The New Laptop Report
To mark the two-month anniversary of the day I took delivery of my new Dell XPS M1330, I offer my observations—my “review,” if you will—after a nice break-in period.
The short answer: I love it! The form factor is everything I hoped it would be, it feels zippy, handles Aero with aplomb, and the LED-backlit screen is incredible.
The size of the M1330 is perfect for my current lifestyle. It’s very lightweight, yet sturdy (picking it up by a corner instills no fear whatsoever), and it fits much more comfortably on my bedside table and on my over-the-sink shelf, where it keeps me entertained while I wash dishes. As I mentioned, I don’t need a lot of resolution for heavy-duty designing, anymore, so the 13.3” screen doesn’t bother me a bit.
It came with virtually no crapware, though I had to exorcise the Dell Support Center software less than a week after I received it. This was due to a nasty bug rather than it being entirely worthless software, though.
My biggest complaint thus far is that I can’t adjust the brightness with one hand, due to the placement of the adjustment keys extremely far from the Function key. Even my ape-like hands cannot reach.
But other than that, I’m very happy with it. Dell may have a new convert in me.
