Dell Dell XPS M1210

Reviewed by: bigmutt

Duration of ownership: 3 Months

Strengths: Size is just right; attractive but not flashy; excellent tech support and great XPS extras; nice to have 4 USB slots; has good air-flow system to disipate the heat.

Weaknesses: keyboard is a bit cheap & has flimsy feel; location of the media buttons (front edge) is inconvenient when using on lap: buttons always get pushed accidentally. speakers are small but what do you expect in a 12-inch slim notebook! it does get warm in the lap. the 9-cell battery sticks out the back, preventing it from fitting into most of the sub-compact laptop sleeves or cases.

Overall Evaluation: It's so easy to pack for a trip; it's so nice to carry around the house from bedroom to kitchen to den to terrace. I went from a 15-inch screen (Dell) to this 12-inch and the transition was easier than I expected. (except for the shiny screen: I hate it!) It runs Vista wonderfully, and the only drawback is that the MediaHome button functions don't work with Vista. the ports and general design is very nicely done, and the only thing I could want is a built-in tuner. The camera is nice, but the WiFi finder is somewhat gimmicky, since a seperate, $25 WiFi finder accessory is much better and more convenient. It has good airflow, with fan, but still gets hot in the lap. The reflections off the "Brite" screen are annoying compared to matte screens, but all-in-all I love it. Just wish I'd gotten the biggest hard-drive available instead of the 80GB.