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Dell XPS M140Mobile multimedia powerhouse with instant-on, all-day endurance, and top-notch support. Price:
$1,458
Dell's XPS brand has long been associated with gaming, but the M140 is a different breed of entertainment notebook. It lacks the graphics chops of the 17-inch M170, but this more portable 14.1-inch widescreen machine packs fun in other ways, starting with a MediaDirect function that grants nearly instant access to music, photos, or video without booting into Windows. Otherwise, the M140 boasts the same personalized support as its bigger brother while combining good performance along with nearly 6.5 hours of endurance.
Weighing 5.8 pounds (with the extended battery) and measuring a relatively thick 1.5-inches deep, the M140 doesn't stand out from the other silver-and-white notebooks in Dell's Inspiron line. For instance, there are no LED lights around the sides or a gunmetal lid as with the M170. What you do get is a row of media playback buttons on the front of the system, which work whether you're in Windows or MediaDirect mode. In a nice touch, each of the buttons sports a blue backlight. We wish that Dell put these buttons above the keyboard, as it's a bit awkward to access them with this system sitting in your lap. The M140 does everything else right ergonomically, with a springy keyboard and two comfortable touchpad buttons. Dell covers most of the bases with the M140's selection of ports and slots. We say most because the M140 lacks a PC Card slot. Instead, there's an ExpressCard slot, which while forward-thinking on Dell's part, eliminates the possibility of users plugging in existing peripherals like EV-DO PC Card modems. We're not big fans of the two sets of stacked USB 2.0 ports, making it difficult to have multiple devices plugged in simultaneously. Digital camera owners will have no problem transferring images to this system, as the M140 features a 5-in-1 media card reader. Many notebooks in this class offer so-called instant on capability, but Dell's MediaDirect is the most robust solution yet. In less than ten seconds a screen pops up that allows users to do anything from play CDs and MP3s to watch photos and DVDs. You're not limited to what's stored on your hard drive or a disc loaded in your optical drive, either. The M140 can read off of memory cards as well as USB memory drives when in MediaDirect mode. We also liked the streamlined Media Center-like menu system. Speaking of Media Center, the M140 offers the real deal, too. Microsoft's OS makes it simple to listen to music, put on photo slideshows, and watch DVDs through one simple interface. We played a round of "Diner Dash" through Media Center's DisCOVER game service and watched some Reuters' video news clips. Keep in mind that you can't watch or record your favorite shows without the optional $100 TV tuner. When it comes to everyday productivity chores, the M140 didn't even break a sweat. Powered by a 1.86-GHz Pentium M processor, 1GB of RAM, and a speedy 5,400-rpm hard drive, the system scored a very high 234 in MobileMark 2005. We were particularly impressed by how fast applications, documents, and even Web pages loaded. The M140's 6 hours and 19 minutes of battery life with the optional extended battery is just as noteworthy. It juts out from the back of the system a few inches and adds a bit of weight, but at $99 it's a no-brainer upgrade. Wireless range was quite impressive with 12.1 Mbps of throughput at 50 feet from our access point. The M140 delivers a brilliant picture during DVD playback, thanks to its glossy TrueLife 14.1-inch widescreen display. As a mini stereo, this XPS stumbled a bit; the two front-mounted speakers got relatively loud, but our tunes sounded distorted even before we reached maximum volume. 3D gaming should not be considered part of this notebook's repertoire, as evidenced by the low 3DMark03 score of 1,111. Like all XPS systems, Dell backs the M140 with a high level of service and support. The standard warranty is one year compared to 90 days on Inspiron notebooks. Plus, all XPS customers have access to a rapid-response support team with its own dedicated phone queue. Dell sweetens the deal by throwing in a 15-month security subscription to protect against viruses, spyware, and other threats. Overall, the Dell XPS M140 is a thin-and-light notebook that knows how to entertain, with the most versatile instant-on feature yet. It's reasonably priced, but the average-sounding speakers and lack of a PC Card slot keep it from being an Editor's Choice pick. www.dell.com Compare Prices | Dell XPS M140 Specifications
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