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The Windows Experience Index shows a well rounded system, brought down to a 3.1 overall score by the onboard Intel HD graphics. We have previous experience of this graphics solution and while fairly weak, it is more than enough for a business machine like this.
Inside we have the Intel Core i5 470 UM which is a 1.33ghz processor with 3M Cache. There is a single DDR3 slot onboard and this machine comes with the full 4GB of memory installed – running @ 800mhz with 6-6-6-15 timings. Obviously this is only single channel.
The software install is relatively clean, especially for Dell. Bonus points are given for the fact that this is the first machine we have received from them without McAfee bloatware installed, however we aren't sure Trend Micro is any better. Most of the installation software is relevant to this particular machine so there is not a lot we would remove.
Kitguru test with a minimum five runs of every software suite to ensure no abnormalites can creep into our readings. We test laptop systems with a default ‘out of the box' install to ensure our findings are exactly as you would experience if you bought the laptop. We use a mixture of synthetic and real world testing to present a complete overview of the platform and to help guide prospective customers towards a possible purchase, stating relevant strengths and weaknesses.
For those of you currently using an ATOM computer and interested in performance improvements, we have included 1.8ghz Atom results with some of our results.
I love it. I am actually comtemplating it for college. I dont need massive battery life, but it seems somewhat of an oversight from Dell to only get 2 hours or so out of it. businessmen on the move might need at least double this a day.
I am glad you didnt score it down too badly though, it does a lot of things right.
My colleague in work has this and his overheats a lot, as our office is very warm. I might fire in an SSD for him next week and see if it helps.
I agree completely with the review. the internals are great and the design is beautiful, but the battery technology just doesnt cut it. for a business orenited machine this is a huge problem. there are a lot of complaints about it on dells forums.
I bought this last month and agree with most of the review. the design is brilliant, but my battery barely lasts 1.45 when watching youtube videos 🙁 I find this unacceptable and I wish I had read reviews before buying. apart from this is great. I hope Version 2 is better.
good review Zardon. seems like a decent all round machine unless you need a lot of battery support during the day. I suppose some business professionals might just need it for a presentation over lunch or something, then its ideal as the size is great.
Typical of Dell really.
Make an adamo style pc for the masses, keep the sexy looks, put a nice keyboard in, good screen, great design, then copy Apple and put the battery inside to keep the shape lovely.
Then cock up the battery life completely ruling it out for the target market. this is the third review on this machine ive read, this is the most detailed and unfortunately id have scored it much lower as the primary function for businessmen is a battery that lasts at least 4 hours. not 2.
I like it a lot, and the entry level one is cheap. shame about the battery, and you cant even buy another for replacement during the day. as you need to take the whole machine apart. what a stupid idea 🙁
ID buy it if I had the money, but a netbook is my limit, ordered a dell 10 inch last week, still hasnt arrived
That is a gorgeous laptop for the price, just a shame they didnt manage to get battery life to 4 hours or so 🙁 2 hours is terrible.
I just ordered one for college work, I dont need long battery life, just 1 hour at lunch, then it will be in mains at night. thanks for detailed review. I got an SSD in mine.