Dell Studio XPS 13 - 13.3in Notebook Comments

I'm on a 13 inch screen right now and I am so sick and tired of manufacturers not offering higher resolutions on their notebooks. Specifically ones that are supposed to be "premium" like this particular notebook.

That design's nice - cool hinge. It basically says - okay we're obviously not competing on thinness, but are on style.

@Ohmz

My Vaio Z series has a 13" screen and is 1600x900 (16:9). Lovely!

Yes, it's rare admittedly. 1600x900 on a small screen has many benefits but a few negatives too.

I recently purchased a new 13" MacBook which is 1280x800 and I find it easier on the eyes when browsing the web. It seems to be the standard at the moment as most websites are optimised for it.

The biggest downside is that it cannot run OSX, of course macbook is overprised slightly, but people sometimes don't see how much effort Apple has put to make it easy to use. In Apple Store they offer Training and Seminars for free.

Dell is great thought, the service support is excellent, the Windows OS is outdated and spoils all the hardware fun.

What a irrelevant comment...

@ Steve, I'm super jealous! The Z looks amazing, had a chance to play with one in a Sony Store and really liked what I saw, but the price as Ed mentioned...

I just wanted to point out that comparing apples to oranges is no point. and therefore comparing it to macbook is irrelevant.

Is it just me or is the M1330 thinner? It seems like it's taken Dell a year just to take a step backwards.

@ Chris, the M1330 is also lighter. I don't know what Dell was thinking...

I have the XPS M1330 and it is a great laptop. I dont see the value added in this one.

If Dell wants to up the ante on the 1330, then what they really need is to put in a 12" screen and better speakers. The keybaord is quite good as-is - I dont know why they messed with it all all.

Shame about the over-the-top silver hinge fixings and utterly useless leather affectation. Otherwise I think it looks really nice. I think illuminated keyboards should be an option on all mid-range laptops and upwards. Touch-typing not withstanding, its nice to have the lights there when you're feeling lazy. Now if only they could do away with the heavy and heat conductive metal base plate and find a hinge design that DOES NOT obstruct the vents when the screen is open! Only then will it be a contender for stealing sales from MacBook. As it is I think its a bit rushed. Not quite half-baked, but definitely out of the oven before it is really ready.

more or less the same price as the newest Macbook (2.0GHz).
Only thing i like with Dell is the HDMI but not sure if that is enough to make me buy Dell.
Macbook has OSX and a sexy design (all aluminum).
If the price was about 30% lower on Dell or it offered build-in 3G modem or something to differentiate but as it is now its simply a nice laptop among many.

ps. yes of course it matters to compare. After all when you buy something you compare with other products on the market in the same segment. And i agree that Sony laptops are very nice too but at least in Sweden they are 3 time more expensive then other laptops. Even Apple is cheap compared to Sony :)

Dell service is terrible.you speak to someone in the Phillipnes whose accent is hard for a U.S. citizen to understand.And there seems to be a delay in the phone line.And you have to wait before you speak to them.They spend a lot on ads,but as little as possible on service.Phillipinos work for less$.While Apple may have its faults they do give good service.That is worth paying more for-something few if any reviewers mention.

I am currently looking at getting this notebook, and would like to know whether it is possible to run two external monitors from it, using both the VGA port and the HDMI port. Apparently the existing M1330 XPS could do this, but I haven't been able to find out anywhere if this notebook can do it.
Thanks in advance.