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Anyone own the Vostro V13?

S

slackerinabox

Lifer
I love the looks of this laptop and especially like the price, but anyone actually own one? I broke my netbook and am looking to replace it, but with a little more oomph for hulu HD and 720p mkv playback. Would the base Celeron + Intel integrated video fit the bill? How's the battery life?

Thanks!
 
Don't know about battery life but I think it is a great netbook replacement. Heck, I've had my eye on it since it was released. It's like a cheap version of the Adamas.

Unless you had to get it cheap, spring $100 more for one with a dual core proc. It will basically be a regular, decent notebook, albeit one at merely 3.5 pounds and under 0.8" thick.
 
IlllI said:
The endurance of the V13 was disappointing given its portability. On the LAPTOP Battery Test (web surfing via Wi-Fi), the V13 lasted just 4 hours and 19 minutes, approximately 1:20 below the ultraportable average, and about 1:30 less than the Edge 13 (5:46). Moreover, the battery is integrated into the system, and cannot be swapped out for a new one.

http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/dell-vostro-v13.aspx?page=2
Click to expand...

Good to know, but my netbook (MSI Wind) got around the same, so I'd be happy with a 13.3" with similar battery life.

Bit the bullet and ordered a vostro V13 for $409. At that price it's just a few bucks more than a netbook. The asus ul* has some stellar reviews but a few mention mediocre viewing angles, which would annoy me more than iffy battery life (and it costs over 50% more).

Thanks guys, I'll report back once I get it!
 
Typing on my v13 - love it! 720p video playsback fine, flash HD works perfectly but hulu full screen causes some slight choppiness. Hopefully the new flash release smooths that out. Battery life seems to be around 4.5/5 hours.

Looks pretty slick too!
 
freedomsbeat212 said:
Good to know, but my netbook (MSI Wind) got around the same, so I'd be happy with a 13.3" with similar battery life.

Bit the bullet and ordered a vostro V13 for $409. At that price it's just a few bucks more than a netbook. The asus ul* has some stellar reviews but a few mention mediocre viewing angles, which would annoy me more than iffy battery life (and it costs over 50% more).

Thanks guys, I'll report back once I get it!
Click to expand...

Curious, where did you get it for $409? Or is that the base version with celeron?
 
Base w/Celeron is $450. Must have been some coupon/email deal or through Outlet.

I'd also like to know. 😛

Also, what configuration? Just base?
 
Zap said:
Base w/Celeron is $450. Must have been some coupon/email deal or through Outlet.

I'd also like to know. 😛

Also, what configuration? Just base?
Click to expand...

Just got the base (with win 7 premium, not ubuntu) - I was replacing a netbook and I have a core 2 duo macbook already, so the $200 jump didn't seem worthwhile. I got it from dell outlet - free shipping, but I had to pay tax (came out to $440 something all said and done).

About the same weight as my old msi wind, and it's purty too so I wouldn't be embarrassed to take it out in public (unlike the dated, yellowing, non broken msi wind that looked a lot like a toy).

Refurb annoyance - slide scratch on the beautiful frame, but I can always put a sticker on it 😉
 
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Pretty sure the Vostro V13's battery life is abysmal.

I would love something like this to replace my Asus 1005PE but... I have yet to find something similar with 10-14 hours of battery life....
 
freedomsbeat212 said:
Just got the base (with win 7 premium, not ubuntu)...(came out to $440 something all said and done).
Click to expand...

Thanks for the update. Nice deal!

MJinZ said:
Pretty sure the Vostro V13's battery life is abysmal.
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Yeah, it's probably among the worst out of all the CULV offerings, but that might be because it has the lowest W/hr rating regardless of how many cells it has. Likely that was to fit the form factor. Still, it has better battery life than typical notebooks.

For longer life, most of the typical CULV offerings give 6-8 hours, but some of the Asus offerings give 10-14 hours. You have to do your research, but they do exist.
 
Zap said:
Thanks for the update. Nice deal!



Yeah, it's probably among the worst out of all the CULV offerings, but that might be because it has the lowest W/hr rating regardless of how many cells it has. Likely that was to fit the form factor. Still, it has better battery life than typical notebooks.

For longer life, most of the typical CULV offerings give 6-8 hours, but some of the Asus offerings give 10-14 hours. You have to do your research, but they do exist.
Click to expand...

I was going to get one of the asus ul*, but they cost 50% more. There's also reviews on the asus saying the viewing angles are awful, which would bother me more. And, honestly, I rarely find myself away from a socket for that long, unless I'm traveling. And I don't travel that much 🙂 But so far I'm getting 5 hours, which isn't all that bad. Much better than the 2 hours of my old toshiba satellite! For my uses this dell is pretty awesome, but there are surely other awesome options out there.

I'm going to try CPU throttling software for when I'm on battery power to see how that helps, but I haven't found a good one yet
 
freedomsbeat212 said:
I'm going to try CPU throttling software for when I'm on battery power to see how that helps, but I haven't found a good one yet
Click to expand...

I used to use CrystalCPU for throttling my old Dell Inspiron 6000. I would get around 4 hours with the 9 cell battery.
 
Zap said:
I used to use CrystalCPU for throttling my old Dell Inspiron 6000. I would get around 4 hours with the 9 cell battery.
Click to expand...

Cool! I just found and installed "Notebook Hardware Control," and successfully set up a profile to downclock from 1200mhz while plugged in to 300 (which oddly is fine for web browsing). Haven't had enough time to see the real impact, but I'd be happy with a 25% increase (some users reported as much as a 50% increase). All of this would be moot if my CPU had speedstep, but Celerons lack the feature.
 
Wow- looks like the lack of speedstep is a huge battery killer on the celeron 7xx. 4 hr life battery went up to a max of 6.5 using manual throttling at lowest lcd brightness.
 
Yeah, that's how Intel was able to differentiate the higher end procs to make them worth the $100-150 extra for the same performance.
 
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