The XPS 1330M shares the same wedge-shaped design popularized by the Sony Vaio SZ series which directly competes with this notebook. While I appreciate the weight and space savings accomplished by the design, I don’t particularly care for it otherwise. The (extended) battery sticks out farther under the notebook, and the top is slanted, making for awkward when placing on or near the edge of a table or desk or when putting something on top of the notebook. When placing it on my nightstand, I always have to double-check that I haven’t placed it precariously. This is a small gripe and not especially pertinent.

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Before opening the notebook, I was delighted at the appearance of the tuxedo black top – it looks really nice, although fairly easily smudged. Also, when opening it, I was kind of disappointed that the interior is not black. As you can see in the pictures, the top and bottom of the screen bezel are black, the keyboard is silver plastic, and the palmrest is brushed aluminum. To be clear, it is a nice finish, but I would have personally preferred all black (or even all silver), but not both.