Taking over from the aging Inspiron 510m, the successor is Dell's first 14.1-inch widescreen notebook with an upgraded Centrino platform and a memory card reader.

Upside: The Inspiron 630m is based on the faster 533MHz Centrino platform, bringing it in line with the current generation of notebooks. Slightly ahead of its time, this mobile does away with all legacy connectivity in exchange for more USB 2.0 ports, a 5-in-1 memory card reader and an ExpressCard slot. The claimed 5-hour battery life, using the extended battery, bestows the title of mobile entertainment on the 630m, especially if its 14.1-inch display is upgraded to Dell's TrueLife LCD for a better viewing experience. DVD and CD playback is idiot-proof using the Media Direct feature, allowing movies and music to be played without booting into Windows. We are also glad that this 14.1-inch machine does not weigh too heavily on our wallets.

Downside: At this time, doing away with the older PCMIA card interface may alienate users with significant investments in PC cards. While most notebooks in this category host dedicated video cards in their chassis, the weaker integrated graphics chipset of the Inspiron 630m may not sit well with gamers and could prove to be a bottleneck during intensive video or graphics editing.

Outlook: For consumers who have been looking around for a laptop with a mid-sized screen under two grand, the Dell Inspiron 630m should put an end to the guffaws of sales staff during your previous enquiries. With the Media Direct feature and optional TrueLife LCD, this notebook does fine as a mobile entertainment machine. However, gamers and users with an array of PC cards may still have to endure a little more embarrassment until Dell manages to somehow fit a dedicated graphics card and PCMIA slot into a budget system.