Dell Inspiron 14z (2011) Review

Dell's Inspiron 14z packs serious power into a travel-friendly aluminum package. With its Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a backlit keyboard, the laptop is more than capable of handling your day-to-day computing needs. And, starting at $599 ($829 as configured), it's easy on your wallet. But the thin-and-light notebook market is bursting at the seams with great choices, so where does the Inspiron 14z stand?

Design

Simple but elegant, the Inspiron 14z has a sleek 13.6 x 9.7 x 0.94-inch aluminum chassis and weighs 4.6 pounds. The notebook is available in a standard Diamond Black color, or, for an extra $29, Fire Red. We say go with the latter; we like how the red contrasted with the system's black base.
The only markings on the outside of the 14z are a chrome-colored Dell logo situated in the center of the lid and a single Inspiron logo stamped in the bottom left corner. The Fire Red continues onto the deck, where it again contrasts nicely with the 14z's black chiclet style keyboard and bezel.

Dell gave the 14z several chrome treatments, from the power button and the Dell Logo located on the bottom of the display bezel to a sliver of chrome encircling the keyboard. Thankfully, none of this feels like overkill and serves to make the 14z feel more expensive than its $799 price tag would suggest.
At the top right of the keyboard you'll find Dell's Instant Launch button, which you can program to perform any number of tasks or launch a program or website. There's also a Dell Support Center button and Windows Mobility Center button. To the far left of those, you'll find the 14z's power button. The 14z's speakers are located at the front of the system just below the deck.

Heat

During our heat test, which involves streaming a full-screen Hulu video for 15 minutes, the 14z kept its cool. In the center of the keyboard--between the H and G keys--the 14z only reached 85 degrees Fahrenheit, the same temperature we measured in the center of the system's underside. The touchpad stayed even cooler than that, reaching just 80 degrees. We consider temperatures below 95 degrees to be comfortable.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The Inspiron 14z's backlit, chiclet-style keyboard offered excellent responsiveness and tactile feedback. Using the Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor, we scored an average of 70 words per minute with an error rate of 3 percent, which is comparable to our performance on our desktop keyboard. However, the layout exhibited a bit of flex.

The 14z's Synaptics touchpad had its ups and downs. Navigating around the screen was smooth and accurate, but the pad had trouble with multitouch gestures. Two-finger and three-finger scrolling worked fairly well, but pinch-to-zoom and rotate were inconsistent at best.

Display and Sound

The 14z's 14-inch 1366 x 768 glossy display provided great image quality when viewed head-on. Colors were vibrant and text appeared sharp. While watching a trailer for The Hunger Games, we noted plenty of contrast, and a DVD of the movie Bobby looked crisp and clear. The display's glossy coating, however, kicked back reflections. Images also washed out significantly when viewed from a modest angle.
As with all Intel Sandy Bridge notebooks, the Dell has built-in support for Intel's Wireless Display (Wi-Di), which allows you to send video and audio content wirelessly to a compatible media adapter and display it on an HD TV.
The Inspiron's SRS premium Audio HD speakers produced decent sound quality with just enough power to fill a small room. Jay Z's "Run This Town" sounded clear, and while bass hits were a bit on the soft side, they didn't sound dull. Above all, nothing we listened to sounded too harsh or overly tinny.

Ports

On the right side of the Inspiron 14z you'll find the tray-loading DVD+RW drive, as well as two USB 3.0 ports, a headphone input, and a security lock slot. On the left is a standard USB 2.0 port, as well HDMI and mini-Display Port. The left side is also where you'll find the 14z's 3-in-1 card reader. Around back is the power connector and Ethernet port, which features a port cover.
In fact, all of the ports are protected by flap covers. While this helps prevents dust from entering your system, these covers just got in the way and slowed us down.

Webcam

The Inspiron 14z's 1-megapixel webcam provided fair video quality. We didn't notice any pixelation or artifacts when viewing recorded clips. In low-light situations, images became more pixelated, but the picture was still clear enough to make out the thin white stripes on our blue shirt. Dell's Webcam Central software provides users with a wide array of a effects, including avatars and animated frames.

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