops from Dell.
The XPS 15z aside from being super slim provides uncompromising power combined with a truly stunning design. The 15z also makes use of a 2nd generation Intel core processor and comes with an optional 15.6-inch Full HD display and backlit keyboard, offering as many as 8 hours of battery life, all of which is packed into an elegant well crafted case that is astonishingly less than an inch thick.
Dell Coupons Vostro 3000 range of laptops the company claims have as many as twelve hours of battery life, and come in screen size options starting from 13 inch and going all the way up to 17 inch. The Vostro 3000 again makes use of a second generation Intel core processor, which is packed into a sleek design. The Vostro 3000 is a business laptop primarily, and comes with a full HD webcam, enabling life like quality interaction with colleagues and customers. The Vostro 3000 comes with a digital array microphone, designed to reduce ambient noise providing virtual collaboration solution that’s both fast and clear.
Last but certainly not least is the Latitude E series laptop which has been refurbished as a new addition to the Latitude family aimed at a variety of different users. These machines are ideal for pro’s who seek a cost effective blend of both desktop and mobile computing. These rugged machines have been designed for use in even the most demanding conditions.
With such a huge range to choose from, one could be forgiven for not being able to choose between true beauty or absolute power. The best answer is why not take a formidable combination of both.
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Dell XPS 15z A Worthy Rival To The MacBook
Throwing down the gauntlet to Apple, Dell Computers Australia has just rolled out an ultra portable laptop that challenges the MacBook Pro, offering just as much power but at a price which is as much as $700 lower than the Apple product.
Dell’s XPS 15z, with a 15.6 inch screen has a starting price of $1,399 and is available for purchase already. The laptop weighs 2.5Kg, measures 24.68 mm and features an anodised aluminium chassis.
Comparatively speaking Rival Apple’s MacBook Pro costs anywhere from $2,099 to $2,499 depending on which configuration you choose, and weighs roughly the same as the XPS 15z, measuring roughly the same in thickness as well. Both laptops make use of Intel Core i5 and i7 chipsets, boasting similar latch-less design with a large trackpad.
Rainer Noack, who runs the consumer division for Dell Computers Australia says that when compared against one another the XPS15z would “win hands down”.
According to Mr. Noack, the XPS15z is the only laptop in the 15 inch range that comes with a full 1080p full HD display as standard, which is 50 per cent brighter than the screen of an average laptop. The model comes with a standard 8GB of RAM and 750GB storage capacity.
Whilst the price is extremely reasonable, the XPS15z is still more expensive in Australia compared to the price being charged overseas. In the US for example the model sell for just US$999.
Mr. Noack says the discrepancy exists because the model being sold in the US has slightly different specifications, with the Australian price also inclusive of taxes and on site support from Gizmo.
Dell Computers Australia says that the XPS 15z is just the fist in a series of superslim Inspiron and XPS branded models that it intends to launch. The XPS 15z comes with a backlit keyboard, has a battery life of eight hours of, USB 3.0, a built-in DVD burner and Nvidia Optimus graphics.
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Dell Vostro 460 Review
The Dell Vostro 460 from Dell Small Business Australia is a power packed tower featuring cutting edge technology designed to help businesses meet their challenges.
The Dell Vostro 460 is the first PC from a major manufacturer using Sandy Bridge and supporting a quad core Core i5-2500 processor.
The Dell Vostro 460 comes bundled with Windows 7 Professional, a powerful Intel HD graphics cars, 3TB of storage capacity, supporting up to 6GB of DDR3 memory.
Turbo Boost Technology adds more power whenever necessary, with the tower system comfortably fitting on top of or underneath any desk. However the Vostro 460 does not come with much room for expansion, with capacity to accommodate one additional 3.5 in hard disk and one 5.25 inch hard drive.
The SATA port capacity is a little stingy with only two free ports, and the machine does vibrate heavily when turned on, probably due to poorly secured internal components. This can be countered by either placing a heavy object on top of the machine and placing the machine on carpet.
The motherboard has three additional PCI-E x1 slots, which means that USB ports or eSATA ports can be added. However buyers should not expect to use the Vostro 460 as a 3D graphics workstation without some serious upgrades. The 350W power supply should be enough to power a more capable graphics card.
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Dell XPS 17 3D – Review
A few years ago, Dell, which operates in the country as Dell Australia tried to scrap the original XPS name in favour of the more affordable Studio XPS product range. That decision has been reversed somewhat, with the company re launching the XPS brand with three new models and a 3D offering, the Dell XPS 17 3D.
The Dell XPS 17 3D features a 1080p screen capable of displaying 3D content (when used with 3D glasses).
Though the 3D capability is very cool, the video card is perhaps a little too weak for a gaming laptop, however that is more than compensated for by the price point which starts off below US$1,100. The fast 2nd Generation Intel Core i5 processor is also pretty sweet, and if you do not mind the weight and bulk the Dell XPS 17 3D is a nice machine for the price.
Although Dell does have a range of gaming laptops in Alienware which it acquired a few years ago, the company still produces its own branded laptops that are more than capable of handling gaming.
The newly added 3D 120Hz display option is a welcome choice and features a more affordable starting price of $1,099 compared to the Alienware M17x R.3 3D model which is nearly US$2,000.
The display on the Dell XPS 17 3D is full high definition 1080p resolution. The laptop also comes with a 2.0 MP HD webcam which is skype certified providing excellent value, especially when you consider the fact that the option for 3D gaming is available.
Unfortunately, Dell doesn’t include a pair of NVIDIA glasses in the starting price. A pair of NVIDIA 3D Vision glasses required to view 3D content will cost at least US$149.
The 2nd Generation Intel Core i5-2410M processor is a midrange chip that runs at a speed of 2.3GHz which can bolt up to 2.9GHz, which is more than adequate given the price of the laptop and is capable of handling a variety of tasks beyond gaming. For those who prefer a faster processor, the Core i7 can be upgraded too at the time of purchase.
The 4GB of memory in the base configuration is acceptable, and the dual channel memory is sufficient for mainstream users, however if you upgrade the system to 8GB the laptop running several programs at one time is a much smoother process.
The 500GB 7200RPM hard drive has enough space for most users. To upgrade to a 256GB SSD will cost at least US$600, so until solid state drive prices fall, the 7200RPM drive is fast enough for gamers on a budget.
Buyers may also think about upgrading the 6-cell battery to a 9-cell model however this desktop replacement cannot run on battery power for long whilst gaming.
The inclusion of JBL speakers is a nice feature providing decent audio quality. Unfortunately Blu-ray drives are not standard with this machine. With an outstanding display, the option to upgrade to a Blu-ray drive from the standard 8x CD/DVD burner is admittedly compelling. Blu-ray movies look particularly fantastic on the 1080p display.
At over 2-inches in spots the system itself is rather thick and very heavy as well especially compared to competitor products made by rival manufacturers.
Overall, the Dell XPS 17 3D is an excellent value and the upgrade prices are reasonable. Unfortunately, 3D gaming is still quite limited and the video card is not particularly powerful. However, as stated many times now, the display is top-notch.
- Intel 2nd Generation Core i5-2410M Dual-Core Processor (2.3GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.9GHz)
- 17.3-Inch Full HD 1080p 3D Display
- 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 Memory
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 550M 1GB Graphics Card
- 500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
- 6-Cell Battery
- Windows Home Premium 64-Bit
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Dell Inspiron M501R Review
The Dell Inspiron M501R is a 15inch laptop which comes with lots of useful features, tons of processing power making it capable of multitasking. The laptop is powered by an AMD Phenom II N850 triple-core CPU, comes with 500 GB of hard drive space, 4GB of RAM and an AMD Mobility Radeon 550v graphics chip.
The Inspiron M501R can be used for almost every task with the exception of hardcore gaming, making it suitable for everyone except of course hardcore gamers.
The Inspiron M501R’s design is rather plain, and its ports are located spaciously around the chassis edges. The laptop comes with HDMI, VGA, USB 2.0 (four), 100Mbps Ethernet and eSATA ports. There is also an SD card reader and a built-in DVD burner.
The keyboard is full sized, which means the keys are easy to hit, and the touchpad and palm rest are spacious. The keyboard has no short cut buttons above it, but the function keys have their functions reversed, which means you will not have to first press the Fn key to adjust the screen or media and volume controls.
The screen is reflective and the finish a little glossy, which makes the laptop a little uncomfortable to use, especially if you are using the M501R outdoors, where the refelction effect is significant.
The triple-core Dell Inspiron M501R is a useful all-round computer, which can be put to a variety of uses including office works, and difficult multimedia tasks such as transcoding or editing video. The laptop can even be used as a Media Centre or Personal Video Recorder if you plug in a USB based digital TV tuner.
The battery life of the triple core Inspiron M501R is its weak point, lasting on 1 hour and 31 minutes in a run down test, where power management was disabled, screen brightness maximized and Wi-Fi and loop an Xvid-encoded video encoded.
With power management enabled and the screen on low brightness the Inspiron M501R should deliver 2 hours of battery life.
All in all its powerful laptop and a viable option to look at for those users who are not hardcore road warriors and have access to a power source when using their laptops. Dell Australia has launched the model in the country already.
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Dell Vostro V130 Review
Dell’s Vostro V130 is the latest model from the Vostro product range by Dell Australia. It’s sleek anodized aluminium case and super slim profile (0.75 inches) and 13.3 inch wide screen LED backlit display has all the bases covered by Dell for a contemporary highly portable laptop, which coupled with a decent audio system, makes it a great presentation notebook for road warriors.
The battery life when tested however clocked in at a disappointing 3 hours and 37 minutes, which places the laptop at the bottom of the pack.
The Vostro V130 is configured with a Windows 7 Pro (64-bit), 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB solid-state drive, and is powered by the Intel Core i3 U380 CPU and retails for a little over $1,000.
If you aren’t a road warrior, and work with your laptop plugged into a power source, the Vostro V130 has some compelling features. Its red metal case makes it look sharp and the laptop has a nice solid feel to it. Dell has also incorporated its new cooling technology into the Vostro V130, and it is extremely quiet with no fan noise.
The Vostro V130 comes with a matte finish full-size keyboard and touchpad, making it a pleasure to work from, though unfortunately it is not backlit save for the lights for icons above and below keys. The 1366 X 768 screen needs the brightness turned all the way up, otherwise it can look a tad bit dark, but it is more than satisfactory when it comes to viewing angles.
The integrated web cam software features an excellent audio system including a digital microphone, lets you adjust the resolution of the 2-megapixel camera’s video capture to settings that range from 320 X 480 to 1600 X 1200.
The web cam can be used for chatting or video capture, or simply to snap still photos and quality is pretty good.
The V130 comes with two USB ports, combo USB/E-SATA port, VGA and HDMI display outputs, and gigabit Ethernet.
The laptop however does not come with an ExpressCard slot or optical drive, though it does come bundled with a five-in-one SD/MMC slot enabling users to download their digital camera snaps to their machine. The Vostro V130 comes with built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi connectivity and Bluetooth.
All in all the Vostro V130 seems to be aimed at travelers who do not need to use their machine whilst on the road, and do so at their destination. It can handle mainstream business tasks and in particular presentations more than adequately, but if battery life performance is important, you may want to consider your options.
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Dell Inspiron 14R-1181MRB Review
The Dell Inspiron 14R-1181MRB is a attractive and good looking 14-inch laptop, however that does not always translate in good performing, and the notebook does have trouble in measuring up to rival models from other makers. The Inspiron 14R-1181MRB does provide a solid user experience and along with its roomy hard drive does provide some compensation for its lack of speed.
The Inspiron 14R-1181MRB has an elegant design which looks like it is made from blushed metal, with a keyboard surrounded by Aluminium. The keyboard is traditional rather than the current trendy chiclet configuration that many manufacturers now favour. As a result they provide a firm typing experience. The dark grey touchpad supports multi-touch gestures.
The 14-inch widescreen display has a native resolution of 1366 X 768 and connects to the body of the laptop using a hinge-forward design which is new for Dell. The laptop weighs in at 4.9 pounds making it marginally heavier than other models in its class, but not by enough so it is inconvenient to carry.
The Inspiron 14R-1181MRB is powered by a dual-core 2.53-GHz Intel Core i3-M380 processor and comes with 4GB of RAM, which can be increased to 8GB, the hard drive has 500 GB of storage and runs at 5,400 rpm.
The laptop’s ports are well laid out, the power jack, the external VGA monitor connection and a single USB 2.0 port are all located on the back of the laptop.
On the left edge of the machine is where the Ethernet and HDMI ports are located, as well as a 7-in-1 card reader, and a combo USB 2.0–eSATA jack for hooking up an external hard drive or other kinds of devices.
The right edge of the laptop hose an additional USB 2.0 port as well as the microphone and headphone jacks, and the DVD burner. The 1.3 megapixel webcam is in its traditional location in the centre.
The 14R-1181MRB comes with 802.11n Wi-Fi and built-in Dell Wireless 365 Bluetooth.
The Inspiron 14R-1181MRB is adequate for routine everyday tasks such as browsing the internet or editing a document, however its performance in other areas such as transcoding and rendering video is lacking. The laptop is not well suited to 3D gaming either largely as a result of its use of an integrated Intel HD Graphics. Normal games however run fine on the laptop, anything to demanding though will not.
The battery life is of the 14R-1181MRB is not all that either, Dell Australia touts the 6-cell battery has having up to 5 hours and 15 minutes of battery life, however testing suggests it only delivers 3 hours and 45 minutes.
The Dell Inspiron 14R-1181MRB is a stylish machine but unfortunately has trouble living up to its sleekness and is outclassed by competing laptops from other manufacturers.
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Dell Venue Pro Review
The philosophy of a smartphone designer is the same as that of runway models and ballerinas, and that is one can never be thin enough.
Dell however has adopted a contrasting approach with its latest Windows 7 Phone the Venue Pro. Despite the device being both beautiful and agile, the Venue Pro however is quite the fatty.
Weighing in at 6.8 ounces it is heavier than all its rivals, and the main reason behind its weight, is the slide out QWERTY keyboard. The other reason for the device’s heft is the large and chromatically rich 4.1-inch, 800 x 480 AMOLED touchscreen. Every other feature on the device however is both understated and efficient.
Despite the drawback of the weight and dimension of the device, it does seem to be a worthwhile trade off. The Venue Pro seems much less a slate like smartphone and much more like the feature rich, productivity driven pocket PC’s of the past.
That style of productivity driven device seems to have fallen out of fashion, and Dell’s decision to inject some aspects of that concept into an inexpensive and streamlines smartphone was an intelligent move.
The Venue Pro is deserving of its praise, the device is powered by a generic 1 GHz processor and is able to whip through Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 OS which is animation heavy without any problem, and switching and swiping through menus was extremely smooth, and when we tested the device, we did not find any stutters or lag when it came to launching apps.
The device’s large screen makes it well suited for such tasks, and whilst the asymmetric multi screen Windows 7 menus takes some getting used to, the Venue Pro does manage to present them well.
As said earlier its greatest strength is its productivity, so far no smartphone operating system has truly provided the elegant simplicity needed for mobile document editing. The Venue Pro does however have some unique features, the solid slide out keyboard is a great counterpart for Microsoft’s stripped down Word application, and the larger screen size even makes working with Excel possible. It goes without saying that the integrated Xbox Live support and large library of titles makes gaming a joy.
Despite all the strengths mentioned, as a basic phone, the Venue Pro is little more than mediocre, and whilst voice quality was good, the device kept jumping between 2G and 3G networks in the middle of tasks or dropping to no signal at all.
The speaker phone on the device was a little dodgy, though it is workable, it was lightly distorted at high volumes. The battery is lacking, and it is perhaps not the best option for big talkers or road warriors.
Even with its shortcomings, the union of business and pleasure, combined with solid design does make it an attractive phone, and its likely sub US$200 price points, adds to its attractiveness. Dell Australia will likely release the phone sometime later in the year.
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