Random brain farts on tech, games and gunpla: Dell Vostro V131 review

It Glows!!

Specification of laptop reviewed:
i3 2350M
4GB RAM
500GB HDD
Back lit keyboard

Vostro V131 sitting next to its 4 year old predecessor

The other Dell is a 4 years old relic. Running on Conroe CPU architecture with the ill fated 6 series nvidia discrete GPU suffering bump gate problem. That setup weights more than 2Kg and couldnt accomplish any thing productive without bringing along its power brick.
Not going to go thru all its specifications and connectivity. I m sure dell official website is good enough for that. =)
4 years like a decade in the world of technology. And you are about to see why.

Performance: 10/10
A dual core sandy bridge running at 2.3GHz is fast enough for every office application, programming IDE and even some simple photoshop. And not to mention strategy games. i5 offers turbo boost which clocks up a few cores when TDP is below the threshold. Could make your MS office open a few second quicker, but in my opinion, not really good for power management as it attempts to use the maximum TDP when given a badly threaded task.
A discrete mid end mobile GPU 4 years ago could hardly run warcraft 3 at max settings. The current GPU integrated into sandy bridge run Portal 2 at high settings and 1366x768 at 40FPS. This is a major accomplishment for the CPU industry. The integrated GPU's performance have improved to the point it starts making low end discrete GPU market obsolete. Forget about anti aliasing though, its simple impossible. Just think about swapping huge texture when both GPU and CPU sharing a 128bit memory bus and powered by 1+Ghz DDR3...
Dell OS configuration takes up about 2GB of RAM at startup. A fresh installation gets it down to 1.5GB and reduces start up time by half.
Temerpature is below 50C in most productivity instances. In gaming, the temperature is at a comfortable 70C. Pretty much proves my worry of combining CPU and GPU into a small size area under 1 heat sink unfounded.
Simply put, CPU performance these days have become "fast enough" for just about everything. In fact i have stopped upgrading my 2 year old workstation based on Lynnfield because i no longer need any higher performance. Just in caseyou think dual core is insufficient for video encoding, sandy bridge have something up their sleeves. Their GPU offers quick sync which takes some of the processing load off the CPU!

Battery Life: 9/10
V131 is powered by a 6 cell battery that protrude out of the chassis. This result in the chassis being lifted about 10 degrees. This actually allows easier typing and better intake of air for cooling. Although it does cause some problem during storage.
On paper the 6 cell battery offers 9.5 hours of battery life. Well, real life isnt as rosy but its a MASSIVE improvement from the 4 year old dell. Below are results:
0% brightness + productivity/internet = 8 hours
50% brightness + productivity/internet = 6 hours
50% brightness + video = 4 hours
50% brightness + lan gaming(C&C zero hour) = 2 hours
You could get all day battery life with lowered brightness. But the screen brightness isnt impressive at all and there will be cases where you require higher brightness for it to be legible. Still really awesome as power brick is now a thing of the past. No more hunting around for wall sockets. In fact, the battery life of sandy bridge is great improvement over last gen Arrendale.
If they could reach my whole day battery life of 8 hours of productive work at 100% brightness, it would be a 10/10.

LCD: 5/10
I really hate glossy screens offered in the consumer line. Yes, they have no matte tax which reduce contrast and brightness. But they are highly reflective making it a real pain in the ass to use.
Matte LCD offered by Vostro is one of the main reason that sealed the deal on this purchase. However, its brightness is really abysmal. Even at 100% brightness and matte coating, the screen is barely legible indoor but with sunlight shinning in through the windows. Not to mention the poor contrast,color and viewing angle. Vostro is a budget business laptop but LCD of such quality is really disappointing.
That being said, i still choose this LCD over a superior glossy LCD with superb brightness, awesome color or obtuse viewing angles any other day.

Really thin chassis even with the protruding battery

Chassis: 7/10
In my region, the backlit keyboard isnt bundled by default. And boy, its the best upgrade to the default configuration made. It improves legibility in poor light condition and allows typing in the dark. There are also 2 brightness mode available to suit your needs or you can simply switch it off.
The chassis is really slim for its price. Even with the protruding battery, the thickest part of the laptop is about 3.5cm only. Not to mention its total weight is about 1.8kg. Any slimmer or lighter and you will be in the ultrabook category which cost significantly higher.
Well, i know this is budget business laptop at all and i didnt expect macbook air chassis quality. But theres some quirks about its construction that left to be desired.
First the LCD hinge. The metal hinge is immobile and acts as a pivot for the screen to swing open. The set i purchase is loose and result in a really shaky screen. I get the technician to replace it but its still slightly shaky on 1 side and living in an asian country, we have really poor return policies and thats the best i could get. The result is a LCD screen that vibrates when the table is knocked.
Next is the inner side of the laptop take house the keyboard and touchpad. It uses really cheap plastic that cause uncomfortable amount of flexing. With some force applied, you could see the chassis bend in to the degree you start worrying if your motherboard are bent in the process.
The LCD is covered by a flimsy board that clicked when pressed lightly. The backplate to access is really hard to remove. The technician that came to replace the hinge have to bend it to remove it, leaving a permanent dent. I'm pretty sure readers living in europe and america wont have any issue getting a new replacement...
Overall i find the built quality lacking and should be improved in their next iteration.

Value: 9/10
Corners are cut. Most evidently in the LCD and chassis department. But for that price, you are hard pressed to get a lightweight 2nd gen Core I laptop with 8 hour battery life. Dont forget about the backlit keyboard. Rarer than asian girls with D cup.

Overal - 8/10
Pros