Dell XPS 13

The XPS 13 may look similar in design to other Dell XPS machines, but it features a 13-inch IPS gorilla glass display that offers 1,920×1,080 pixels and looks gorgeous. Dell has used a nearly bezel-less display that makes the machine more compact than an 11-inch MacBook Air and yet has more real estate on it. And it weighs just 1.17 kg; yes, lighter than the MacBook Air.

Running on an Intel Core i5 processor, the XPS 13 is a powerful tool. The starting model comes with a 128 GB solid state disk, 4 GB RAM and Intel HD 5500 graphics, but you can always opt for a display with a higher resolution of up to 3,200×1,800, and even configurations with 8 GB of RAM, a Core i7 processor and 512 GB SSD, and also a touch screen option.

Dell uses carbon fibre on the inside to make this machine durable as well as light. The carbon fibre finish stretches across the keyboard deck and all the way from the hinge to the palm rest, making the machine look beautiful and shielding it from scratches.

The XPS13 has a backlit keyboard that is not full sized, and may need some getting used to—especially the shrunken backspace and the small arrow keys. The bezel-less display design also meant that Dell did not have space in the XPS 13 for a web camera, so it changed its position to the bottom left of the screen. Not only is this awkward, in video calls it feels as if you are looking up someone’s nose.

Though there are other downsides as well, this is a full-feature machine: there are two USB 3.0 ports, a Kensington lock slot, a full sized SD card reader, and even accessories to help you expand your connectivity to legacy devices, such as the USB port to an Ethernet convertor, and an HDMI port. There is a mini display port on board, as well as a headphone jack. Dell claims a battery life of nearly 11 hours. n

The Data Traveler 4000G2 from Kingston offers you high security with FIPS140-Level 3 certification using a hardware-based 256- bit advanced encryption standard. It also has a tamper-evident seal that secures the drive against physical access, use or modification of its cryptographic module, ensuring 100 per cent safety of data stored on the drive. The drive also provides a read-only access mode to protect it against potential malware, while enforced password protection ensures complex passwords are used to secure the device. Kingston gaurantees the device for five years, and it works with Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows Vista, MAC OX and Linux. This 8 GB pendrive uses a USB3.0 interface to ensure high-speed data transfer. It also comes in various variants.

13-inch IPSCore i7 processorDellGorilla glassWindows machineXPS 13