The Dell Inspiron 14z laptop makes a clear statement: You are probably a student, you want a whole lot of battery life on a Windows 7 machine, and you probably don't care much about performance. A small, sleek portable, the 14z mainly looks good and has a very long battery life. There's nothing wrong with it, as long as you know exactly what you're getting. As reviewed, the 14z would cost about $849--a sizable chunk of change considering its lack of horsepower. At first sight, this model seems to be an echo of the Dell Studio 14z that we reviewed just a few months back.
The Inspiron 14z is a pretty notebook. At 13.4 by 9.5 by 1.1 inches, it's slim and sleek, with lines that suggest speed from its edging to the shape of its hinge. A silver wristpad encircles a sleek black keypad and monitor frame, while the distinctive silvered-circle Dell logo rests on the top of the machine in the middle of a clean, slick paint job. It feels a little heavier than it looks, with models starting at 4.4 pounds, but this is still an easy machine to throw in a small bag or to carry under your arm without worrying about its weight--or about looking too much like a nerd.
Dissappointing Performance
Our review system shipped with a 64-bit version of Windows 7, 3GB of memory, a 1.3GHz Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo SU7300 processor, and Intel's integrated graphics--a package that led to a disappointing PC WorldBench score of 66, well below average. Unsurprisingly, any try at gaming that needs a strong 3D push also stutters to the point of uselessness. So the good news about this laptop is that your student won't spend much time goofing around with it. But word processing and Web browsing, even with a heavy load of Office apps and Firefox tabs open, moved at a more than reasonable pace.
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