It's a XPS M1210 on a plane!

This is the second time my new XPS M1210 has gone on a flight with me, and since the flight was half full, I had a chance to compare the difference between United's Economy, and Economy Plus cabin.

The flight was United 1131 from Chicago to Calgary, on a (pretty old) Boeing 737-300, in what is called the "US 1" configuration according to SeatGuru.

The main differences are:
- Economy: 32" Pitch, 17" Width
- Economy Plus: 35" Pitch, 17" Width
Pitch is defined as the distance between the 2 rows of seats (therefore it affects the avaliable legroom directly).

According to United, Economy Plus offers up to 5 extra inches of legroom. You can usually choose to upgrade for a nominal fee during check-in. On my flight, it was a US$44 extra. I didn't upgrade it on this flight but since the plane was only half full, I moved from my original seat in dead last row with NO recline (21E) up to the Economy Plus section (10B) after everyone has boarded (in fact we were told by the flight attendants to move to a better seat).

As usual, click on the images to get the full-sized version:

Economy Seat (21E)


Economy Plus Seat on an exit row (9E)


In both instances the tray table was extended as far forward as possible, with the screen on the M1210 tilted back to a normal usable angle for comfortable viewing.

Notice how the front of the tray table overlaps the armrest in the standard Economy seat by a fair margin, while there is a comfortable gap in the Economy Plus seat.

While you can technically "open up" the M1210 (or any similar sized 12.1" form factor notebooks) without needing to extend the tray table forward, it is simply, in my opinion, not usable as the opening angle will only be 90 degrees, and you'll have to look down at the screen at an odd angle. Try this at home: put the system in your lap, sit upright, and then open up the screen at a right angle (90 degrees). Not very comfortable and ergonomic is it?

Walking up and down the aisle, I notice a fair few notebook touting passengers as well (mostly having mainstream 14"-15.4" form factors), and one thing I noticed is that, most (in the standard Economy section) have to resort to using their system tucked close against their body on their lap, so that they can open the screen up to a useful degree. 32" of pitch doesn't give a lot of room to play around with, and when the person in front recline their seat, that'll just make things worse.

Since I was seated in the Economy Plus section, using the M1210 on the tray table was comfortable and pleasent. I didn't feel like I was trapped inside a closet due to the extra pitch and legroom, and I don't have to resort to tiliting my head at an odd angle to enjoy a movie from my system (for reference, I'm 5'11").

I couldn't imagine how I was able to use my old 15" form factor systems in the past (Toshiba Tecra S2, Dell Inspiron 8200) on a flight, probabally because I didn't even bother to pull them out from the overhead bin and open them up, knowing it'll be a futile attempt. Plus the 2-3 hours of actual usable battery life means by the time I settle into a comfortable position (or that I've tried to tune out the discomfort of having the system on my lap) the system will have died.

If you frequent the skies a lot and need a notebook with you, then I'd look no further beyond the 12.1"/13.3" form factor. Honestly, you'll have a difficult and uncomfortable time using a system 14.1"/15.4" or larger... unless of course you only fly in Business/First class in which case you could go all out with the Dell XPS M2010 even. But then again you'd rather be enjoying that glass of wine and chatting with your beautiful travelling companion rather than using a notebook in Business/First class.

 

i don't see any snakes in that picture

 

Hey nice post, Iam thinking of getting a m1210 and mobility is now a big factor, nice to see how well it fits into places.

 

great pictures another useful post

 

YOu should see me trying to use my 17.1" Dell M90 in the Coach section of Delta...

 

^^LOL goodluck with that

 

I am so tired of these mother****ing laptops on this mother****ing plane.

 

I actually work for US Airways, so I fly a lot on stand by. One of the main reasons I purchased my m1210 is it's size. It's perfectly sized for the tray tables. My only gripe is battery life, but I haven't upgraded my battery yet. Great post!

 

12.1 inch laptops are great... when the physical size of the laptop is small and not a behemoth like the XPS m1210! I have owned one in the past, and it's size disproportionally large compared to screen real estate... otherwise it was great.

I think Macbooks are much better in this respect (though weaker), and my 14.1 inch Asus (which sucks in many other respects) is barely larger than the M1210, and it would fit probably equally well in a situation like you were in.

 

Power comes at a price, I find the M1210 extremely portable, and would much rather have the extra power than shave off an inch or two or drop a few ounces.

 

I've flown several times with my M1210 (and with my 700M before that). I don't know how people can use larger computers comfortably in coach, and I'm only 5'5" so I'm not taking up that much space.

 

This thread made me buy one... I hate you guys... ;-) It will be easier on the road with the M1210 than my M1710. Should be here in a few days. I used the 15% off of XPS's that I rec'd from Dell today on it too... Guess it wasnt only this thread.

 

I did the same so you are not alone...ha..ha I love my m1710 but its to big to be portable and I wanted the speed in a smaller package so I got a m1210 and I love it now my 1710 is collecting dust... until the next big game that is. Not much of a gamer...no regrets on the M1210 have a blast