Dell Laptop Users

The Dell Vostro 1440 is a value line 14” screen laptop offering that features an Intel Core i3 processor and budget friendly starting price tag of $399.  It’s the cheapest offering in the Vostro lineup right now, but the build quality and overall features are perfectly adequate for many small business users that just need a computer to get on the web, use Office productivity software and of course email.  The Vostro 1440 even comes ready for video chat thanks to the integrated web camera and microphone.  The design is far from stunning, using an all black finish, but it’s not ugly either and has some finishes I like that you can’t find on any other laptop.   The specific Vostro 1440 model under review was purchased for $440, using a 10% off coupon at the time of purchase, and came with the following specs: Processor: Intel Core i3-370M Processor (2.4GHz, Dual Core/4 Threads, 3MB L3 Cache) Memory: 2GB, DDR3, 1333MHz, 1 DIMM (upgraded to 6GB of RAM for review) Storage: 320GB 540

Two of the most popular mainstream gaming capable laptops on the market at the moment are the Dell XPS 15 and HP dv6t Quad Edition .  The XPS 15 has a 15.6” screen and starts at $799.99 with an Intel Core i5 processor and the HP dv6t Quad Edition has the same size 15.6” screen and starts at $849 with an Intel Quad Core i7 processor.   These prices are before any inevitable coupons that are available.  For this comparison we’ll configure two mid-range laptops with very similar specs and try to come to a conclusion if one is better than the other or what type of buyer profile each laptop fits. HP Pavilion dv6t Quad Edition Dell XPS 15 (L502x) Processor Intel Core i7-2670QM (2.2 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) Intel Core i7-2670QM (2.2 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) Screen 15.6" Full HD HP Anti-glare LED (1920 x 1080) 15.6 FHD B+RGLED TL (1920x1080) OS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit Graphics AMD Radeon HD 6770M Graphics with 1 NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M 2GB graphics