Continued From XPS M1330 Review Page 1

The Design First approach led Dell to include a slot loading optical drive. But unfortunately, the dual layer DVD writer is noisy when inserting or ejecting a disc.

As for the ports and expandability options, Dell has managed to pack XPS M1330 with two USB ports, a FireWire port, VGA-out, HDMI, an ExpressCard slot and a media card reader. There are two jacks for headphone, hence your partner can also share better audio experience, as even though the included speakers can go loud, the bass is weak with somewhat piercing mids and highs. A 2.0 mega pixel webcam is also present.

Thanks to the dedicated graphics card, XPS M1330 is not only great with everyday tasks but is powerful enough for graphic intensive applications and you can even expect a sound gaming experience with machine producing good frame rates. Dell has employed nVidia's GeForce 8400M GS graphics card in XPS M1330 that is compatible with DirectX 10.

Unlike speakers found on many laptops, XPS M1330's speakers can get quite loud. But unfortunately, the bass is still minimal and mids and highs are piercing too. You also get an integrated webcam on this model.

As for security, it's limited to the fingerprint reader. However, wireless connectivity options are great for the business traveler including the Wi-Fi catcher feature. Apart from the availability of Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N card, mobile broadband is also present which is becoming a prerequisite for a business notebook.

We define an ultraportable notebook PC as one that weighs less than 4 pounds. At 4.3 pounds with the 6-cell battery, XPS M1330 sits at the border of being an ultraportable and a thin and light notebook. You can reduce its overall weight to 3.9 pounds if you wish, however via opting for the short-lived 4-cell battery only.

The LED backlight, in addition to offering great and bright display, also helps XPS M1330 achieve great battery lifetime. The 6-cell can give you up to 3 and half hours of Wi-Fi enabled computing time. The actual figure may vary depending upon your brightness setting and CPU usage, but at least you get the idea. If weight is not of concern, the 9-cell battery will nearly add a couple of more hours in this figure.

As we said at the beginning of this review, Dell made a lasting impression with XPS 1330 in 2007. And even though it has been more than 6 months that the initial model was launched, it still is one of the best choices you have for a 13.3" ultraportable. Apart from the Design-First approach that resulted in many user-friendly niceties, it also boasts of LED backlight screen, mobile broadband, a discrete graphics card in this small form factor and competes well with recent models from other manufacturers.