XPS M1210 Review with Pics

Here is a review of My Dell XPS M1210
Mu sister was using comp

Specs

Intel Core 2 Duo 1.83Ghz
12.1 WXGA 1280x800
DVD-RW
120GB HD
Intel GMA 950M
4XUSB ,Firewire, S-Video Out,VGA,2X Headphone Jacks
9 Cell Battery

Reason For Purchase

Got this laptop through a college trade

Build Quality

Build Quality on this laptop is very solid. The LCD Lid barely has any flex to it at all very strong laptop. When grabbing it from any angle its very strong. The LCD has no latch but it stays shut during traveling. It fits very nicely in my Jansport shoulder bag. a great size for a Treveler

Screen

Screen is very bright and is made by Samsung. No DeadPixels Impressive Screen. However there is a very slight sign of light leakage on the bottom of the Screen but barely noticeable. This is very common to all Samsung Screens


Keyboard and Touchpad

Keyboard has big keys and touchpad is big enough for the laptops size. It has scroll zones to you know where the scrolling section is. They keyboard feels good when tying. It doesnt feel cramped up when using it for a long extended period of time. overall a very nice keyboard.

\ Ports and Connections


There is a Array of ports and connection on this laptop. 4X USB is quite allot for a 12.1 inch laptop. Compared to My NX9420 which i beleive it should of had 6X USB ports. Theres a S-video Out port. 2 headphone jacks , a SD Card Reader VGA out , 56Kmodem,10/100 Ethernet,Firewire and a Express port slot. Its more then enough for everyday use. Simply amazing for a tiny laptop

Battery Life


The Battery Life on this laptop is very good. I could squezze about 51/2 hrs on the battery. Very good Battery Life. People say that the 9 Cell Battery is chunky and sticks out from the back but i find it a good thing because i can hold the battery area when holding the laptop with one hand. Very Handy.

Windows Vista Performance
This laptop came preloaded with Windows Vista But it came with a whole bunch of crap that wasnt necessary. Dell preloads to much bloatware on their laptops. So i did a complete reformat when i got my laptop and it performed very nicely. Windows vista Booted up in about 15 secs if configured properly. Very fast for this Operating system. Windows Areo Performed Very Nicely on The Intel Graphics Chip. Here is screenshots on Windows Vista Home Pre.




Conclusion
Overall this laptop is the best portable laptop ive seen. I was looking at the Vaio X Series but it didnt have enough USB Ports Overall i highly recommend this laptop

 

Hows the battery on it?

 

What about benchmarks? CPU (pi calculating) speed?

 

Does it mean: "if you don't give me your XPS I'll break you leg!''

lol just kidding!

The M1210 look so handy and small!! Is there any similar product in other brand? Someone else makes high performance 12''?

 

Haha, I laughed so hard when I read that.

Anyway I don't think there are any other 12" notebooks with dedicated video cards. The ones that come closest, I think are the Sony SZ series and the Asus W7J.

 

I dunno, on second look, it looks really big for a 12" notebook, looks really more of a 13" if you ask me. Hmm.

 

Well, they probably could have made it a lot smaller if it wasn't for the GO7400.

 

It is the most chunky 12.1" notebook I've been but there is a lot of power and features crammed into it. I'm thinking of getting it but I've been used to ultraportables for so long and have also been looking at the Asus S6Fm, yet this is pretty portable as well and has a lot more power as well for the same price, going crazy over picking which one!

 

I'd happily trade a little extra mass for the full speed cpu,dedicated graphics, internal optical drive, and high capacity battery any day, its not much bigger than a true ultra portable, very light considering what all is crammed in, runs very cool if you take over the fans, and makes up for all the short comings of at true UP in spades. Its got the power and features of a desktop replacement system, in very portable package.

 

@Iceman:

I can't remember if I've asked you this before, but how long does your battery last on normal non-intensive tasks?

 

Cute chic my man.... good for you...

 

She is my sister. though thanks (should tell that to her)

I have updated pics and more of the review Including the score on windows vista

 

sylonien about 4.5 hours to 5 with 9 cell , low light lcd and wi-fi and bluetooth on and on normal use if you want another owner opinion .
( That is for now with the brand new 9 cell )

 

I have the 6 cell, I get around 3 to 3.5 hours with it for routine tasks with wi-fi on , mid brightness.

You should get slightly better overall battery life due to the GMA950.

 

Coool. Surely 4+ on 9-cell?

 

Yes Definitily

 

Even with Home Premium? Cause thats pre-installed over here.

 

Nice. Im expecting my new M1210 today.

 

I think I'm going for Sony SZ cause of the switchable graphics and external chargers.

 

yes i can squeeze about 4 hrs to 5 hrs depending if i have wifi on etc on the XPS M1210. i was able to watch a full length dvd approx 2 hrs and was still able to finish up my word document. a good laptop with tons of power

 

sylonien - from all the posts I read from you up 'till now, I'd say you better get Sony. XD
I feel you're leaning towards it, and if you end up buying something else, you'll end up regreting it. Right or wrong? lol

I'm personally leaning towards Dell, specially because of Media Direct (will be very useful to me). But Sony sexyness and switchable graphics balances things pretty much. And here where I live, finding Sony Vaio laptops is far easier than Dell... dunno why.

 

Ha man that was weird - its like you reading my mind. Yes I am heavily leaning towards the Sony and I think I'm going to go for it. Every day I've been sat here thinking I wanna go out now to get it before the shop closes at 8pm. Even right now I wanna go and do it, but I just wanna make sure that I am absolutely sure on it.

 

well remember if you arent sasified with the Sony Vaio SZ then you could allways return it

 

Can you? Even when its opened and used?

My biggest worry at the moment is that its increasingly "out of stock" everywhere suddenly. All the possible websites I'm looking at seem to be out of it at the moment. WHY!

 

The SZ looks & feels much flimisier compared to the XPS though.

on the other hand, it definitley looks less chunky than the XPS.

But then again, the XPS has a smaller footprint....

LOL..I had a hard time choosing between the two but finally settled on the Dell...And don't regret it one bit...
Having said that, I perhaps would have been equally happy with the Vaio....

Funny, but I think most people would have a hard time deciding between the two...I took the call for the sturdier XPS as I am a really clumsy person...

 

i had to make the same decision too
but the sony SZ costs 1000 more than the dell.... i just don't have that much extra cash floating around