Welcome to a laptop battery specialist of the dell laptop battery
The Dell XPS 14 Ultrabook on a Singapore Airlines economy seat table with night light turned on. It has a solid build with a machined aluminum casing.
(Credit: Nicholas Aaron Khoo/CNET Asia)
This geek travels a fair bit for work and decided to check out a couple of Ultrabooks that might deliver the right balance of mobility and power for users on the go. With the widespread availability of budget travel these days, many holiday makers and entrepreneurs may choose to travel on budget or coach--this test will be performed in one of these cabin classes.
Today's spotlight is on the Dell XPS 14 Ultrabook, which has been marketed by Dell to the business user.
On first contact, this Ultrabook stands out from many other machines with its matte aluminum finish, Corning Gorilla Glass, magnesium-alloy wrist rest and a soft-touch bottom panel. The backlit keyboard stands out as well as the large one-piece touchpad. Battery life-wise, the eight-cell 69WHr lithium-polymer battery like dell Inspiron Mini 10 battery , Dell PP19S Battery , Dell Latitude E4200 Battery , Dell R640C Battery , Dell Latitude V710 Battery , Dell Inspiron 11Z Battery , dell Latitude E6400 battery , Dell Latitude E6500 Battery , Dell Precision M2400 Battery , Dell Precision M6500 Battery , Dell Latitude D630 Battery , Dell Precision M2300 Battery lasted 6 hours 8 minutes, according to CNET's video-playback battery-drain test. For this geek, the battery lasted through each flight I was on without having to plug it into the in-seat power source. Your mileage may vary according to number of (ahem) miles you are traveling, so putting the power adapter into your hand luggage is still advisable. Like most Ultrabooks released of late, the battery is built-in and not user-replaceable.
The backlit chiclet keyboard is spill-resistant, although this geek did not get a chance to test out how well this keyboard takes to liquids. This is a nice-to-have feature as spills are not uncommon in the cramped space of an economy class cabin--especially when there's turbulence. The keyboard was fairly comfortable to type on, and the backlight is a good touch. However, the directional keys were a little too small for this geek's liking.
Nicknamed 'Gadget Boy' by friends at age 18 perhaps due to how fast he could scribble Grafitti on his Palm Pilot, Nicholas Aaron Khoo is a digital nomad who has a penchant for wearing different hats. He is a ISO27001:2005 consultant and is also the President of Singapore Computer Society's Interactive Digital Media Chapter. See his industry affiliations on KhooCapital.com. He is a member of CNET Asia's regional blogger network and is not an employee of CNET Asia.