The New Vostro V131 Notebook from Dell

The Vostro V131 that has been launched by Dell has been getting great reviews from both new users and the seasoned professionals.

This latest series from Dell is said to have an excellent exterior finish that is of red color and are prone to the fingerprints due to the shiny coating. Its interior is covered with a black coating making it quite attractive.

This laptop looks quite light and compact with a superior build, excellent quality and striking design.

Enhanced Features of the Vostro V131

This particular series is said to come with various connectivity options. The ports that are present in the left come with an HDMI slot, USB port, card reader and an effective heatsink. The user can find two slots of USB 3.0, VGA port, 3.5mm jack and an Ethernet port, and a power slot is found on the back.

At the bottom panel in the front are the stereo speakers, with notification LED’s. This particular laptop gets power from Intel Core i3, and has a 2330M processor that runs at 2.2GHz clock speed.

Other specifications of this wonderful machine includes 2GB RAM, 500GB HDD with integrated HD3000 Intel Graphics card. Other usual stuffs like Wi-Fi, integrated webcam, fingerprint reader and Bluetooth 3.0 are present in it and the OS is Windows 7 Professional version.

Weak Points of this Laptop

The Vostro V131 is also said to have some flaws. The hinge area is considered to be extremely fragile and one could find an impression on the screen’s other side if pressed lightly on the outside.

The LCD is found a bit wanting as it causes the pixels to smear even on a light touch. The keyboard has plenty of armrest. However, the Vostro V131 has still taken market by storm and has grabbed some great positive remarks from its users and is recommended to the new users.

Dell Vostro 3350 Released

The Vostro 3350 borrows its elegant design from the Vostro 3300. Apart from this, the business laptop now packs the new Sandy Bridge Core i7 processor, 4 GB of RAM and 500 GB HDD. Those not looking for so much steam can opt for units with mellowed down Core i3s and Core i5.

Design and Build :
The Dell Vostro 3350 has similar design to the Vostro 3300, featuring a sturdy and good looking aluminium outer-shell -- everything?s almost the same. The Vostro 3350 exterior metal finish gives the business laptop a very sturdy build like the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420s. The metal hinges the screen rests on are extremely well built ensuring the screen is firmly rooted to the rest of the chassis. The laptop?s surface is matte, and therefore resistant to smudges and dust. The Vostro 3350?s 13.3-inch screen has decent viewing angles, more than what we had hoped for.

The full-sized chiclet styled, isolated keyboard now features better spaced out keys, making typing much easier; the keys deliver good tactile feedback. The keyboard deck doesn?t suffer from any flex and the palm rest is accommodative enough to ensure comfortable typing. Keys featuring secondary functions are clearly stamped with orange labels making them easier to recognise and use. The trackpad is wide, supports multi-touch gestures and is pretty accurate it has a fine texture which feels nice on touch. The mouse keys are discrete and easy to press but a touch too noisy.

Three distinct shortcut buttons find their place on the Dell Vostro 3350 business laptop?s chassis, above the keyboard. The first button opens up various usable options in Window?s Mobility Center. The second connects you to the Dell Support Center and the last button is somewhat our favourite - a customisable application -launch button. This will, no doubt, keep business users happy.

Features :
Following the latest trend of the industry, the Dell Vostro 3350 business laptop features Intel new Sandy Bridge processor. The unit that was sent to us features the Core i7- 2620 clocked at 2.9GHz with 4 GB of RAM and dedicated graphics AMD Radeon HD 6490M option and a 500GB hard drive. The Dell 3350 has a screen size of 13.3-inch packing in 1333x768 pixels. Unlike the Lenovo ThinkPad E420s this device has a matte display; though the device does not output the same vivid display like the ThinkPad E420s, the matte finish ensures absolutely zero reflection. Matte screens are also slightly better for reading text for longer durations, cutting out the gloss on most modern laptops.

As for the connectivity options, the Dell Vostro 3350 is miles ahead of its competition. Its left side has 2 USB 3.0 ports, an ethernet port and a tray loading DVD slot. The right edge features a VGA, HDMI port, a USB 2.0/eSATA hybrid port and a headphone and microphone jack. On the front you get an 8-in-1 card reader. We are really glad the Vostro 3350 features two USB 3.0 ports, this ensures for much faster data transfer speeds compared to the older USB 2.0 port. Wireless communication protocols like Wi-Fi 802.11n and Bluetooth 3.0 are also supported on the Dell Vostro 3350. Taking a cue from the ThinkPads, the Dell Vostro 3350 also sports a spill-resistant keyboard. For added security the unit also features a fingerprint reader for biometric protection. The Dell Vostro 3350 also features a 2MP in-built HD webcam and the laptop comes with pre-installed Skype software video conferencing is a treat

The 10 Best Videos of CES 2012

 

Last week’s 2012 Consumer Electronics Show was filled with lots of exciting technology that will hopefully come our way in the near future. We shot a lot of video last week with a lot of cool products.

1. Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga: Tablet and Ultrabook in One

As one of the first Windows 8 tablets, the Ideapad Yoga was already primed for lots of attention, but its unique design is what makes it really stand out. This convertible ultrabook/slate bends completely backward to become a tablet, but also bends at other angles for propping it up on a table, or typing on it like a traditional notebook. It ditches the 180-degree swivel hinge that most convertibles sport in favor of one long complete hinge that’s reminiscent of a spiral-bound notebook.

2. Razer Project Fiona Hands-on

This conceptual tablet for gamers has joysticks built into each side of this Windows-based, Intel Core i7 tablet. The amazing thing about this multi-touch tablet is that it can run many of the same games that your gaming laptop runs today– without any modifications. We were able to play Warhammer 40000: Space Marines on the slate without any problems. Razer anticipates that it will be released in the fourth quarter of 2012 for under $1000. Read more about Project Fiona.

3. HTC Titan II for AT&T Hands-on

We got our hands on the sequel to the Windows Phone-powered HTC Titan, appropriately named the Titan II. Like its predecessor, the Titan II features a 4.7-inch 800 x 480 pixel Super LCD display, but unlike the original Titan– and every other smartphone in the U.S.– the Titan II has a 16 megapixel camera for an unparalleled level of detail. It’s due to arrive on AT&T soon.

4. Tobii Gaze Interface Eyes-on

Imagine controlling your laptop with just your eyes– clicking links and playing games without ever touching your computer. This new technology is coming soon in the form of Tobii’s Gaze interface. We were able to go “eyes-on” with the interface and navigate through the Windows 8 tile interface with our eyes. It was very cool. Read more about the Tobii Gaze eye-control interface.

5. FXI Cotton Candy Hands-on: USB Stick-sized Portable Computer

This sleek and sexy ultrabook weighs just 2.9 pounds and is only 0.59-inches thick, but it’s packed with potential. The follow-up to Acer’s first ultrabook, the Aspire S3, the S5 includes Acer’s Green Instant On, a technology that will wake the computer from sleep in just 1.5 seconds and provide longer battery life. The S5 is dedicated to speed thanks to its solid state drive, and USB 3.0  and Thunderbolt ports.

7. HP Envy 14 Spectre Hands-on

It may not be the thinnest or lightest ultrabook we saw at CES, but that’s because its lid, display and palmrest are made of scratch-resistant glass. Yes, you read that right — glass. This unique laptop features a 14-inch display with a resolution of 1600 x 900 and will sport an Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD when it’s released on February 8th.

8. Nokia Lumia 900 Hands-on

It’s time for Windows Phone to get sexy with the Lumia 900, which will make its debut on AT&T’s 4G LTE network. In addition to a 4.3-inch display, the Lumia 900 includes an 8-megapixel camera with a quick-firing Carl Zeiss lens. Though it’s a Windows Phone through and through, Nokia has included a few of its own apps, including Nokia Drive. Read more about the Nokia Lumia 900.

9. Samsung Series 7 Gamer Hands-on

Can a gaming machine be good looking and powerful? Samsung certainly thinks so. We got a look at the company’s Series 7 Gamer at CES, a powerful laptop that will only be available in one configuration when it’s released in April for $1,799. But, it’s likely to be the only one you’d want with a next-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Nvidia GeForce GTX670 graphics with 2GB of memory, and  a 2TB hard drive.

10. I’m Watch Wrists-on

We saw a few Android-powered wristwatches at CES this year, but really liked the unique tethering ability of the I’m Watch. Pair it via Bluetooth with your phone and you’ll not only be able to dial a phone number on the touchscreen keypad, but also use the watch’s speaker and microphone for the full Dick Tracy experience, sans video, from your wrist.