Dell Adamo 13: CULV Goes Upscale
by Vivek Gowri on July 6, 2010 1:51 AM EST
Dell Adamo 13: Performance
At this point in its life cycle, CULV is a pretty well known quantity - there's nothing really that changes from computer to computer with the same general configuration. The Adamo has the 1.40GHz SU9400 processor, to go along with the GMA 4500MHD integrated graphics chip, 4GB of soldered 800MHz DDR3 memory, and the Adamo's only real hardware uniqueness, the SSD.
Our Adamo review unit has an Intel X-18M G1 80GB solid state drive, while the stock Adamo has a 128GB SSD with a Samsung controller. The Adamo benchmarks pretty similarly to the other CULV units in our test suite, running a bit quicker in the CPU benchmarks, probably due to the SU9400 having a slightly higher clock speed than the SU7300. In the Futuremark benchmark suite, the Adamo was on par with the rest of the CULV ultraportable class. And, as always, GMA 4500MHD is basically useless for anything resembling modern gaming. It's good enough for older games though, and it can handle up to 720p HD video playback (including Flash with the latest drivers).
But the part that doesn't show up in any of our full system benchmarks is the speed of booting, launching applications, and overall perkiness of the system. It's certainly not a powerhouse, but it's quick. The SSD is lightning quick in anything that requires disk access, so overall in the OS, it feels a lot faster than more powerful systems. Not to say that regular CULV systems are slow, but side by side with the Adamo, you can definitely feel the difference. Everything happens just a bit quicker, a bit smoother. It's awesome.
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afkrotch - Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - link
Ya, iPad is the best alternative, if you want to lose pretty much all functionality, aside from websurfing and email.PyroHoltz - Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - link
What the heck, where are all the Arrandale CULV chips? This thing should have a 6 cell Li-Poly battery and most certainly an i3-330UM or i5-430UM chip...Come on manufacturers!
Wineohe - Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - link
After owning an XPS M1210 for nearly 4 years, I am in search of an upgrade before the year is out. But it would never be to another Core 2 processor based laptop. Not that mine has been bad, it's just that this architecture is very near the end of it's life cycle. The only upgrade I would consider would be an i3/i5 based system. Otherwise the Adamo looks like a slick piece. Also battery life is an important consideration, and the next generation of SSD's might have some maturity worth waiting for.afkrotch - Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - link
I'll never understand comments like these, when looking at a CULV laptop. Shouldn't battery life and size be the most important factors when choosing one? Then performance well after that.If all I looked at was whether it was an i3/i5, I wouldn't be rocking a CULV laptop with up to 9 hours of battery life (turn on, let it sit there). Under real world, I get about 7-8 hours of battery for minimal usage (websurfing, picture viewing, office work) at 30% screen brightness and 5 hours battery for video watching at 30% screen brightness with wifi turned off.
FYI, I use an HP TM2T tablet. No time to wait for an i3/i5. Got things to do, chocolate to eat.
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stimudent - Tuesday, July 13, 2010 - link
I've bin thinking about getting one of those garden hose wrapper-upper thingies for a while. That looks like a good one. Wonder where he got it from.technophile123 - Thursday, August 5, 2010 - link
The Adamo 13 is actually thinner than a Macbook Air. The Macbook Air is thinner in the front, but gets bigger in the back. At its thickest part the Macbook Air is 0.76 inches thick, while the Adamo measures 0.6 inches in thickness from front to back. Maybe you should correct the Article there.