First Take: Dell Vostro V131

Dell has responded to criticism of its stylish but disappointing Vostro V130 ultraportable business notebook by improving the battery in this Sandy Bridge update. However, it's still pricey for what you get.

The Vostro V130 sacrificed too much for style; even with an ultra-low voltage processor, it only managed two hours of battery life, and you couldn't even replace the battery when it ran out. The Sandy Bridge Core i5-2410M processor in the V131 is a mainstream CPU delivering far better performance, backed up with 4GB of memory and a 500GB hard drive. The combination of Sandy Bridge and a larger (and removable) 6-cell battery manages close to 8 hours in light use (four hours with more demanding apps and a lot of Wi-Fi use). That means it packs a lot more punch than the V130 — and it does so without losing style.

Stylish and more functional; Dell Vostro V131

It's not as sleek or ultra-thin as the Samsung Series 9, but the V131 is a fairly thin slab of black and silver that's thin (19mm) and light (1.8kg). The chrome surrounds on the keyboard and touchpad match the styling of the silver metal case and black plastic insides, but although we're sure the V131 will stand up the rigours of travel, it doesn't feel that sturdy. There's also too much flex as you move the screen, although the way the case projects behind the screen keeps it stable.

There's a wide bezel around the 13.3in. screen, but it has a generous 1,336-by-768-pixel resolution. The anti-glare matt finish makes it a little less bright than other screens, as well as avoiding reflections. Colours are still fairly bright and vivid, and detail is crisp.

The backlit keyboard has well-spaced isolated keys with rounded edges that mean your fingers stay on the right keys; it also has an excellent typing action with enough travel, despite the shallow case and lack of rake. The touchpad is accurate and responsive; the two physical buttons have a soft but positive action and the two-finger multitouch gestures work well. There's a function key to turn the trackpad off if you find you brush it accidentally while typing, and an indicator light to remind you that you've done that (the other indicator lights are on the front of the case, where they're usually hidden when the V131 is on your lap).

Although the build quality feels slightly less than sturdy, the V131 has an excellent (and backlit) keyboard

There's a good selection of ports: both VGA and HDMI, two USB 3.0 ports and one slower USB 2.0 port, an SD Card reader and a fingerprint reader (tucked out of the way at the edge of the palm rest. The combined headphone and microphone socket is convenient for Skype and other VoIP tools. The sound quality from the tiny speakers on the front of the case is good — for music or conference calls.

Network options are also good; as well as Gigabit Ethernet, single-band 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0, the Vostro has integrated mobile broadband (although now that there's a removable battery, GSM rules have forced Dell to move the SIM socket under the battery). You don't get eSATA or FireWire, but USB 3.0 is steadily replacing those. You don't get an optical drive either — unlike the otherwise similar and lightweight Toshiba Portégé R830 or the Sony VAIO SB, which also have the edge over the V131 in build quality.

Without an optical drive, £799 (ex. VAT) is expensive for a Core i5 business ultraportable (you have to choose a far slower processor to drop the price), and it's not clear why you're paying this much. That, and the plastic elements of the chassis are the main drawbacks of an otherwise pleasing system that delivers business power without sacrificing style.

Mary Branscombe