Force de Frappe

Basic specifications of my particular M1310

• 13.3″ Screen
• Fingerprint reader
• Integrated Webcam
• Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 ( @ 2.20GHZ)
• 4GB 667MHz DDR2 RAM
• 320GB HD
• Nvidia Geforce Go 8400M GS Graphic Card

 

Obviously this is designed to fill the void between portable powerhouse & notebook- its not light and its not heavy, not big but not small. Its just uniquely fantastic, Onwards with the review!

Appearance

The M1310 is quite simply gorgeous, brushed aluminium (I think) casing on the inside and chunky metal casing with a high quality polyplastic shell on the outside- its just smooth and understated with just enough oomph for me to be comfortable smirking at mac zealots.

The build quality is extreemly high with no flexing of the frame or the plastics and a sturdy feeling when holding it.

Its not going to crumble if you breathe heavily in its direction.

Stats & Computing power

It handles everything I have thrown at it so far with no problems, I use it primaraly as my on the move portable design lab- its geared (for me) towards hardcore multitasking and opening/modifying large files. As I type this I have the following apps running;

1. Firefox 3 with 11 tabs open.
2. Photoshop CS4
3. MSN Messenger
4. Xfire
5. Seesmic Desktop
6. Main Type
7. Windows Media Player
8. Utorrent
9. Essential PIM
10. Microsoft Expression Web
11. Cute FTP 8 Professional
12. & 5+ small passive apps like the razer drivers, Fngerprint reader suite etc.

No lag, not hang ups, no problems. It wont run crysis (with decent framerates) but then again it is not intended for such an application- it can play mid level game adequately if one so wishes however I view it purely as a personalized “on the move” desktop replacement.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Great looks.
• Good balance between portability & power.
• Amazing build quality.
• Fingerprint reader makes security accessible.
• Full of gorgeous little details (integrated media remote control, shiny buttons etc.).
• Best laptop keyboard I have ever used.
• Track Pad isn’t too big (you wont hit it when you type).
• Chicks dig it.

Cons

• Came with some useless bloatware (easily fixed).
• Battery life isn’t the greatest if you use the screen to its full capacity (max out the sexy brightness!).
• I dont like the typography used for “XPS” its tacky and tries too hard to be futuristic.
• It cant make toast and your gamer girlfriend will ninja it. :/

Additional pics

It glows!

Nice trackpad with good feedback.

Even sexier brushed aluminium palm rests.

Makes me feel special.

If only it would play “authorized” everytime I swipe it.

A seriously crisp keyboard, feels nice and sturdy.

No “concave” effect.