As part of a major rebranding exercise, Dell Tuesday announced the Dell XPS M1330 Ultramobile notebook. Dell claims the XPS M1330 is the world's thinnest 13in laptop PC.
The existing Dell XPS range consists of high-end gaming laptops. Prices for the new XPS M1330 start from US$1,798 inc VAT.
The XPS M1330 model we saw comes in a glossy midnight black chassis, but the M1330 is available also in white and red. Dell's new ultramobile laptop weighs less than 4lbs and is less than 1in thick, but can be specified to contain a massive 2TB hard disk space (comprising four 500GB hard drives).
The Dell XPS M1330 comes with Intel dual-processors and, according to Dell, can house all of Intel's Mobile Centrino chipsets -- the highest spec model contains Intel's 2GHz Core 2 Duo T7700. The M1330's high-definition 13.1in wide-screen display can be upgraded to a bright white LED screen.
Dell claims a battery life in use of eight and a half hours but, although the model we tried was initially cool to the touch, Dell has no data as to how hot the XPS M1330 gets after prolonged use. What is impressive, however, is the M1330's full-sized keyboard, which is comfortable in use. Dell also gets plaudits for including as standard draft-N wireless capabilities, and a Wi-Fi seeking device that works even without the PC being booted.
Other standard features include an HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) and two USB 2.0 ports, plus a headphone socket and microphone input.
Each flavor of the Dell XPS M1330 include an 8-in-1 card reader and DVD+/-RW dual-layer disc-burner. Purchasers can choose from four-, six- or nine-cell lithium-ion batteries, and decide between nVidia GeForce Go 8400M GS graphics with 128MB of dedicated memory, and the less battery-intensive Intel integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 3100.
