Dell Vostro V130

The Dell Vostro V130 is an incredibly thin, quiet and exquisite 13.3-inch laptop. Business users and travellers will find the laptop fits perfectly with their lifestyle. The only downside is the lack of an optical drive.
Ridiculously good looking, thin and light. Solid aluminium finish and looks sturdy enough to survive the odd drop or two.At 1.6kg, the Vostro V130 from Dell is only 280g heavier than the MacBook Air 13-inch laptop, comes in Lucerne Red or Aberdeen Silver with an LED-backlit, anti-glare, HD screen with 1366 x 768 resolution.The V130 is one of the thinnest and lightest ultraportable 13-inch laptops around and will set you back around £750.

The first thing you'll notice about the Vostro V130 when you pick it up is that it's incredibly thin and light. It weighs just over 1.5 kilos and is less than 2cm thick - which means it's perfect for those on the move.
This laptop is designed to be portable and it certainly doesn’t fail in that category. It sports a smooth 13.3 inch WLED HD screen with matt finish - a great size to watch HD movies or photos.The screen is vibrant and the 1366 by 768 screen res is perfect for web browsing and watching HD videos in 720p playback. There’s also an HDMI output on the back, which means you can plug it into your high-def telly and enjoy HD video content on the big screen.

The V130 is certainly value for money. This V130 shipped with 500GB hard drive, 4GB RAM with Windows 7 Home Premium in Aberdeen Silver. Made with aluminium and reinforced with zinc hinges, the V130 will certainly survive the odd bump and thump.
The V130 has an Intel Core i5-470UM processor with Turbo Boost mode, meaning that the clock speed can jump from 1.33 to 1.86GHz as and when required. The Vostro has Hyperbaric Cooling, an Intel Advanced Cooling Technology which means the V130’s cooling fan acts as an air intake rather than an exhaust.

It seems to work, too, as the V130 was quiet and cool after several hours’ use.

Plethora of connections

When it comes to connections, you’ll find almost all of them on the back of the laptop. There’s a shared eSATA/USB port, 2 USB ports, VGA, HDMI and Ethernet port.



There’s an audio and mic port on the front and on the side you’ll find a multi-format reader. There’s a SIM card slot at the front, too – but this V130 didn’t come with a 3G modem to use it.

There’s a full-sized keyboard with magnesium alloy palm rest, too. It’s got to be said – the V130 design is pretty flawless.
Impressive battery life

Battery life is pretty impressive for an ultraportable. The V130’s battery lasted for just over 3 hours running the CPU at 100% on Dell’s Power plan. If you want more juice, the battery life can be extended by using Dell’s own Power save plans, too.

Windows Experience Index

When it comes to the Windows Experience Index, the V130 is let down by its HD graphics integrated with the processor. It’s come a long way from previous generations of Intel integrated graphics chips and can support high definition video. However, playing games such as COD4 or FIFA11 become too much for the V130.

This is shown in the Windows Experience Index of 3.1 for graphics.

The only niggle we have for Dell about the V130 is the lack of an optical drive. With a laptop aimed at small to medium-sized businesses, you’d expect an optical drive – certainly for the price you’d have to pay for the V130.

All things considered, the Dell V130 is a great laptop. Although the ultraportable market is crying out for an all-in-one laptop that includes an optical drive – the V130 comes very, very close.