Six Months with Dell Inspiron 13

Disclaimer: I do not work for Dell. Nobody paid me or coerced me to write this post. Its for people like me who are searching for *real* user feedback on machines.

First my configuration:

Inspiron 13: Pacific Blue

• Inspiron 1318, Intel Core 2 Duo T8300, 2.4GHz, 800Mhz, 3M L2 Cache
• 4GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm
• Glossy, widescreen 13.3 inch LCD (1280x800) w/ 2.0M pixel Camera
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
• 320G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
• 8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
• Intel 4965AGN Wireless-N Mini Card
• 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery, for XPS M1330
• 1 Year Limited Warranty
• Dell Wirless 355 Bluetooth Module (2.0+EDR)

This post is to indicate my experience with Inspiron 13 for the past 6 months. Well overall I'm very happy with this machine. I returned a Lenovo T400 which I bought for ~100USD more than this machine with half the configuration.

The main points which I'm pretty happy about are:

• Long battery life
• Cool and quiet operation of the machine
• Small form factor
• Relatively light
• Flawless, bright and crisp display
• Keyboard has a good feel to it

One of the major reasons I purchased this machine was because the hardware that came with it was plenty and mature. When I purchased the T400, the hardware was squeaky new but that brought with it tons of issues primarily with compatibility and bugs in the drivers. I'm a Linux user and the I13 worked out of the box with Debian and Ubuntu. The drivers are very stable and the machine is very quick.

This machine is *not* for gamers or heavy duty graphic artists. Its for the average Joes and Janes of the world who like to word process, surf the internet, watch movies and want to use Linux

I do have some gripes about this machine ( nothing is perfect you see ).

• The display seems to be a little loose. It wobbles while typing on a soft surface. Its not annoying but its something I dislike.
• It has only 2 USB ports. Dell could've put in atleast 3-4 ports. It would've been nice

Over all, my journey with this machine has been uneventful! Just the way I like it

Edit: Heres my thread about my initial experiences and a review with a T400 in mind. Heres another thread which detailed my purchase.

 

Thanks for the review!

 

nice opinions I like this... it's like a little update. It reminds me of car pages and magazines updating us on their long-term cars...

 

With the recent price drop, the Inspiron 13 is easily the best thin-and-light deal going!

For $449, you can get the following:

Dell Inspiron 13
Pacific Blue
2.0GHz Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4200 (it's a Penryn chip now!)
Windows Vista Home Basic
13.3" WXGA (1280x800) Glossy LCD
1GB DDR2-667 RAM (upgrade to 4GB for $35 DIY)
160GB 5400rpm Hard Drive
Slot-Loading DVD-RW
Dell 1395-g wireless
4-cell battery

It's not quite up to the spec level of the reviewed unit, but it's a LOT of laptop for a $450!

 

EXACTLY! I was thinking the same exact thing when I first read this posting. I subscribe to a few car magazines and they each report on their long-term test vehicles. It gives a realistic idea of what it's like living with a certain model- the good, the bad and the ugly!

Reviews like this, after living with a laptop not just evaluating a brand new one, are very useful for potential buyers. It's one thing for a laptop to be impressive out of the box and during a day or two of running benchmarks. It's quite another to see how it performs after an extended period of routine use!

Great...now I'll be a hypocrite if I don't write a review of my E6400 in the next month or two!

 

Thank you everybody!

 

This notebook is great for the money though. Especially considering most 14" notebooks start close to 1 grand just a week ago this notebook was on sale for about $350 pretty cool

 

This is a 13.3" notebook. They're more expensive than their 14" counter parts due to the small formfactor.

One thing that I'd like to mention is that this notebook looks better than Dell XPS 13. Its all black!

 

This one (Inspiron 13) isn't more expensive than any of the other Inspiron models...it's even cheaper than the Mini 10 and Mini 12 netbooks! The starting price is $399! It's a STEAL...and I thought it was Pacific Blue, not black?

 

Let me clear up some things. Yes the base price is definitely very low. The one with my configuration costs much higher ( ~990USD ). The outer cover is pacific blue. The inside of the laptop is all black. Most other Dells are silver in color.

I think the I13 was a precursor to the now haute Dell Studio XPS 13!!

 

You're right about most having the silver keyboard/interior trim- all the other Inspiron (until the new Inspiron 15) were all silver inside. The XPS M1330 and M1530 were, too. Studio 15 and 17 have black keyboards with silver/gray wrist rest/touchpad and display bezel...so you're right, the Inspiron 13 was the only consumer model with all black on the inside.

The reason may be because its twin, the Vostro 1310, is all black (inside and out)? It was more cost effective and gave the Inspiron 13 some differentiation at the same time. When I first saw an Inspiron 13 in person (at Staples, I think) I recall thinking it looked like a more expensive model than it was. I was surprised it had the Inspiron name on it...

 

Thanks for the 6 month update. Have you found any issues with build quality other than the screen wobble that you mentioned? I'm especially worried about the hinge which looks somewhat weak.

 

hongrboi, nope no other build quality issues. Its solid Then again, I'm very careful about using my things

allfiredup, thanks!