Dell says the laptop offers up to 9.5 hours battery life, which would be a significant upgrade from its predecessor, the Vostro V130, which topped out at 4.5 hours with a six-cell battery.

In Dell's lab tests, the new laptop with a Celeron processor and a four-cell battery achieved 6.5 hours of battery life, while a system with a six-cell battery, Core i5 processor and solid-state drive achieved almost 10 hours, .

"Overall battery life is much improved compared to the V130. Thanks in no small part to Intel's second-generation Core technology," he wrote.

The battery in the V131 can be replaceable, which is another improvement over the V130, whose battery was integrated in the laptop chassis and hard to replace.

The V131 comes with up to a 256GB SSD or 750GB hard disk drive. An HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) port connects the laptop to high-definition TV sets. Like the V130, the new laptop has Intel's hyperbaric cooling technology, which uses an internal fan to suck in outside air to keep the laptop from overheating.