Dell Vostro V130
- Category: Notebook Computers
December 3, 2010
Editor's Rating
- Stylish, ultraportable design
- HDMI out
- 4GB of RAM & solid-state drive
- Wide display viewing angles
- Very short battery life
- Battery isn't removable
The Dell Vostro V130 is a solidly-built, portable laptop that has an Intel Core i5 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a 13.3-inch HD display. Dell also includes a 128GB solid-state hard drive for added battery life, however, it doesn't translate into a longer real-world numbers.
The aluminum body feels very sturdy and seems like it can handle the bumps and bruises of portability. The whole thing measure 13 x 9 x 0.7-inches and weighs only 3.6 pounds, which is quite lightweight. It's an excellent size to throw into a bag quick and carry around with you throughout the day. The inside of the body is a black plastic that isn't shiny, so fingerprints aren't an issue.
The keyboard is a fairly comfortable keyboard to use, but it is very noisy and clicky, but that's not a big deal in the long-run. The touchpad is very large and has a frictionless feel to it, which makes it comfortable and easy to use.
The Vostro V130's display is a 13.3-inch high-definition (720p) WLED display with a native resolution of 1366 x 768-pixels. The viewing angles of this display is quite impressive with virtually 180 degrees of viewing.
Dell includes a decent amount of ports on the V130. There are an HDMI port, 2 USB 2.0 ports, an eSATA/USB combo port, VGA out, and Ethernet. On the right side, there's a 5-in-1 memory card reader and the audio ports. There is also a 2.0-megapixel Webcam above the display and features face tracking abilities that worked well.
The specifications of the Dell Vostro V130 include an Intel Core i5-470U CPU (1.33GHz), 4GB of RAM, a 128GB solid-state drive and an Intel Graphics HD video processor. The solid-state hard drive replaces the conventional spinning-disc hard drive, which in theory, saves battery life and allows for faster read/write speeds. Dell also includes 802.11b/g/n wireless networking and Bluetooth connectivity. The integrated HD graphics processor is only suitable for typical computing tasks, like Web browsing, but don't expect to do any 3D gaming. Dell includes Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) with this system.
The battery life of the V130 is rather disappointing, despite the solid-state hard drive. In real-world use, expect to get around 2.5-3.0 hours of battery life, which is well-below other similar ultraportable notebooks. What's worse is the 6-cell battery is built-into the laptop, which means you can't hot-swap them out to get extended use.
Dell includes Microsoft Office 2010 Starter Edition and a 15-month subscription to Trend Micro Worry Free Business Services.
