Dell inspiron 14z

Design and features
 The new 14z  looks like the kind of laptop you wouldn't be embarrassed to pull out in your favorite hipster coffee shop, even if everyone else there has a MacBook.

The new designs are thin and modern, with two-tone lids -- most in either gunmetal-gray brushed metal (like our review unit) or red contrasted against a lighter border. The brushed-metal look extends to the system interior, with a sunken black keyboard tray and black keys. There's a bit of a back-and-forth feel, with your fingers touching metal one moment and plastic the next, and the construction looks just a bit sturdier than it feels in the hand. 

 The keys have more rounded corners than most, and the top row of function keys is half-height. It actually feels like there's plenty of room for bigger keys -- there's a good amount of dead space on either side.

. It has a native resolution of 1,366x768 pixels , the screen is covered with overly glossy plastic and sits in the middle of a thick all-around bezel, making it one of the only visual cues that looks a bit low-budget. 

The stereo speakers are not much to write home about. They get reasonably loud, but sound very thin, despite the inclusion of MaxxAudio software from Waves, a well-known maker of audio applications. In the row of quick-launch buttons above the keyboard, the middle button switches between MaxxAudio presets, and the leftmost button accesses a Dell settings menu. The notable part is that there's an option to either keep the row of Function keys as is, or swap their multimedia functions, which means you could raise or lower the volume, change screen brightness, and so on without holding down the dreaded Fn key.

 Configurations

Processor-        1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U

Memory-          8GB, 1,333MHz DDR3

Hard drive-       500GB 5,400rpm / 32GB SSD

Chipset-             Intel HM7

Graphics-           AMD 7570M / Intel HD 4000

Operating system-          Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)

Dimensions (WD)-         13.7x9.5 inches

Height-                            0.8 inch

Screen size (diagonal) -          14 inches

System weight-                       4.1 pounds 

Weight with AC adapter-        5.1 pounds