Thinking of upgrading/replacing my M1330

[stuartmanton]

I currently have a four and a half year old Dell XPS M1330 that I am trying to decide what to do with.

It comes with me to work on the train every day for use on the commute, catching up on iPlayer or when I feel productive running Visual Studio 2010, SQL Server 2008 and a few other dev tools.

I originally had both the 6 and 9 cell batteries. The 9 cell is knackered so back to using the 6 cell. I get just under an 1.5 hours from a full charge and the battery is showing 20% wear.

I have been thinking about putting a 128Gb SSD in it to try to extend its life a little, but am now I am wandering if it would be more cost effective just to replace the whole machine (possibly selling the M1330) ....but what with?

Requirements:
Portable
Powerful
SSD (at least 128Gb)
Good battery life
It wouldn't be used for gaming
A decent about of RAM (8Gb)
Solid build quality (I sometimes need to run for the train)

Ideally something that would last another 4 years.

I like the look of the new Dell XPS 13 but prices haven't been released yet.
A 13" MacBook Air is an option but as I need it for development it seems a waste to pay the Apple premium just to run Windows.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[beermonster]

Saw an Acer 4830 today was quite impressed, 6-7 hour battery i5 cpu nice neat looking laptop.

 

[spaceman]

i'm thinking about replacing my m1330 with a thinkpad x220.

still undecided, it would fit your requirements though.

 

[stuartmanton]

A couple of people I was talking to today have praised the T420S. I have had thinkpads as work laptop before and can not fault their build quality. I'm not impressed with the work HP I have at the moment though.