Gadget Review: Dell Inspiron 13

This is my new laptop, a 13″ laptop. Mainly for working on my personal projects during my prolonged travel period. This is not a gaming machine so I did not go for higher spec.. and this only costs RM1,399 (RM300 cash ~~debate~~ rebate during promotion)

Initially I wanted a black color cover because all my gadgets are black. Changing the cover to maroon red or pearl white will cost additional RM89.00. Customer service called up and say black out of stock, and I am given choose of red or white for free

This laptop is light and compact. As you can probably see, The laptop has full sized keyboard, which is one of the reason I am attracted with. Minimal body size with full size keyboard, I like.

The keyboard feels great. Unlike older keyboards, you only need to press lightly on this keyboard, without losing the feeling of “Did I press that button” kind of feeling.

You press the button half millimeter, it will automatically sink all the way in.

Feels like Apple’s product

The touchpad has a rough and matte surface. Older touchpads will accumulate dusts on the side after a period of time, but this touchpad surface is much easier to clean, and chances are you won’t leave dirty marks or finger marks.

My finger doesn’t feel warm after a prolonged period of touching and rubbing

Like most of the laptop these days, it comes with a built-in webcam. This webcam comes with software bundle, where you can make a cat talk like a human. Hehe.

This laptop runs with Windows 7 operating system. Thank god! I rather spend the money on beer if this laptop runs with Vista. Never had any good experience with Vista.

I upgraded the graphic card with additional RM133 , give or take – can’t remember the exact price. ATI HD4330 is only enough to play World of Warcraft under low settings but rest assured, no games are installed in this machine.

Installed Starcraft under influence of 颓废 friend, removed it under 24 hours. Phew.

On the left side, there is a built-in SD card reader and HDMI port.

Did you know? HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data — such as HD DVD players, Blu-ray Disc players, video game consoles such as the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

On the right side, you have all the ports you need. Microphone line in, headphone, IEEE 1394, 2 USB, eSATA, and and LAN port.

The ventilation grill is on the left side. This laptop does not have overheating problem so far. According to customers review, they are satisfied with the overall cooling. The worst heat I had was merely warm, compare to my old laptop, it’s totally different league.

My old laptop can produce enough heat to cook omelet on it.

Here’s a comparison on how small this laptop is. I do not feel “squeezed” with both my hands on it. Feels just right

Dell Inspiron 13 is way thinner than usual laptop is because… it doesn’t have CD-ROM. I need to use external CD-ROM to overcome the problem. But that’s okay because this laptop is mainly for online purposes.

The charger port with lights when you turn on. Neatt…

Small size adapter for portability, it’s very light.

The last time I checked on this product (this morning while writing this review), seems like Dell.com has discontinued this product. The closest one you can find is 13z, which is RM1,000 more expensive.

Overall, I am very satisfied with this laptop. I give it a 9.5/10 given the price I paid. Oh did I tell you I bought this laptop with my online earnings? Satisfaction gao gao