Dell Inspiron i14z-8001sLV 14-Inch Ultrabook (Silver)

Dell Inspiron i14z-8001sLV 14-Inch UltrabookConfig I7 cpu, 8Gb Dram, 500Gb HD + 32Gb msata Cache (upgraded to 64Gb, see below), 1Gb graphics Card.

I bought the Inspiron 14z ultabook mainly for distance learning classes, so I could study on the train. It's blazing fast. Start up time is 37s from power on button to Firefox launch.

The dedicated video card makes a world of difference in smooth video playback. Web pages load almost instantaneously. This is crucial if you are doing research on the web. It turns a 1 hour task (of my acer netbook) into a 15 minute task.

The 14" screen is perfect IMO for travel. The keyboard is a little "bouncy" so if you prefer hard, stiff keys, you might find this annoying. It's not an ultrabook in weight (~4.1lbs), it's more like a lighter work laptop. It is actually perfect for my use in terms of size, and performance. Having a dvd drive is still useful on occasions.

I skype a lot with it and the camera and sound are great. Even when I have a small fan running in the background, the person on the other end can't hear it, but can hear me perfectly.

I can run firefox with a dozen tabs open, my PDF editor, video editor, without a hiccup.

Upgrading is a bit of a chore. I wanted to upgrade the mSATA cache, b/c even though 32Gb is good, it's not actually 32Gb, b/c ~18Gb is used for the cache control. Both Dell and Crucial said I couldn't upgrade. It didn't make sense, so I upgraded anyway. The max cache size is 64Gb and anything more can be used as another hard drive volume. I bought a 256Gb mSATA drive. So I have a 64Gb mSATA cache + 174Gb SSD drive along with the default 500Gb platter HD.

To upgrade, I had to remove in order 1). memory (b/c there's a screw underneath that disengages both the DVD player and the Keyboard. 2). the DVD player, 3). keyboard, 4). palm rest.

The good thing about this is that all these parts are completely replaceable. The battery can be replaced as well after all this; it's just a rectangular block.

I would give it 5stars if it were lighter (like 3lbs), had one more USB 3.0 port, and had longer battery time (~5.5hours IME). Overall, this is a great little lappy for the serious mobile worker. I'm very pleased with it.

Ive used this computer for about a week or two now and I really enjoy it. I got it with the trackpad broke :( but dell support sent a tech to fix that withing 3 days so no complaints there. I use the computer for surfing streaming editing video (the dedicated GPU is amazingly helpful for that) and light gaming (ie minecraft/tf2) There are actually 2 graphics cards in this, the regular Intel (R) Graphics and the more powerful AMD drive, and there is a application to let you set different applications to run either in power saving (probably the Intel or a decreased AMD state) or High performance. One thing to note, when running a graphics high program in high performance mode, the computer will get extremely hot. Not scarily so to the point of worry but comfortable if you have it on you lap. The one annoyance, the track-pad is awful it is jumpy buggy and VERY annoying at times. I don't know why everyone is complaining about the keyboard, I love it! It is quiet and not very wiggly at all.

Buy Dell Inspiron i14z-8001sLV 14-Inch Ultrabook (Silver) Now

Being used to using business-class notebook PCs, I did not expect much with this unit at first. It had a sticker that claims it to be an "Ultrabook", but to me it is not a real Ultrabook, not when compared to other (more expensive) Ultrabooks. I thought that it was just a marketing ploy. In fact, I experienced buyer's remorse by the time I started using it, due to its relatively flimsy construction (compared to the bsuiness notebook PCs) and consumer type chicklet keyboard. Being used to the Dell Latitude and Lenovo Thinkpad's very business-like sharp corners, I also felt that the rounded corners were too "consumer item" in design, but I reminded myself that this is not a business notebook.

However, after a few days of using the unit and carrying it around, I began to like it. As it turned out, the rounded corners made it easier to put it in and take it out of my backpack. It is not that flimsy, and the battery life is quite decent, giving me about 4-5 hours with its power-saving mode activated. The screen is sharp and clear and 14" is just about the right size (at 1366x768 pixels). Once I got used to the different feel of the chicklet keyboard, my typing is as just as fast as before. The more I look at the unit with its screen closed down, the more I think that it is quite a good-looking unit (I bought a gray/silver one). With its four-core i7 CPU and a decent graphics adapter, there were no performance issues for me, except for the occasional lag when too many tasks are being executed.

The only thing that I fret about this computer until today is that the "Home", "End", "Pg Up" and "Pg Dn" do not have their own dedicated keys like the Latitude and ThinkPad, but are combined with the four arrow cursor movement keys. One has to press the "Fn" key and then one of the cursor arrow keys. The other thing that I should mention is that this unit has only two USB ports. Otherwise, I think Dell did a very good job in designing this "Ultrabook" that combines good performance and low price. Well done.

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I've been using this computer for a month and it fulfilled my expectations. It takes just 30 seconds to start, is fast and can handle all the stuff I do without getting slow (I am a programmer and I run pretty heavy processes on it). Its screen size is big enough to properly display most of the programs (web browsers, word, excel, programing IDEs, etc) and its graphics are good enough to handle average gaming requirements. It is also really light weight and slim. Battery life is about 5 hs (using no graphics but with wifi enabled).

It would be better if it included an extra USB port and maybe a 15-pin VGA port. It has an internal battery which I don't know if will be easy to replace if required, but until now i have no complains about that.

My configuration is an I7, 8 gb ram, 500gb hd + 32 gb sdd and including graphics card.

In summary I think it is an excellent computer at an extremely competitive price.

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First, it comes with Windows 7. I have it for about one week. Everything runs smoothly, and it is a great deal for around $750.

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