Dell Vostro V13 Laptop Review

[varundex5]

4 reasons not to buy Vostro V131. 1) System overheats 2) Noisy fan 3) Loose/rattling components 4) Dell refuses to accept flaws

[superxxshakeexx]

got this for christmas yayyyy!

[amitq99]

is that same core2duo that all laptop core2duo has pls reaply me soon thx

[OhDamFitAndReady]

This is my first time looking at your videos because Im looking into a laptop. What would be the best possible laptop for under 500$ dollars?

[SuperAssassinLord]

does it have wifi wireless connection to the internet

[hannlys]

what could i do if the battery broke down ?? please help me ?

[saintapathy]

Any V13 owners out there? Considering picking one of these up but I hear that the V13 battery life is absolutely dismal. Currently going for $399 @ Dell. May end up getting HP dm1 instead but it's about $100 more if I get it through Costco. Help me decide fast! Thnx.

[delliswierd]

@saintapathy it GOOD, but you should DEFINATLEY charge it for 48 hours before even turning it on.

[downedpelicanstudios]

Dells RAM is MUCH more expensive than buying it after market from a place like newegg

[GregoryHouseMD1]

Hey Techgearguy, I need your help. Im going to order this one soon. How heavy is the laptop? And How heavy is the box that you get directly from dell? I need this shipped outside the US. thanks

[TechGearGuy]

@GregoryHouseMD1 The laptop is about 3 lbs. The box doesn't contain whole lot of extra stuff.

[chickmagnet126]

@GregoryHouseMD1 Im not sure how much the box weighs but for a good size notebook its light weight, 3.5 pounds with the 6-cell battery

[enesmahser]

it hasnt cd dvd drive. but it is great

[coreyinkato]

Good point about the RAM, nice review

[bazmaximo]

Whats the battery life like on this? And I mean while im using it not just as its sat there

[Thuva44]

no hdmi?

[snoopyalien24]

I need help - this or the HP 311

[jpcwa74]

It looks solid and beautiful. However, the keyboard is small and there is no optical drive.

[Ronnie51026]

You said it was a consumer laptop, but the vostro line is meant for business.

[bobcab1010]

for the low end side of this product we can use linux as os. What about if i buy the high end and i will use linux as my os say ubunto is it possible?

[MegaAdorable90]

I NEED IT!

[edoneb]

You mentioned the keyboard is not full size? What is the length from Q to P. A full size keyboard is 7.25 inches. I am surprised a notebook of this size doesn't come with a full-sized keyboard,

[TechGearGuy]

@edoneb Did I say it wasn't full size?  I don't recall but if I did, my apologies. It is full size.

[rcastro0]

@TechGearGuy 3:34 in the video, "It's almost a full size". Thanks for correcting, though.

[iMstrKrft]

The only bad thing about this laptop is that it doesn't have a CD/DVD drive. :(

[TechGearGuy]

@iMstrKrft Yes it is inconvenient at times when I need to spin a CD or a DVD. But I don't really miss it much. They had to sacrifice something to have it be so thin and off went the optical drive. It doesn't bother me much but I can see it bothering people not having one. I just connect my thin USB External DVD drive when I need one.

[46er100]

I just received this exact laptop (Intel Core 2 Duo with 4 Gb, 320GB) The very minute I turned it on, directly out of the box, my first impression was "why is the fan so loud, and why does it vibrate?" When I place my palms on the laptop during typing you can feel the vibration in your hands and almost get this electric tingly feeling. Instantly disappointed.

[TechGearGuy]

@46er100 Obviously it must have been an anomaly. I can't speak for all V13 users, but at least mine didn't do anything like that, and still working strong. Good luck with that. Take care.

[r0manraven]

Where is the CD/DVD drive?

[TechGearGuy]

@r0manraven There isn't one on-board. An external USB based drive would be the only way.

[570Y8OY]

Hmm. only six minutes.

[Tommydudez]

sounds like American English but with some Euro twist to it,if i am right, u wouldnt be a.....Russian American! haha

[itsmeajp]

will it be a problem to run Visual Studio 2010 with SQL Desktop edition together in this machine.. ? wil it be good enough if it has a 4gb RAM with a Core2Duo ?

[chutsu]

Can one replace the battery one the Vostro v13 themselves??

[roykog]

Hey I've got another question! Do you think it's worth paying 100$ more for 4 GB of RAM instead of 2 GB or is 2 GB plenty enough??? Thanks!

[TechGearGuy]

@roykog definitely.

[roykog]

Definitely enough or definitely worth paying?

[TechGearGuy]

@roykog definitely get the additional 2Gb. $100 isn't bad either.

[hotboyfriend55]

@roykog you wont exceed 2 gb of ram in windows 7 with normal usage. If you care about having superfetch on which is pretty useless to many people and also a waste of battery life since the hard drive have to fetch data to memory, you dont need 4 gb at all, save the money and go for better cpu and hard drive or something.

[gesan501]

No DVD rom?

[TechGearGuy]

@gesan501 Does not come with one. It was sacrificed most likely to have a unit this thin. I just use a $40 USB powered DVDRW drive for rare times when needed.

[anandjassneet]

will Visual Studio n SQL softwares work fine on V13 ?

[TechGearGuy]

@anandjassneet Running a desktop edition of SQL engine on the machine will most likely degrade performance and seeing it's not a performance driven machine, I think you will see a noticeable drop in performance.

[techspoke]

Good Review! Might wanna try a wider shot next time. :)

[TechGearGuy]

@techspoke Hi there and thank you! Funny you mention it as all newer reviews will be shot with wide angle cameras. I have a few reviews coming up that are brewing - please make sure you come back to check 'em out! Thanks again!

[roykog]

What were your specs? How much did it costs you? Would you recommend it for school?

Thanks! :)

[TechGearGuy]

@roykog One I got is their $649 unit which comes with Core 2 Duo ULV and 2Gb of RAM. I can see it being great to have for school due to its slim size and comfortable keyboard. But the battery life isn't all too great which would make it not suitable if you normally don't plug in. As far as doing your school work, not much of an issue. Don't plan on playing much of any decent games though. Ain't gonna happen. :)

[roykog]

Thanks for the quick and complete answer! ;)

I'm planning to buy it for university, you know, taking notes and all that. I don't plan doing much gaming on it. As for the battery life, as long as it lasts about 3 hours, should be okay. I read it lasted about that time, is it right?

Your Core 2 Duo ULV cost about 900$ in Canada. I was actually planning to core the ULV Solo Core. Do you think it's gonna be much slower or is it still gonna be a good laptop?

Thanks again!

[TechGearGuy]

@roykog With the difference only being $50 US, I'd definitely take the Core2Duo over Solo. As far as the battery - it lasts just hair under 3 hours if you have LCD turned up, WiFi going, in a normal usage situation.

[roykog]

Problem is : difference is 300$ here in Canada... But thanks for your answers, I'll take a deeper look in it! ;) Nice video, useful, btw!

[NM2HI2TX]

@roykog same here. what about like itunes how would it work with music. such as itunes

[TechGearGuy]

@NM2HI2TX no issue running itunes and everything that is involved.

[hahaha96300]

hi. i have 2 qns. is this laptop gd at handling multitasking and hows long is the batt life? thanks

[TechGearGuy]

@hahaha96300 No issues handling normal day to day apps and tasks. It is a ULV processor even if it has 2 cores and 2gb limits you to some degree. With everything full blasting, you would get about hair under 3 hours.

[sappa67]

Does It Have a WIFI?

[TechGearGuy]

Yes.

[khairo123]

Does it Have CD ROM??

[TechGearGuy]

Negative.

[mammit]

How does this compare to Acer's Timeline series? Specifically the 14" Timeline? Only ask 'cause I like the fact that the 14" Acer has a built-in optical drive but I'm intrigued by the DeLL v13 design.

[TechGearGuy]

I have not had an Acer TL series come in to my lab yet to compare. Sorry.

[TechGearGuy]

Yes

[brbandeira]

Does it have built-in speakers?

[TechGearGuy]

Yes

[Muhannad90]

I have a question

where is the hard drive ? :)

[arsenal1032]

Wow the design looks really nice... and the price for this laptop is surprising.

[TechGearGuy]

I enjoy using it everyday as it's nicely built, good enough performance, and most of all does NOT run hot on top or bottom surface. For $600, could do a lot worse or bigger or heavier. :)