Thread: Dell XPS M1210

Dell XPS M1210

The XPS M1210 features a bright 12.1-inch display that's fine for surfing the Web and watching media files, although a slightly larger 13.3-inch screen as found on the Asus W7J is the smallest display we'd want to use on an everyday basis. The crisp 1,280x800 native resolution strikes a fine balance between legible text and icons and screen real estate. Sitting above the display is a 1.3-megapixel Webcam; the camera rotates 180 degrees, as if on a rotisserie spit, so you can grab images from both the front and rear of the laptop.



The 12.1-inch wide-screen display leads us to call the M1210 an ultra portable laptop, but its 4.9-pound weight (5.2 pounds with the AC adapter) is closer to a laptop in the thin-and-light category, such as the Sony VAIO C150. Measuring 11.7 inches wide by 8.7 inches deep by 1.2 inches high, it's slightly bulkier than your average ultra portable, but still well suited for a daily commute.

The full-size keyboard on the XPS M1210 makes typing comfortable for even extended periods. The touch pad and mouse buttons are small but functional, with both horizontal and vertical scroll zones. A set of illuminated buttons sit along the front edge, including volume and media transport controls. They're handy when watching DVDs or listening to music, but they're far too easy to accidentally hit when typing, especially if the laptop is actually sitting on your lap.

The M1210 includes a decent set of ports and connections for such a small system. You get four USB 2.0 ports, four-pin FireWire, VGA, and S-Video-out ports, two headphone jacks (a welcome extra) and a mic jack; there's also an Express Card slot and a media card reader. Networking options include modem, Ethernet, and 802.11a/b/g Wi-fe, Bluetooth, and WWAN.

Typical for Dell systems, the XPS M1210 is highly configurable to suit a wide range of budgets and needs. Our review unit arrived fairly tricked out, including a 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 CPU, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a 120GB hard drive running at 5,400rpm, a NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 GPU, and Windows Vista Ultimate Edition. Compared to the XP version of the M1210 we looked back in June 2006, this model costs about the same trades up to a Core 2 Duo CPU from a Core Dup and doubles the RAM.

Dell XPS M1210 Windows Vista Ultimate Edition:
2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7200;
2,048MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz;
256MB nVidia GeForce Go 7400;
120GB Hitachi 5,400rpm SATA/150.