Dell Inspiron 13 Review

The Dell Inspiron 13 is the latest notebook from the Inspiron Family and the first 13 incher Inspiron. It is a budget notebook and starts at around $699 while offering good specifications. It is good for basic office and home usage. It can play most multimedia content easily as well as some light games. It seems to be a good option for students and office professionals alike, who just want a simple and portable laptop which can get their work done without being much of a burden on their pockets. To add to it’s appeal, it is a very stylish laptop with superb build quality with a slot loading optical drive. In this review, we dissect the Inspiron 13 and try to check out what exactly makes it click.

Dell Inspiron 13 Specifications:

• Display: 13.3″ WXGA Glossy (1280 x 800 pixels)
• Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core T2390 (1.86GHz, 533FSB, 1MB Cache)
• Memory: 2 GB DDR 2 RAM 667 MHZ
• Storage: 160 GB HDD (5400rpm)
• Optical Drive: DVD +/- RW (Slot loading)
• Wireless: 802.11 b/g
• Graphics: Intel GMA X3100 Integrated Graphics
• Camera: Integrated 2.0 MP webcam
• Battery: 56 Wh (6 cell)
• Ports: 2 USB 2.0, FireWire, VGA, Expresscard, card reader, headphone, mic.
• Dimensions: 12.52″ x 9.37″ x 1.5″
• Weight: 4.8 lbs (2.2 kgs)
• Starting Price: $699 (Approx)

Design:

The new Dell Inspiron 13 sports a very stylish design which is inspired from both the Dell Studio range as well as the Dell XPS range, more precisely the Dell XPS M1330. The design is very attractive and much better than the older Inspiron notebook designs. It has a sloping design with a glossy exterior. The screen hinges and chassis design is very similar to the XPS M1330. Inside, the Inspiron 13 has a simplistic design mostly made of high quality plastic. The interiors are almost fully black and look quite sober compared to the exterior part. The keyboard, touchpad, palmrest and the touch sensitive controls situated above the keyboard all blend in with the design quite easily.

The build quality is very good and the partly metallic chassis feels sturdy. It should easily withstand minor shocks and bumps. There is minimal or almost zero flex at all positions in the notebook. The Dell Inspiron 13 carries on the Dell legacy and offers superb build quality like it’s Inspiron and XPS siblings. All in all, the Inspiron 13 is a stylish notebook with great build quality.

Display and Speakers:

The Dell Inspiron 13 features a glossy 13.3″ WXGA widescreen supporting resolutions of 1280 x 800 pixels natively. The display quality is good, with good brightness and contrast levels. It, however, fares poorly when it comes to sunlight legibility, partly because it is the glossy type. It is almost impossible to read it when there is some bright light falling directly on the screen. It is not much of a problem indoors though and looks quite good inside. It has vibrant and rich color output. One more area where it lacks in is the poor viewing angles, both horizontal and vertical. The screen completely washes out at lower viewing angles and loses contrast. The horizontal viewing angles are slightly better than the vertical ones, but not much to speak of either.

The speakers in the Inspiron 13 are located above the keyboard. They are pretty loud but lack in sound quality, just like most other laptops. If you are looking for better quality, you have no other option but to use good headphones with the built in headphone jack. In that department, it doesn’t disappoint at all, the sound quality through headphones is almost perfect with negligible distortion. The touch sensitive volume controls are situated just above the keyboard and they are pretty responsive and feel good to work with.

Performance:

The Dell Inspiron 13 is powered by and Intel Pentium Dual Core T2390 clocked at 1.86GHz and has 1 MB L2 cache. It is a bit underpowered compared to the Core 2 Duo processors by Intel but can manage basic tasks quite efficiently. Coupled with 2 GB DDR2 RAM, you don’t feel the lag at all unless you start some really processor intensive tasks like video conversion. The Inspiron 13 comes with Intel GMA 3100 integrated graphics which can manage Windows Vista and some old games easily. It comes with a 160 GB SATA HDD at 5,400 rpm which can be upgraded to a 7,200 rpm one to boost access speeds. You can also upgrade the processor to suit your needs before ordering your Inspiron 13. Summing it up, the Dell Inspiron 13 offers decent performance which should be enough for most casual users.

Under normal usage, the whole system runs cool and quiet without generating much heat. The system fans go about their job very quietly and the internal heatsinks do a very good job at managing heat.

Keyboard and Touchpad:

The Inspiron 13 sports a full matte black keyboard. The key feel is great and the keyboard is quite spacious with adequate key spacing and travel. There is a very soft key click sound which adds to the nice feel. On the top of the keyboard, you find the touch sensitive media controls. They blend in perfectly with the keyboard and touchpad. The touchpad situated at the bottom is superb with a nice textured feel. It is very responsive and sensitive, with horizontal and vertical scroll areas. The size of the touchpad is a bit too small though. You will need about two full swipes to traverse the whole screen. The touchpad buttons are nice with good response and quiet clicks. Except for the size, there is nothing to complain about.

Battery and other features:

The Inspiron 13 comes with a 6 cell 56Wh battery by default. It is enough to power the laptop for about 4.5 hours with medium usage. To further increase the battery life, you can decrease the display brightness, lower speaker volume, switch off Wi-Fi when not in use. Continuously watching videos on the Inspiron 13 drags down the battery life to about 3 hours, enough for a full movie and some normal usage. The battery life is one of the strongest points of the Inspiron 13.

The Inspiron 13 features a range of ports which are enough for most users. It offers 2 USB 2.0 ports, FireWire, VGA, Expresscard, Card reader and Headphone and Microphone ports.

Pros:

• Stylish and Sleek Design
• Great Build Quality
• Great Battery life
• Inexpensive

Cons:

• Below Average Display
• Small Touchpad

Conclusion:

The Dell Inspiron 13 is a great buy for those who need decent performance in a small, compact and stylish package with great build quality. It does have some issues, but overall, it is a great notebook at a very affordable price. It is ideal for students, office users and casual users who are looking for an inexpensive but portable laptop with nice features.

Our Rating: 3.5 / 5.