Dell 13z thread

ninja2000 said:
hmm I am considering one of these but have you noticed wwan aerials? Apparantly the wwan slot is above the wireless card but I cant see it in your photo. I have a dell 5530 wwan card I want to put in if I get it.

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Maybe there is one but you need to remove the back casing to get to it? You'd have to anyway to remove the HDD.



Edit*

Just played some HD content and everything is smooth as silk both on screen and out via HDMI.

720P and 1080P .mkv movies use around % CPU using DXVA in MPC-HC.

Everything is all installed and configured now, the 13z runs Win7 as good as I'd expect a desktop to run it!
 
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TPM as in DRM?

No idea, I guess not as I installed my retail version of Win7 Pro as a fresh install :p

The Home Premium version is still there on the recovery partition though.
 
That looks very nice indeed mrk

A few questions for you :)

You mentioned that the hard disk has a recovery partition for the pre-installed Windows 7 Home Premium. Do you get the full Windows 7 HP disk or just a Dell recovery disk which uses the recovery partition to reload Windows?

If you get the full Windows disk from Dell can you delete the recovery partition as I'd like to do a clean Windows install minus the dell bloatware and get the extra hard disk space back? If it is a recovery disk for Windows Dell gives you could I use the install disk from my retail copy of Windows 7 HP to do a clean install using the licence that comes with the dell or does it need to be an OEM install disk for an OEM licence?

The 2GB RAM upgrade you added is that just the kingston memory from OcUK as seen here?: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-046-KS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1264
 
I haven't unpacked the CDs that came with it in fact so will check that tonight, but I assume it is as that's how it was with other Dell notebook machines we have here at work.

It's only 10GB anyway though :p

As for the RAM, yep that's the stuff, works just fine!

Will report back with details tonight.
 
Hi mrk
Sorry to be a pain ..... im getting excited about my 13z !
I have another couple if questions for you

How long did you wait from the time the order status became "shipped" to delivery ?

Can you explain a bit about what the "Dell Quickset utility" does >
 
I ordered on the 14th IIRC and it showed up as shipped mid last week with the 24th as the delivery date - In total it took 10 days (or less if we're talking only business days).

Quickset does a number of things, it is the OSD for the Fn keys and volume etc, it adds Dell Battery meter which also enables Dell Extended battery (enabled Intel power saving features, just remember to turn off the option to disable Aero :p) and it also has some other stuff that applies to WWAN control and backlit keyboard control.

Sadly the 13z doesn't have the latter although the manual does mention WWAN/SIM card slot behind the battery though I guess this is optional.
 
13z is good expect it has only one device status light -- Power light. It is inconvenient to checkout hard drive activity, battery status, WiFi status and bluetooth status.
 
Windows Experience Index:

laptop_13z_windowsscore.jpg


And PCMark05: 2588
 
I'm still trying to figure out if the 13z would be the better buy for my folks. It's between the 13z and the HP Compaq 311c netbook, their existing laptop is five years old and they'd like the new one to last a similar amount of time.

I'm leaning towards the 13z as I think the Atom CPU in the 311c just won't have the performance and product life span they'll be expecting, even though they only use their existing laptop for web browsing/email and the odd bit of Microsoft Office. I also think the Dell has better build quality over the HP.

mrk you've used them both I could really use your advice on which you think would be the best option for me.
 
Hi Valo,

I think the best way to compare the two will be via Pros and Cons, based on the info you've given for your parents' usage I think Even the lowest spec 13z will suit them nicely. It would also improve battery life a bit more due to the lower power from the CPU compared to the one I have but still be beefier than an Atom.

HP 311c:
+ More portable by about an inch (W/L).
- Thicker at the back.
+ Longer battery life due to using a 6cell as standard, probably 6hrs vs 4hrs.
+/- Keyboard keys are large but quite close together, this may or may not be an issue, preference I guess.
- Atom CPU is quite sluggish, I see this even more now since getting the 13z and seeing how fast that is in comparison.
- 3GB ram max supported as only 32bit OSes are supported by Atom.
- Some driver bugs with nVidia's drivers causing slowdowns for people if some chipset drivers are installed, best to leave Windows 7 drivers installed if installing Win7
- No DVDRW drive
+ The speakers on the 311c were very impressive as was the headphones out, I prefer the sound on the 311c than on the 13z but I can live with this.
- Laggy trackpad

Dell 13z:
+ More professional and sleek looking.
+ Express charger feature where 80% battery can be had within 60mins of charging.
+ DVDRW drive included.
+ Intel ULV CPU is much nicer experience over the Atom, Win7 loads super fast and runs super smooth.
- Viewing angles are slightly worse than the HP 311c screen, both are LED backlit though and both have very nice colours
- The 4cell battery is what you get as standard, they also have an 8cell battery at extra cost and that sticks out an extra inch at the back. Worth keeping an eye out for 3rd party batteries maybe a 6cell down the line.
+ The keyboard is much more spacious and natural than the 311c, easier to type.
+ The trackpad is excellent, no lag, lots of options, I found middle click via tapzones (top left/right act as middle click in my config). It's also larger and has less friction than the 311c trackpad.

Build quality is the same on both *books but the bigger screen on the 13z is more pleasing given that the resolution is the same on both.

I think that covers the bulk of it!

The 311c is great and they will be fine with it IMO especially as you'd be saving £150~ depending on the 13z spec they get but if they are the type to complain about little things like the laggier trackpad or the keyboard that would take some getting used to then perhaps the 13z is the one to go for.
 
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mrk said:
Hi Valo,

I think the best way to compare the two will be via Pros and Cons, based on the info you've given for your parents' usage I think Even the lowest spec 13z will suit them nicely. It would also improve battery life a bit more due to the lower power from the CPU compared to the one I have but still be beefier than an Atom.

HP 311c:
+ More portable by about an inch (W/L).
- Thicker at the back.
+ Longer battery life due to using a 6cell as standard, probably 6hrs vs 4hrs.
+/- Keyboard keys are large but quite close together, this may or may not be an issue, preference I guess.
- Atom CPU is quite sluggish, I see this even more now since getting the 13z and seeing how fast that is in comparison.
- 3GB ram max supported as only 32bit OSes are supported by Atom.
- Some driver bugs with nVidia's drivers causing slowdowns for people if some chipset drivers are installed, best to leave Windows 7 drivers installed if installing Win7
- No DVDRW drive
+ The speakers on the 311c were very impressive as was the headphones out, I prefer the sound on the 311c than on the 13z but I can live with this.
- Laggy trackpad

Dell 13z:
+ More professional and sleek looking.
+ Express charger feature where 80% battery can be had within 60mins of charging.
+ DVDRW drive included.
+ Intel ULV CPU is much nicer experience over the Atom, Win7 loads super fast and runs super smooth.
- Viewing angles are slightly worse than the HP 311c screen, both are LED backlit though and both have very nice colours
- The 4cell battery is what you get as standard, they also have an 8cell battery at extra cost and that sticks out an extra inch at the back. Worth keeping an eye out for 3rd party batteries maybe a 6cell down the line.
+ The keyboard is much more spacious and natural than the 311c, easier to type.
+ The trackpad is excellent, no lag, lots of options, I found middle click via tapzones (top left/right act as middle click in my config). It's also larger and has less friction than the 311c trackpad.

Build quality is the same on both *books but the bigger screen on the 13z is more pleasing given that the resolution is the same on both.

I think that covers the bulk of it!
Click to expand...

You sir are a champion! :D :cool:

Thanks very much for breaking them both down looks like I’m joining the 13z band wagon.
 
Hi mrk
Have just looked at dell support there are new drivers for the 13 z , one for the touchpad and one for the Sata drive AHCI this i think will boost the 5.9 windows experience index score. (5.9 is the highest vista went up too maybe the new driver will allow windows 7 to show higher score. the 13z has a fasthard drive )
 
Already got the latest drivers =]

5.9 is the highest an SATA drive will get, even my desktop's WD Black edition gets 5.9. Only an ultra fast RAID setup or an SSD will get more really.

Edit*

Aha, a new BIOS has been found though, rev a02 :D
 
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It's good to know that the HDD will be able to cope with my usage though hehe :D
 
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