Dell Inspiron 11z review
in Laptops
Verdict
A poor touchpad and below-par build quality undermine a budget laptop with plenty of potential
Review Date: 23 Nov 2009
Reviewed By: Mike Jennings
Price when reviewed: £421 (£484 inc VAT)
Features & Design
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Value for Money
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Performance
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| Details | |
|---|---|
| Part Code | P03T |
| Review Date | 23 Nov 2009 |
| Price ex VAT | £421 |
| Price inc VAT | £484 |
| Features & Design |
|
| Value for Money |
|
| Performance |
|
| Warranty | |
|---|---|
| Warranty | 1 yr return to base |
| Physical specifications | |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 292 x 216 x 47mm (WDH) |
| Weight | 1.500kg |
| Travelling weight | 1.9kg |
| Processor and memory | |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Pentium Dual-Core SU4100 |
| RAM capacity | 2.00GB |
| Memory type | DDR2 |
| SODIMM sockets free | 0 |
| SODIMM sockets total | 1 |
| Screen and video | |
|---|---|
| Screen size | 11.6in |
| Resolution screen horizontal | 1,366 |
| Resolution screen vertical | 768 |
| Resolution | 1366 x 768 |
| Graphics chipset | Intel GMA 4500MHD |
| Graphics card RAM | 32MB |
| VGA (D-SUB) outputs | 0 |
| HDMI outputs | 1 |
| S-Video outputs | 0 |
| DVI-I outputs | 0 |
| DVI-D outputs | 0 |
| DisplayPort outputs | 0 |
| Drives | |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 320GB |
| Hard disk usable capacity | 297GB |
| Internal disk interface | SATA/300 |
| Optical disc technology | N/A |
| Optical drive | N/A |
| Battery capacity | 4,800mAh |
| Replacement battery price inc VAT | £0 |
| Networking | |
|---|---|
| Wired adapter speed | 1,000Mbits/sec |
| 802.11a support |
|
| 802.11b support |
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| 802.11g support |
|
| 802.11 draft-n support |
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| Integrated 3G adapter |
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| Bluetooth support |
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| Other Features | |
|---|---|
| Wireless hardware on/off switch |
|
| Wireless key-combination switch |
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| Modem |
|
| ExpressCard34 slots | 0 |
| ExpressCard54 slots | 0 |
| PC Card slots | 0 |
| USB ports (downstream) | 3 |
| PS/2 mouse port |
|
| 9-pin serial ports | 0 |
| Parallel ports | 0 |
| Optical S/PDIF audio output ports | 0 |
| Electrical S/PDIF audio ports | 0 |
| 3.5mm audio jacks | 2 |
| SD card reader |
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| Memory Stick reader |
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| MMC (multimedia card) reader |
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| Smart Media reader |
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| Compact Flash reader |
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| xD-card reader |
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| Pointing device type | Touchpad |
| Audio chipset | Realtek HD Audio |
| Speaker location | Bottom |
| Hardware volume control? |
|
| Integrated microphone? |
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| Integrated webcam? |
|
| Camera megapixel rating | 1.3mp |
| TPM |
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| Fingerprint reader |
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| Smartcard reader |
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| Carry case |
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| Operating system and software | |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit |
| OS family | Windows 7 |
| Recovery method | Recovery disc |
| Battery and performance tests | |
|---|---|
| Battery life, light use | 8hr 3min |
| Battery life, heavy use | 3hr 27min |
| Overall application benchmark score | 0.68 |
| Office application benchmark score | 0.72 |
| 2D graphics application benchmark score | 0.75 |
| Encoding application benchmark score | 0.60 |
| Multitasking application benchmark score | 0.64 |
From around the web
Acer
The Acer 4810T series is a similar price and lovely build quality.
I'm a big fan of this new cheap, long battery life ultraportable.
Where netbooks are too small for everyday use, these ultraportables are properly impressive.
I hope to see more manufacturers producing them.
Come on Dell, up your game!
By Grunthos on 23 Nov 2009 ![]()
Touchpad
I fully agree with your criticism of the touchpad. I have a Mini 10, and this new laptop looks to have an identical keyboard and touchpad. The keyboard is actually very good. It's a shame the touchpad is so awful. It's by far the worst touchpad I've ever come across
By davidbryant4 on 23 Nov 2009 ![]()
Can you tell me why you keep mentioning gaming performance when referring to the graphic card for these type of laptops but keep omitting comment on whether it is able to play video (including HD)?
I would expect most purchasers (including myself) of these types of machine are far more interested in whether YouTube, iPlayer, n264 etc. will play than if it is capable of the latest Call of Duty!
By jefferson30 on 24 Nov 2009 ![]()
I second the above comment. In no way is gaming capability a useful indicator of performance and general capabilities of such a laptop. Here's two reasons why. The small percentage of laptop gamers wouldn't be interested in a machine like this and conversely the people who are interested wouldn't consider gaming performance a useful measure, as it ignores multitasking with productivity software for a start.
By dodge1963 on 26 Nov 2009 ![]()
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