Dell Inspiron M5040 15.6″ Review

The Dell Inspiron M5040 is great for those hampered by a tight budget, but who still want a competent and power-efficient thin-and-light notebook with a decent design. With the new Dell Inspiron M5040 Simplify your every day tackle daily tasks in style with the newly updated Inspiron M5040’s latest features and technology.

At a mere 16mm thick, the Inspiron M5040 is one of the slimmest ultra-portables around at the moment. But Dell Inspiron M5040 battery not just the slimness of the chassis that impresses: the laptop also looks the business, thanks to its twin-tone brushed-aluminium and matte black finish. It's surprisingly sturdy too -- despite its petite dimensions, there's very little give in the chassis and lid. It's not the lightest ultra-portable you can find, but, tipping the scales at 1.5kg, it's hardly going to weigh you down when you're on your travels.

Specifications:

• Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core T2390 (1.86GHz, 533FSB, 1MB Cache)
• Memory: 2 GB DDR 2 RAM 667 MHZ
• Storage: 160 GB HDD (5400rpm)
• Optical Drive: DVD +/- RW (Slot loading)
• Wireless: 802.11 b/g
• Graphics: Intel GMA X3100 Integrated Graphics
• Camera: Integrated 2.0 MP webcam
• Battery: 56 Wh (6 cell)
• Ports: 2 USB 2.0, FireWire, VGA, Expresscard, card reader, headphone, mic.
• Dimensions: 12.52″ x 9.37″ x 1.5″
• Weight: 4.8 lbs (2.2 kgs)

It's a sad reality that little in the laptop world can match the likes of Apple's ultra-thin MacBook Air when it comes to that metal-clad look and feel. Some of the few alternatives are Dell's Adamo and Adamo XPS, but with prices starting at $750, neither is exactly affordable. That's why we were excited about last year's Vostro V13, which wasn't quite as sexy but a lot cheaper. The Dell Inspiron M5040 AC adapter we're looking at today shares the same 13.3in, ultra-slim, metal-clad chassis, so let's see if it's the ultra-portable for you.

The Dell Inspiron M5040 laptop features a 13.3 inches Widescreen WLED Display screen , running on an Intel Core i3/i5 processor, upto 8GB DDR3 RAM module, with a choice of Intel HD graphics or ATi Mobility Radeon HD 5470 1GB graphics card, and upto 500 GigaByte SATA hard disk storage drive.

The screen on the Inspiron 13 rates about average, with the only drawback of the panel being poor viewing angles. Screen brightness is great for around the office or classroom, but may not be the best idea outside on a sunny day. Not only would the screen brightness be fighting against the sun, but the glossy panel would be blinding you if you were not able to get into some shade. Colors and contrast rate above average, as with most glossy display panels, which made for impressive picture viewing or movie watching. Viewing angles were not the best, with colors not only inverted when out of the sweet spot, but the entire panel going nearly black. This was the case for both vertical and horizontal viewing angles, with the vertical range being more limited than side to side.

What's more, it's not a bad-looking machine. You could mistake it for a substantially pricier laptop. Specifically, Dell's premium 13.3 inch laptop, the XPS M1330. It shares the same general size and shape, and even the styling owes something to its stablemate. All right, so the brushed aluminium lid and wrist rest have been sacrificed to the budget, but it's still got it where it counts.

Besides Dell Inspiron M5040 with I3, has now also present Dell Inspiron M5040 with i5 processor as an alternative option for those of you who want a greater power. Design remains the same with Dell Inspiron series M5040 (3010) with I3 but more expensive.

The new Dell Inspiron M5040 sports a very stylish design which is inspired from both the Dell Studio range as well as the Dell XPS range, more precisely the Dell XPS M1330. The design is very attractive and much better than the older Inspiron notebook designs. It has a sloping design with a glossy exterior. The screen hinges and chassis design is very similar to the XPS M1330. Inside, the Dell Inspiron M5040 adapter has a simplistic design mostly made of high quality plastic. The interiors are almost fully black and look quite sober compared to the exterior part. The keyboard, touchpad, palmrest and the touch sensitive controls situated above the keyboard all blend in with the design quite easily.

The laptop is powered by Intel Core i5 480M Processor (2.66GHz/3MB cache) with a choice of i3 processor. Main memory has 2GB capacity and hard disk up to 500 GB capacity. There is no built in CD/DVD drive for this small laptop. For connectivity, there are Wi-fi and Ethernet and optional Bluetooth. Additional features include 2 USB 2.0 ports and 1 e-SATA/USB combo port, stereo speakers, integrated webcam and microphone, 7 in 1 card reader and VGA and HDMI out ports.

Where the Inspiron 13 truly shines is in its battery life. Based on MobileMark 2007 battery benchmark, the portable with a six-cell pack ran for an impressive four hours 22 minutes before shutting down. Even on the more demanding DVD playback test this Inspiron managed to last two hours 46 minutes before giving up the ghost. Unless you decide to watch epics such as Pearl Harbor or Titanic, a single charge is all you need for most full-length features. Though the configuration we tested was with a six-cell Dell Inspiron M5040 battery, the system available online comes with a nine-cell by default which means you'll see even longer uptime.

There have been times when Dell should have been imprisoned for crimes against tasteful design, but the Inspiron M5040 shows that the company can produce a great-looking -- and sturdy -- ultra-portable laptop when it wants to. Our laptop's performance wasn't wonderful, however. The Inspiron M5040 is a machine best suited to light office work, rather than tasks that require serious number-crunching capability.