Dell XPS M2010 review

Dell XPS M2010 Review

Reviewed by: Rory Reid

Reviewed on: 28 July 2006

The keyboard section of the XPS M2010 is completely removable. It can be lifted away from the base section and, being a Bluetooth unit, it can be used from up to 10m away from the laptop. The keyboard has an integrated mouse touchpad and buttons that give you full control of the M2010, and there's also a dedicated numerical keypad featured. To the far right of the keyboard is a set of shortcut keys that give you quick access to common multimedia tasks such as play, pause, rewind, fast forward and volume control.

The M2010's detachable keyboard means you can control the unit from a distance

Features
We'd expect any laptop of this size to have a strong specification, and M2010 doesn't disappoint. It uses a fast Intel Centrino Duo T2600 processor running at 2.16GHz. This isn't as fast as the latest 2.3GHz T2700 model, but its dual-core architecture means it's quick enough to give most desktop PCs a run for their money and it's capable of handling everything from everyday Internet surfing to more strenuous video-editing tasks. The basic model comes with 2GB of DDR3 667MHz RAM, which is an ample amount for just about every type of home or business user.

Its graphics capabilities are solid, too. It uses an ATI Mobility Radeon X1800 graphics card -- ATI's most advanced graphics processor and the fastest we've seen in any laptop. Its presence gives the XPS M2010 the ability to run the latest games, including the likes of Prey and Half-Life 2: Episode 1, at high resolutions with good image quality and consistent frame rates.

Below the optical drive are a set of touch-sensitive control buttons, including volume controls and an eject button that causes the drive bay to raise and lower, making a satisfying whirr that won't fail to conjure up images of the Transformers cartoons. Those with a childish streak will spend ages simply opening and closing the drive bay simply for the noise it makes.

It makes a great pairing with the laptop's 20-inch screen, as it has the ability, in conjunction with the fast processor, to drive high-quality images and movies. It runs at a native resolution of 1,680x1,050 pixels and while this isn't quite the Holy Grail of 1080p (1,980x1,080), it runs in a widescreen aspect ratio that gives plenty of desktop space to display multiple documents side by side. There's an integrated 1.3-megapixel webcam positioned in the screen, which you can use for web conferencing, Voice over IP, and applications like Skype.

The XPS M2010's audio capabilities are admirable. There are four speakers on either side of the lower portion of the screen, and a subwoofer on the underside of the laptop. Unlike most laptops, even those with subwoofers, this setup sounds rather good, but serious audiophiles will want to connect a set of external surround-sound speakers.