Dell 13z thread

[BananaDunka]

The 311 was ok but the Atom CPU is not capable of HD acceleration without GPU assistance whereas the ULV SU7300 is. I also did not like the touchpad because there was too much lag in it which really is night and day compared to the Synaptics one used in the 13z, it's also almost twice the size.

Oh and battery life was around 5 hours.

 

[Markachy]

From the myhpmini forums, apparently with a bit of overclocking, keeping Windows XP and a 2GB stick of 1333 RAM it speeds up nicely.

A new model has also just appeared on the HP Store UK, the only difference appears to be a 7200RPM HDD for and extra £30, no availability yet though.

I am just worried that having 10 tabs on firefox plus WMP on simultaneously will grind it to a halt. Is it ok multitasking?

 

[BananaDunka]

It is OK for normal work but nothing major. I did run Photoshop on it but I would not multitasking CPU demanding Alps. I would choose the ULV platform over Atom any day due to its performance advantage.

 

[Valo]

Hey I learned a lot from it and informed you guys on this learnage

You’re not wrong there! You really helped me with my decision between the 311c and the 13z. I'm really glad I went with the 13z for my folks as it's perfect for them, as I think the mini 311c would have been the wrong choice with the smaller screen.

I'm surprised you've sold yours on mrk but each to their own The bigger battery does spoil the look of the laptop a little bit, however I’ve seen worse. My folks actually like the raised back as it makes it more comfortable for them to type.

 

[BananaDunka]

Ah yeah that's a plus point I suppose but on the move 90% of my typing is done on the lap so the extra sticky outyness on the back would dig into my knees feeling uncomfortable after a while - it did on the NC10 as that battery also sticks out a bit!

The UL30VT has shown up on Amazon USA at a shade over $800 - hmm slightly more than I was expecting it to be but this is the A1 version which comes with a higher capacity battery it seems.

I figured if I was going to get a higher rated notebook in a few months then I might as well sell on the 13z now since I don't have any onsite work until the spring so I'd have enough time to sell + scope out (slim) replacements

I'll also continue to recommend the 13z to people looking for a fast and capable 13" in this price range

 

[Markachy]

https://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/HP_Pavilion_DV2-1121ea_652818.html

How does that look? Roughly 4 hours battery life on powersave mode, better graphics and processor than any netbook (bar the Acer Ferrari probably) I think...

 

[BananaDunka]

Looks ok but 4hours rated in power save mode is likely 2-3 hours max real world so you can only imagine how low the battery life is in balanced mode.

I ran the 13z in balanced customised mode so the hdd was on always and it only went to hibernate after 60 minutes but turned off the display after 20.

Other than that it looks ok, wonder what trackpad it uses and also no idea on what the AMD Neo processors are like!

 

[Fozzie55]

Thanks mrk for your review and your excellent photos. I was undecided between the 13z and the HP DM3 for my wife. She wanted light and smallish as her old Acer was 3.5kg Pentium 4 with everything on, even floppy disk drive
Ordered the 13z today in Cherry Red to match her nails I mentioned the battery sticking out and she said not a problem, plus it tilts the keyboard when on a desk

 

[Valo]

Thanks mrk for your review and your excellent photos. I was undecided between the 13z and the HP DM3 for my wife. She wanted light and smallish as her old Acer was 3.5kg Pentium 4 with everything on, even floppy disk drive
Ordered the 13z today in Cherry Red to match her nails I mentioned the battery sticking out and she said not a problem, plus it tilts the keyboard when on a desk

That's some upgrade! You won't be disappointed

 

[BananaDunka]

Heh indeed!

 

[Iceman]

Am i missing something here? Sorry to seem abrupt.
At the moment the cheapest 13z is £479 delivered, What have you got that is different apart from the memory.

Sorry if i have missed something easy.

Im after a new laptop and looking at these they seem very very good and very nice looking too, If honest the £479 would be more than ample for me as long as the cpu's are decent.

Well if its better than my trusty travelmate 2420.

Thanks

 

[Iceman]

Ignore

 

[bob055]

any news on the Asus UL30VT UK release date?

 

[Fozzie55]

Just got delivery date for my wifes 13z on Monday. Playtime setting it up for her bless

 

[ghop]

Looks very nice indeed! Although, however tempting it may be, as I'm not at uni anymore, I have no need for a little laptop

 

[Valo]

Just got delivery date for my wifes 13z on Monday. Playtime setting it up for her bless

Good stuff! I'd advice you to apply a couple of updates while your "setting it up". There is a new BIOS update for the 13z and a firmware update for the DVD Drive that fixed an issue I had booting from DVD all of which is downloadable through the Dell support website.

 

[Fozzie55]

Cheers Valo, let you know how I get on. If I can find my camera charger may post some photos. Also got an i5 750 to build on Monday as well. My compensation for her new laptop

 

[Rich43]

I have one of these. Does anyone use it with Ubuntu/Fedora/Linux etc?

The panel brightness does not work correctly in linux, kde seems to not be able to set full brightness and gnome does nothing at all!

Broadcom wireless is a bit of a pain in the *** but ok once you have firmware in.

Might be some other annoyances I forgot. I have top of the range model.

Oh yeah, the laptop chokes on 1080p on linux and windows.

 

[RobMunfy]

I'd be interested to know what the overall consensus on this is - is it good value for money? Are there better options out there?

Cheers

 

[Conrad11]

I'd be interested to know what the overall consensus on this is - is it good value for money? Are there better options out there?

Cheers

I would like to know this also.