Anyone pick up the new Vostro 1320?

Thanks for the detailed answer, PolarFrog.

One more question to happy owners/recent byers: What bit-type of Vista is shipped with Core2 4GB RAM version of this laptop, I mean is it Vista 32 or Vista 64? Canadian site is sort of numb on it

...All in all I hate buying laptops without "test drive"... Wish Dell return their kiosks in G.T.A. (Toronto )

 

Hey white_noize,

Dell makes no indication that they offer a 64-bit version of Vista or XP, even though the Vostro 1320 can by configured with up to 8GB of RAM; perhaps if you made the order by phone and actually spoke to a representative, the 64-bit OS could be requested.

As for gaming capabilities, I tried Mass Effect too; it doesn't seem to like the 9300M GS even at 800x600 at low detail. This is clearly a limitation of the GPU's performance, not the rest of the system. The Witcher EE however runs great at 1280x800 at medium. I haven't installed anything else "recent" but my intentions were not to use this as a full fledged gaming rig (I have a desktop for that), but a little Witcher and KOTOR on the road never hurt anyone...

As far as the laptop itself goes, I agree with PolarFrog; while the system itself is made of plastic and not the same material as the new Latitude E series, build quality for the most part is very good.

I can't seem to find a compatible QuickSet or ControlPoint to enable the on screen notifications for volume control or brightness, which is kind of a drag. I guess we could always use the Windows Mobility Center in Vista to see everything (Windows key + x).

 

nice guys, how's hte battery life looking on it, i'm hoping for maybe 6 or 7 hours on a 9 cell? do you think that's reasonable?

 

Well np4944, I haven't done any thorough testing but I was able to get 3 hours + on my 6-cell (web browsing mostly).

I would imagine that the 9-cell would give close to 5 hours; reading the review for the Vostro 1310 (the precursor to the 1320), the 6-cell was able to hit nearly 4 hours (probably then close to 6 hours on the 9-cell).

I will need to check the 1320's life when I have the chance...

 

iggiepop, do you have the integrated graphics or the discrete graphics? Just curious which graphics your preliminary testing was done with.

I'm hoping the integrated graphics card can squeeze out roughly 4 hours with the 6 cell.

 

Hey guys,

For the battery life; for normal business usage (i.e. web browsing, text editing, etc...) on max brightness, a 6 cell would give you a little over 3 hours. The 9 cell should at most give you 5. If battery is a main concern; I would definitely go with a E series (I believe that's their marketing pitch).

And this is of course on a discrete graphic cards. But I don't think the integrated will give you that much more. Maybe 3 1/2 hours instead?


As for gaming; I was able to play Team Fortress 2 on 800x600 High setting (with multicore rendering enabled of course) at 25-60 fps. (this is actually very reasonable). Mind you I have only played 15 minutes; but will test more soon.

Cheers,

 

thanks, i'm pretty sure the integrated will crank out an hour more, but keep in mind, 3 hours on max brightness is pretty good, most battery tests on the reviews i've read are done on 50% brightness or less

 

I seem to be having an issue with random sound skipping/stuttering; it can be while watching video, playing a game, or listening to music. I can't see it being a performance issue, as the machine is more that capable of doing anything I've been throwing at it...

Re-installing the IDT sound drivers didn't change anything, and using the Vista default "High Definition Audio Device" driver does the same thing.

Odd...

PolarFrog, have you had the same issue?

EDIT: This appears to be an issue with many systems; there seems to be an issue with the wireless card, in particular the A-band. By disabling the A-band in the Wi-Fi card's properties in Device Manager, the issue appears to be fixed.

Double odd...

 

which wireless card do you have?

 

The Dell 1510; unfortunately, the Vostro couldn't be configured with the Intel cards in Canada...