Dell Vostro V13: Pretty Tech on the Cheap

Slim is definitely in when it comes to our favorite tech. How we love to ooh and ahh over the design and marvel on how they fit all that tech into something so skinny. Apple’s Macbook Air has been the reigning Queen of Skinny Tech for awhile now, but Dell has been looking to dethrone Steve Jobs with the impossibly thin Dell Adamo and the new Adamo XPS.  Both brands are slim, both pack a respectable amount of tech and processing power, and both series are unbelievably expensive. A Macbook without all the bells and whistles costs $1400 while the Adamo XPS starts at $1500. I wonder if this is the tech version of Mo’Nique’s theory that skinny bitches are evil?

Thankfully, Dell realizes that not everyone has the finances to invest in the high-end Adamo XPS, so they rolled out the latest in the Vostro series, the V13.  PC Magazine is calling it “arguably the sexiest small business laptop yet,” and with good reason. The V13 is slim. How slim? At its widest, it measures 0.65 inches and weighs in at a feather-light 3.5 lbs. The casing is made of brushed aluminum while the hinges are comprised of reinforced zinc, making the V13 a thing of beauty in its own right.

Looks aside, what’s under the hood is just as awesome for the most part as the exterior. I definitely agree with PC Magazine’s assessment that a non-removable battery is not fresh by any stretch of the imagination. One the brighter side of things, the Vostro V13 is sporting a nice 13.3-inch LED-backlit HD Anti-glare screen with 1366 x 768 resolution. In terms of processing, Dell went with the Ultra-Low Voltage processors. The basic setup has an Intel Celeron 743 (1.2GHz, 1MB L2 cache) (Ultra Low Voltage) but the top of the line model has the Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300. The hard drive can also be upgraded from 250GB 5400RPM SATA to 320GB 7200RPM SATA and memory expanded to 4GBs.

As far as ports and multimedia, the V13 is solid. The speakers and microphone are built in but you have to upgrade to get the integrated 1.3MP webcam. There are two USB 2.0 ports, one doubling as a e/SATA reader. There’s also a 5-in-1 card reader and a slot for an ExpressCard. Oddly enough there isn’t a port for HDMI. Strange that Dell would have left this out since it’s obvious that this becoming a prerequisite on other comps. The laptop has can run on the 802.11n, and has Bluetooth capability.

The Vostro V13 is without question pretty and its also a solid piece of tech. The best part of this skinny minnie is the slim price tag. A basic setup will only run you $449 without any add-ons while a stepped up version starts at $649. Maybe this mark the days where consumers don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for nice looking gadgets. Having a spiffy design is great and all, but without solid technology to back it up, it’s just a shiny paperweight.