Dell Vostro V13 notebook

Dell’s Vostro range is aimed at smaller businesses, and the V13 is a 13.3-inch screened model that is both thin and light. Dell doesn’t always do well in the design stakes, but this notebook, which has a starting price of £359 ex VAT, is a real stunner.

Thin (16.5mm) and light (1.6Kg) it has a brushed aluminium lid and base which provides plenty of protection for the screen and underside makes the notebook look rather different from the norm.

The 13.3-inc screen offers 1366 x 760 pixels and with a mat rather than reflective finish it is good to use in office situations. The keyboard is very solid and for those who like a large Enter key the double height, 1.5 width offering here is superb. There is a generously sized touchpad which allows you to get about 4/5 across the screen in one sweep.

Ports and connectors run to just two USB ports, one an eSATA combination connector. In addition there’s an Ethernet connector, SD and compatible card reader, Express card reader, VGA connector, and microphone and headphones jacks. The latter two are on the front right edge, making them very accessible. Handy, perhaps in use alongside the webcam or just for listening to music.

There is no optical drive, though, so personal DVD watching is ruled out unless you expense an external drive, and you are going to have to go up from the base price if you want to build a notebook with a large hard drive, Windows 7 Professional and top notch processor, too.

All three variants of the V13 sport CULV processors so we are hopeful of good battery life.

First impressions are positive. Hopefully we’ll be writing a full review soon.

Sandra Vogel