Dell Inspiron 13 Laptop Review: Value for Money

Starting at $700, Dell’s latest offering - the Dell Inspiron 13 notebook in Pacific Blue color - is great for people with a tight budget, who are looking for a decent ‘value for money’ laptop. As the days go by, people with smaller and smaller budgets start considering mini laptops as an option. Hence, Dell is coming up with better value for money options and Inspiron 13 is a prime example of that.

The Dell Inspiron 13 ships with either an Intel Pentium Dual Core or an Intel Core 2 Duo. With the Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 graphics card and up to 320GB 5400 RPM SATA hard drive, the Dell Inspiron 13 is nothing less than a powerhouse. Most non-gaming tasks will be sweet on this baby, thanks to the (up to) 4GB Dual Channel 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM.

With its 13.3 inch widescreen (resolution: 1280X800), the Dell Inspiron 13 fits into a convenient bracket. It is as portable as the 12.1 inch Netbook, while equipped with a larger screen and optical drive like full-fledged laptops. The screen has above average color and contrast for an LCD screen, but poor viewing angles - especially on the vertical. The hinges on this screen are clearly designed for durability, requiring two hands to pull up the screen and not allowing for much movement once open.

The keyboard on the Dell Inspiron 13 is user-friendly, with black matte keys that click softly each time they are pressed. The touchpad can be slightly “touchy” and temperamental on occasions, refusing to stop scrolling even after you’ve taken your fingers off. The buttons make up for this though - they are fairly large and have a nice soft feedback.

The Dell Inspiron 13 has a decent connectivity, with  2 USB 2.0 compliant 4-pin ports, a 15-pin VGA video connector, audio jacks (1-line out, 1 Mic-in) and the power cable port, among others. You have to get used to the 2 USB ports being on opposite sides of the screen, but that is a blessing in disguise for those with big USB devices that can block the adjacent port. Wireless connectivity is also fairly good, with a choice of 3 Wi-Fi options plus a Bluetooth mini-card. The Dell Inspiron 13 is blessed with an 8X slot-loading CD/DVD writer, which is a major asset for Windows XP or Ubuntu users.

In the end, we come to portability. The Dell Inspiron 13 is quite small and easy to fit into a backpack, at 318×238x38.37mm. It weighs in at 2.2kg, which is slightly heavier than average, but then one can’t really have everything. Battery life of the 6-cell 56WHr Li-Ion Battery is up to 4 hours, which will carry you through neatly through a day’s classes or a medium-length flight with ease.

All in all, Dell does exactly what it wants with the Inspiron 13 - makes a fully functional laptop available to people looking for a unique product at an affordable rate. It cuts short on the frills, but provides excellent affordability and reliability.

Dell Inspiron 13 Specifications

Processor:

Model: Intel Pentium Dual Core T2390/Intel Core2Duo T6400

Speed: 1.86GHz/2.0GHz

Front Side Bus: 533 MHz FSB / 800Mhz FSB

Cache: 1MB L2/2MB L2

Screen:

Size: widescreen 13.3 inch

Screen Type: LCD display (1280X800)

Graphics card:

Type: Intel Integrated Graphics

Version: Media Accelerator X3100

Weight: 4.9 lbs (starting weight)

Hard Disk:

Size: up to 320 GB

Type: 5400 RPM SATA hard drive

RAM:

Size: 2-4GB

Type: Dual Channel 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM

Networking

WLAN: Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini-Card/Dell Wireless 1505 Wireless-N Mini-Card/Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card

Bluetooth: Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Internal (2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate) mini-card

OS (operating system): Windows Vista

Version: Home Premium

Pros: Sleek design, good build quality, choice of specifications

Cons: Only two USB ports, touchpad slightly difficult to scroll, palmrests pick up skin oils and get dirty easily

Price: $698 (Starting range)