Although Dell has dove into the pricey and posh notebook market lately, the computer giant is doing a reversal with its Vostro V13 thin and light laptop.
The computer costs $449 in its basic configuration -- a far cry from its $1800 Adamo XPS, $1500 Adamo and $2000 Latitude Z -- and it's stylish too. The 13.3-inch notebook is a mere 0.65 inches thick, and weighs 3.5 pounds, making it even lighter than an Adamo for a third of the price.
The catch is that for $450, you're getting a Ubuntu system instead of Windows. There's also no Web cam in that model. Move up to Windows 7 Home premium, and the price jumps to $599, but you also get a 1.4 GHz Core 2 Solo processor instead of a 1.3 GHz Celeron M. A 1.3 GHz Core 2 Duo version is available starting at $649.
Specs are average, but respectable, with 2 GB of RAM and a 250 GB, a 5,400 rpm hard drive in the basic model, or a 320 GB, 7,200 rpm drive in the higher two tiers. The pricier two models can also be outfitted with 4 GB of RAM and 500 GB hard drives. All three models have six-cell batteries, but Dell doesn't say how much life you'll get on a charge. In exchange for the thin frame, you'll lose the optical drive, which doesn't bother me at all.
Between the three models, there's enough customization to make the Vostra v13 a respectable choice in the thin and light category, but you'll have to wait for reviews to see how the computer fares on keyboard, trackpad and screen quality. One other note of caution: Like many other computers in this class, you're stuck with Intel's integrated 4500MHD graphics accelerator, so don't expect a lot of mileage with gaming or HD video. But this is the Vostro line, which is geared towards business uses anyway. On that front, the price point and design have me intrigued.
