Dell Vostro V131 13.3in Core i5 notebook

Core decisions

Expansion ports are reasonable in number, although given the flat back of the system and the fact that the screen doesn’t cover it when it’s open it’s a pity Dell hasn’t used the space for a few more USB ports; as it is a single USB 2.0 port on the left-hand edge is complemented by two USB 3.0 ports on the opposite side. You also get an HDMI port on the left and a VGA port on the right, plus a combined headphone and mic socket.

Benchmark Tests

PCMark 7 Results

Longer bars are better

PCMark Vantage Results

Longer bars are better

Build quality isn’t perfect; there’s a reasonable amount of flex in the screen and base. It’s not enough to suggest the Vostro is going to fall apart the first time someone knocks it off a train table, but it’s pretty much the only aspect of the V131 that will give away how little you paid for it.

Minor tweaks in the Core-i5 offerings have increased the clock speed from 2.3GHz to 2.4GHz

The range of options on the Vostro V131 is vast - the cheapest system comes with a frustrating-sounding 1.1GHz Celeron 847 ULV with 2GB of RAM. There's a Core i3-2330M model too, the fastest machine has a Intel Core i5-2430M with 8GB of RAM; other options such as an SSD in place of a mechanical hard disk are also available.

PCMark Vantage Battery Life Results

Battery life in minutes
Longer bars are better

The review sample came with a 2.3GHz Intel Core i5-2410M CPU, with 4GB of RAM to give plenty of space to running applications. This configuration has only recently changed on Dell's website, now the Core i5-2430M CPU has come on stream. Still, it’s safe to say that any of Dell’s Core i5 Vostros will be up to virtually anything you can throw at them.