IT: Review on the Dell XPS 13

Within last few years we saw the introduction of the Macbook air, a ultrabook which marries technology and design into one sexy machine. Many windows based notebooks manufacturers are shocked by its design and good cooling system. Though its a mac, it can install with windows (through its intel based processor and other installation methods)

Consumer side, we have asus, acer and other taiwanese companies coming out the the macbook lookalike. But the corporate customers, only HP came out with the Filo. Most recently, Dell also came out with the Dell XPS13 which is design around the macbook air.

Having both the XPS 13 and macbook air for use in my company, i can say that the XPS 13 do have its drawbacks which is its battery life and small design details. Beyond that, it is a good machine capable of holding its weight in the fierce competition

The model we purchased is the top end of the range and technical specs are as below

Model: Dell XPS 13
Processor: Intel I7-2637
Ram: 4GB
Hard disk: 256GB SSD
Wireless: Intel 6230
Graphics: Intel HD 3000
USB ports: 2
Battery: 6cell (non 'removable')

I spend one sat afternoon to do the necessary software installation via the wireless and it install very quickly. Everything is moving very smooth and fast. It took me just 2 hours to finish all the installation plus windows update. However it took me another 1 1/2 hours to repair the partition as i removed the 12.5GB recovery partition which holds the bootup partition for the windows 7 64-bit SP1. I don't understand why such a large partition is given for the recovery partition.

There is also another 8GB given for the hibernation partition. For those who may not know the new intel chipset allows the creation of the hard disk to hold the hibernation packages so that one can easily come out of hibernation. Previously this was done via the paging files in windows. I don't know if this is a better way or not but since it is a small parition, i decided to leave it. 

The bottom of the XPS 13 are where the fans are so unlike the macbook air which has no fan outlets at its bottom. One also cannot open the XPS 13 via a single hand unlike the macbook air which hinge allows single hand operation.

The battery life is nothing to shout at. A macbook air can last 6 hours usage which the XPS 13 a mute 3 hours max. We tested both machines by continuously running a 5 mins video file over and over. For the notebook to be truly mobile, we prefer the notebook to have at least a 5 to 6 hours of running time.

Since this is for business usage, we order with the 3 years warranty and hopefully we don't need to call dell in for repairs within the 3 years usage.

All in all, i see that the Dell XPS 13 will fulfill the needs of those of us who wish to have the macbook air design but stick to the familiar windows feel.

IT: Review on Dell Vostro V131

A few years back I did a review on the Vostro V13 and there has been many changes since then. There was the V130 and recently the V131. One will ask what are the changes. The major one I can think of is the external battery on the V131 vs the internal battery on the V13.

Granted I am a IT professional so I can replace the internal battery with no issues but that does not stop me from wondering if a external battery will makes it easier for the end user to do such a simple job. The keyboards on the V131 is the same as V130. So think of the V131 as a bigger more muscle brother to the V130.

Below is the specs of the notebook in review
Intel I5-2430M
1x4GB DDR3 memory
1x320gB 7200 rpm hard disk
Still no optical drive
6-cell removable battery
Windows 7 32-bit Pro (with 3GB switch enabled)

The I5 is the second generation of the I5 family launched by Intel in 2011. It boast a higher L2/L3 cache and better instructions feed between the various components. From a layman point of view, it just translate into faster access to application. Topping it up with the RAM and it is a good light weight machine.

The weight of the notebook is around 1.7kg and the battery can last 4-6 hours of normal office usage. No bad consider that the V13 can go only 2-3 hours max on its standard configuration.

The wireless is also good though I have to upgrade to the latest intel version after trying the Dell website version. Could be due to my wireless infrastructure. One thing I just cannot understand is why Dell refuse to have the SSD version for the V131. My account manager say only the latitude version comes with SSD which i think is a bad business move. A SSD will and can improve performance, though i must say it comes with a price tag (a 256GB SSD is around S$500 while a 1TB SATA3 will be around the same price)

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Daily Life: Results of 2XU 15K run 2012

Finally I got some time to search for my results of my 2XU 15K 3 weeks ago. To be fair I am not too hopeful of the results as i did no run as fast as i will want it to. I was on the lookout for my friend who overslept.

Anyway, I got the results,1315 of 2344 runners. I will not know if its all runners or just those who take part in the 15K but to me, it's not too bad given the training I was putting myself through.


I still have to clear my upcoming 21K Run350 this sunday and the KL 42K run. I think my runs are already cut out for me and more training will be needed.