There’s also a choice of up to 750GB 7,200rpm hard-drives or a 256GB SSD, along with WiFi a/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0. The XPS 14z follows its 15-inch sibling, the XPS 15z, which itself offered the sort of display size you’d expect on a larger notebook in a slick aluminum chassis. In the US the Dell XPS 14z will be priced from $999, while in the UK it will be priced from £799.
Once again, you'll find smooth aluminum surfaces, clean lines and a backlit keyboard flanked by long speaker strips. Speaking of ports, Dell included HDMI, a Mini DisplayPort, Ethernet, headphone and mic ports, a 7-in-1 memory card reader and two USB ports (one 2.0, the other 3.0).
Truth be told, this isn't even the most shameless Mac impersonation we've seen (that might well be HP's Envy laptops). Specifically, that means people who like a few embellishments on their $1,000 laptop.
On the one hand, that sunken hinge means that when you rest the laptop on your lap, the weight distribution between the chassis and display feels balanced. At 4.36 pounds (4.12 if you upgrade to an SSD), it feels reasonably lightweight, especially considering you get the benefit of a larger display than is typically used in a laptop with these dimensions. (The 13-inch MacBook Pro weighs 4.5 pounds, for instance.)
Dell also says this is the thinnest "fully functional" 14-inch laptop, at 0.9 inches (23mm) thick, though if we're being honest, we wouldn't describe it as skinny, per se. (Plus, uber specific superlatives are kind of silly.) Meanwhile, the lower-end Inspiron 14z ($599.99 and up) also measures a little less than an inch thick and sports a sunken hinge, 1366 x 768 display, optional backlit keyboard and a (mostly) metal chassis. A good sign, given that we've written many a laptop review hunched over the keyboard, cursing.
It even glows when the laptop has been sitting idle for some time. If you're looking for a high-res display to go with your backlit keyboard and magnesium alloy chassis, you'll be sorely disappointed. Honestly, this is pretty standard fare for 13- and 14-inch laptops, though there are a few gems offering more pixels per inch. The extra screen real estate the Shuriken display provides is just glorious. Even if you dip the screen forward slightly, the picture turns pale and washed-out.
Performance and graphics
Our $1,300 test laptop came armed with a 2.8GHz Core i7-2640M CPU, 8GB of RAM, a 750GB 7,200RPM drive and dual graphics cards, with Intel's HD 3000 on the integrated side and NVIDIA's GeForce GT520M with 1GB video memory on the discrete. When we reviewed the current-generation HP Envy 14, we tested a less expensive $1,080 configuration that combined a Core i5 processor, 7,200RPM drive and dual graphics with AMD's 1GB Radeon HD 6630M on the discrete side. Additionally, our 14z's 3DMark score is similar to what we got from a $1,000 Sony VAIO SB with a Core i5 CPU, 5,400RPM drive and a Radeon HD 6470M card with just 512MB of video memory.
Battery life
In China, Dell's promising six hours and 58 minutes of runtime. Projected battery life for the Chinese market is based on tests with a machine that that had a Core i5 CPU and 4GB of memory.
Dell's really not doing anything to combat its reputation for saddling its laptops with crapware. Then there's Dell's DataSafe local and online backup, which affords you 2GB of storage, gratis.
We've seen PCs with minimal software loads, but it's because of machines like this that Windows machines have earned a bad rap for being stuffed with unwanted software.
Configuration options
Though the configuration we tested rings in at $1,300, the XPS 14z starts at $1,000 with a 2.4GHz Core i5-2430M processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB 7,200RPM hard drive and integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics. From there, you can swap in the 2.8GHz Core i7 processor we tested, up to 8GB of RAM and either a 750GB 7,200RPM drive or a 256GB SSD. On the graphics side, of course, you can get that GT520M card with 1GB of video memory, and you can also elect to add NVIDIA's Optimus graphics-switching technology. If you're curious, a tricked-out model with a Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM, NVIDIA
Optimus and a 256GB SSD will set you back $1,600.
The 14z isn't alone in that space of $1,000 laptops that command a premium for a striking design and nice performance boost. In HP's camp, there's the Envy 14, which, like the 14z, starts at $1,000 with a 2.4GHz Core i5-2430M processor, eight-cell battery and a 500GB 7,200RPM drive. However, it packs 6GB of RAM, not four, and the standard graphics card is an AMD Radeon HD 6630 with 1GB of video memory.
Moving on to Sony, the company has two 13-inch laptops - the SB series ($800 and up) and the higher-end SA ($1,000 and up) -- that can compete with the XPS 14z. The 13-incher starts at a higher price -- $1,199 -- and comes with more modest specs, including a 2.3GHz Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, integrated Intel graphics, a 1280 x 800 display and a 320GB 5,400RPM hard drive. It's well-designed with great battery life, to be sure, but no one ever said it was a bang-for-your buck laptop.
We typed thousands upon thousands of words on this laptop, and barely noticed the keyboard and trackpad -- as good a sign as any that they've been designed with care. That expansive Shuriken display does indeed make a difference, while other key details like long battery life, a light build, sunken hinge and an effective heat management system make it one ergonomically sound laptop. We can think of more arresting laptops with beefier entry-level specs, such as the Envy 14 and VAIO SA, but the XPS 14z is nonetheless a sensible choice, even if it's not the fastest or prettiest.
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