Hardware Review: Dell XPS M1330 Notebook PC

Look at this, I’m finally getting around to posting my full review of the Dell XPS M1330 Notebook PC.

For those of you who haven’t kept up with my notes in the past, I purchased the M1330 as my next laptop computer and best friend back in early November. I ended up having some problems with the first one, namely a well documented whining sound that was driving me up the wall. I purchased the notebook with a 1 year on-site warranty so Dell promptly dispatched a ‘certified technician’ to come out and replace the problem part which happened to be the entire motherboard. After it was “fixed” the sound did go away but to me the laptop just felt well… violated. I mean this guy came out and ripped apart my $1,400 computer on my kitchen table, I didn’t pay good money for a computer only to have it disassembled in my home. I decided to get a hold of Dell and I had them send me another brand new M1330 and I received the replacement about a week later. Now that I have had some quality time with the computer I wanted to jot down some of my thoughts.

First off, I was really excited to purchase an XPS, I didn’t originally plan on buying a premium notebook but the financing offer they had for the XPS line worked to my advantage so I went for it. I actually ordered the computer over the phone, but followed along with the salesperson on the Dell website. The reason I ordered it over the phone is because I was able to talk my way into some huge savings including $100 off the already discounted online price, and free shipping.

I may have been slightly brainwashed into getting the XPS rather than the Inspiron’s I was originally looking at. But I knew that the M1330 was going to be perfect because although it carries the XPS name which is normally reserved for big high-end gaming PC’s, the M1330 actually is a small ultra-portable with decent specs at a surprisingly reasonable price. After speaking with the friendly Dell representative I knew just what I wanted out of my new computer. Here’s that I ended up getting –

1.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5250 (Santa Rosa), 1GB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (upgraded to 4GB as soon as I received it), NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS (128MB) Graphics, 120GB 5400 RPM SATA hard drive, 13.3″ UltraSharp WXGA CCFL LCD (Tuxedo Black casing) with 2.0MP Webcam, Biometric Fingerprint Scanner ($75 bucks, but it’s so cool to login with my finger), 6-Cell 56Whr Lithium Ion Battery, running Microsoft Windows Vista - Home Premium.

I’m actually sort of kicking myself for not getting the slightly upgraded CPU and the integrated Bluetooth, the other standard options on the M1330 include - Integrated Slot-Load CD/DVD+/-RW Drive, 8-in-1 removable memory card reader, both VGA and HDMI video out, 2 USB 2.0 ports, 1 IEEE 1394a port, ExpressCard slot with removable multimedia remote control, and High Definition Audio 2.0 with typical audio jacks including not one but two headphone/audio out ports, Dell Wireless 1490 802.11a/g Mini-Card and standard 10/100 Ethernet.

There are tons of other available options for the M1330 that I didn’t spring for such as the thinner, brighter LED backlit screen, 802.11n Wireless, Cellular Mobile Broadband (EVDO Rev A), 9 Cell Lithium Ion Battery, up to 320GB SATA 5400RPM Hard Drive, 200GB SATA 7200RPM Hard Drive or 64GB Solid State Drive. They also have other color options including Crimson Red, Alpine White, Midnight Blue, and of course Tuxedo Black.

The PC was put together and shipped out very quickly, I received it almost a full week before the original estimated delivery date. The computer and the accessories, disks, manuals etc. were in these designer boxes, I was expecting to open the brown Dell box to find more brown boxes but instead I’m greeted with these special white ‘XPS’ boxes with everything well packed inside. Nice touch Dell.

The computer also came with a few other accessories that I didn’t expect to get such as a nice slip case for the computer itself, a leather case for the restore disks and manual, an XPS branded cloth for removing fingerprints, Creative noise isolating earbuds, and install disks for the operating system, drivers and all of the bloat-ware that otherwise comes pre-installed. I was happy to find real restore disks, it used to be that you’re lucky to get the actual operating system disk instead of restore disks but lately the big companies like Dell only include the restore files on a hard-drive partition instead of including any disks at all. Restore disks are definitely better than no disks.

The first thing I did before firing it up was upgrade the RAM to 4GB from the base 1GB. I wanted this PC to have some decent performance and I’ve ran Vista on 1GB before. It just doesn’t cut it. Thanks to an error in filling my memory order from Crucial I got an extra 2 gigs of RAM allowing me to max out the motherboard. I ordered the additional memory separately as Dell seems to overcharge for mediocre parts.

The next thing I wanted to mention is the overall quality of the computer itself. I want to make it clear that the build quality overall is pretty good, definitely better then my Acer was. However I did expect more from a premium line of products such as the XPS series. After doing some research online after I purchased the computer I found that I’m not alone on a lot of these little issues, and luckily I wasn’t a victim to some of the others I’ve read about. A couple examples would be the minor denting in the brushed aluminum palm rest, specifically in the lower right corner and above the touch pad, also the right side of the speaker cover just above the media bar is flexible while the left side is nice and firm. Oh, and the cover for the RAM and CPU fan assembly on the bottom had a lose screw that I later fixed by removing the small metal tab off the screw itself. I’ve read other complaints about the hinges not being aligned and a “metal teeth” pattern at the top of the LCD and while I haven’t experienced most of these other quality issues with mine this computer is definitely not perfect.

If I haven’t expressed it enough already there’s one thing this computer has and that’s options. The M1330 is the perfect multimedia powerhouse with the HDMI audio/video output and included ExpressCard multimedia remote. Dell has also included their MediaDirect which is essentially an XP based “instant” media center function that can be accessed with a dedicated button next to the standard power button. I haven’t had a lot of time to play with MediaDirect but I can see its usefulness if you want to boot into a DVD movie or listen to some music quickly without actually going into the main operating system. The interface looks a lot like Apple’s Front Row but it has a couple neat options like the Instant Office along with music, photos, videos and DVD playback. MediaDirect can also be accessed through Vista itself which is cool if you prefer the MediaDirect interface over Microsoft’s Media Center.

The M1330 offers plenty of features but there a few things that are lacking. One of which is USB, the M1330 only has 2 USB 2.0 ports and I’m finding myself having to use a USB hub when I’m at work, I wish they would have found a way to cram 1 or 2 more on here, perhaps on the back somewhere. Another little complaint is the touch pad, there are plenty of comments around the internet about the small touchpad on the M1330 and it’s true, it’s really tiny! But I actually love the mouse buttons themselves, they have almost a soft click to them and are sturdy to the touch but not that cheap ‘stiff sturdy’ feel I’ve seen with other notebooks.

While we’re on the subject of buttons, the keyboard on the M1330 is also great. The keys have a similar feel to the mouse buttons, they are a soft click with good feedback. The M1330 also features touch sensitive multimedia buttons on the Media Bar which is just below the LCD. The buttons are actually very sensitive to any touch so pressing one by accident is easy to do. When the multimedia buttons are pressed they have a soft blue glow that slowly fades out, it looks really cool. On the opposite side of the Media Bar you will find the power button(s) in the middle, indicators for WIFI, keyboard status, and then the XPS logo.

Another piece of hardware I wanted to mention is the Integrated Slot-Load CD/DVD+/-RW Drive located on the right side of the unit. I really like the fact that it’s a slot load drive instead of the aging pop-out-tray drives seen on most PC notebooks. The tray-load drives always feel like they are going to break when I put a disk in because you almost have to wrestle with it to get it clipped on correctly. The slot-load drive on the M1330 is super easy, you just throw the disk in and it does the rest. I have read a few complaints online about the disk drive is overly loud when ejecting disks, while it does have a distinct sound I wouldn’t say it’s anything to be concerned about. The slot-load drive on my Apple Mac Mini had the same sound so I guess I knew what to expect.

Even with the 1.5 GHz Core2 Duo the performance of the M1330 is impressive. The 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS can take on Call of Duty 4 and The Orange Box with ease at a decent resolution. Laptop Magazine is reporting that the M1330 can bench a PCMark05 score of 4,545, about 1,000 points higher than other notebooks in it’s class. So for the most part, acceptable gaming performance can definitely be achieved. General productivity tasks are very speedy as well, even with Vista and several large applications open the M1330 doesn’t flinch. The M1330 may be a powerful little computer but it gets some reasonable battery life. With the smaller 6 cell battery I can get away with about 3 hours doing typical work, surfing the internet, whatever. The 9 cell battery is going to add to that time significantly but you have to take into consideration that it will also add significant bulk and weight to the notebook. Fully loaded with the 6 cell battery the M1330 weighs in at just under 4 pounds!

Well there you have it, just over 3 pages and quite possibly the longest product review I have written to date. The truth is I could easily write up another 4 pages on all of little details I’m surely forgetting to include about this thing. The Dell XPS M1330 Notebook PC is an award winning ultra-portable with performance unmatched in it’s class. Despite a couple minor design flaws this is definitely the most ‘perfect’ computer I have laid my hands on when it comes to my mobile computing needs. The only thing that could make Dell’s latest ultra-portable better is an affordable price point, wait… No it has that too with the base package currently starting at just $999.

It’s been a while since Dell has delivered a laptop that possessed so many awe-inspiring features. The Dell XPS M1330 is a monumental step in that it takes the best features and performance from other great ultraportables and combines them into a single entity.