Well after a lot of shopping around and reading reviews I have decided to take the plunge and order a laptop. The laptop I finally settled on was the brand new Dell XPS M1330.

Buying a laptop has been in my mind for quite a while now, but there always seems to be a good reason to wait. Wait for the prices to drop, wait for the new processors, wait for LED screens, wait for new chipsets, etc etc. With the recent release of the Santa Rosa platform from Intel, and now the new XPS M1330 I believe now is the best time to buy.

The XPS M1330 just seems to include nearly all of the technology that I really want in my laptop. The LED screen was pretty big for me, just because it’s new and everything with LED in it’s name is cool right now. It also has the Santa Rosa chipset which appears to be a good upgrade.

The M1330 is a 13.3in laptop which is a nice size for a laptop that is designed to be mobile, and not as a main desktop machine. I would also have been happy with a 14.1in screen option and a higher resolution, but this is size is still great.

Design was the main deciding factor for me, and I am sure most of the people who buy it, this laptop just looks beautiful. Personally I went with the Crimson Red just because I really like red and black, but red is by far the less common of the two. Along with the color Dell are using some premium finishing techniques (probably gained from their acquisition of Alienware). The paint job on the red machine uses several coats of satin paint to produce a really rich matte finish. The white is a high gloss, and I am not sure if the black is matte or gloss.

As of today I still have a few weeks before my order is filled, but I am really excited. Hopefully it lives up to my ever increasing expectations.