Dell Studio line details leak out

It looks like that mysterious listing on Dell's support site for a "Studio 1535" laptop is evidence of a larger branding push soon to come -- we just got a tip that says Dell's planning on creating an entire Studio line as "a midpoint between performance XPS systems and entry-level Inspiron systems." The first machines out of the gate will apparently be those rumored 1535 and 1735 laptops we caught a glimpse of last month (the 1435 appears to have been canned), but we're being told that eventually there'll be Studio desktops as well, and that the 1535 will get an AMD-based 1536 twin. All still rumors for now, but they dovetail nicely with the recent merger of the XPS and Alienware teams and Dell's hints at "new directions" for XPS -- and based on the obviously-related design language of the XPS m1530 and Studio 1535, we'd even go so far as to guess that the Studio line is destined to replace the XPS line, not simply supplement it. We'll see when we see -- any other theories out there?

[Warren @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:17PM]

Gotta admit...kinda sexy. Go Dell.

[octoberasian @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:24PM]

I highly agree. That is one fine looking notebook.

When is it available? And, how much?

Hopefully the battery life is decent and performance as well. This may be my next laptop if that happens.

[David @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:28PM]

yeah I was just thinking the same thing, I like the darker, slightly menacing theme.

If it comes with the a decent graphics card, could be my next lappy

[cxp3 @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:33PM]

I agree although I'm not sure about that keyboard. Hmmm.

[Adam @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:43PM]

Looks very cool!!!!!! Nice job Dell :)

[David @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:38PM]

Good point, those curves.. its just.. why?

[initialxy @ Jun 3rd 2008 3:01PM]

i'm just surprised how someone with steve jobs' avatar would praise dell's design.

[w00t @ Jun 3rd 2008 3:07PM]

I gotta agree with you there, that's actually one damn fine looking machine :)
Never thought I'd say that about a Dell, but congratulations to them!

If the price is right and it runs OSX well I'd buy one...

[Warren @ Jun 3rd 2008 3:06PM]

Just because I like Apple stuff doesn't mean I cant appreciate when another company makes a good looking product.

Does this mean I lose my Apple fanboy membership!??!

[initialxy @ Jun 3rd 2008 3:14PM]

It's not so often to see a modest apple fanboy these days. therefore i praise you my friend.

[huh @ Jun 3rd 2008 3:20PM]

Nothing with that me-too round centred Dull logo can be possibly sexy. Look at their POS "designer" monitor. What a joke. It takes more than looks to have a good design, it has to be purposeful and from the ground up.

[adrian @ Jun 3rd 2008 3:22PM]

I am a Mac user, But I have to admit it's getting very tough to bypass these new Dell laptops nowadays. By the way does it run Ubuntu.

[CraigJ @ Jun 3rd 2008 4:11PM]

That can't be a Dell, Dell makes ugly crap.

I particularly like the way the keyboard slants - more ergonomic than the flat keyboards found on most laptops.

If I can get this with XP and it's not too pricey I might have to get one...

[Pochi @ Jun 3rd 2008 4:13PM]

@huh

...huh?

BADA-BOOM!

All puns aside though, you're an idiot.

[Richard Lai @ Jun 3rd 2008 7:24PM]

It is sexy, but it also reminds me of the Eee PC 1001 prototype from last year's Computex: http://163.22.120.15/f2blog/picture/EeePC1001.jpg

It'd be spooky if it turns out that Asus did help Dell with their Studio line (not that I am suggesting they did). However, someone did say that Asus helped design the XPS M1530, but he never provided evidence.

[Warren @ Jun 3rd 2008 7:44PM]

@ initialxy

Thanks - I appreciate it. I wish more Apple fans were modest on this site.

But now that I look at the lappy a bit more - how does everyone feel about that off center trackpad? I'm up in the air about it.

[David @ Jun 4th 2008 1:50AM]

I have a fair bit of leftishness in my current trackpad, and personally its not an issue at all.
In fact, because of the way keyboards have the letters to the left, its actually useful because it means I am not resting on the pad whilst typing.
I think that's why trackpads are generally set to the left, personally I like it.

That said, any laptop without simple button/switch to deactivate trackpad IS instant fail

[Dakota @ Jun 4th 2008 9:15PM]

Nice ripoff, Dell.

Anyone notice a resemblance to the Lenovo IdeaPad line, or is it just me?

[phi @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:22PM]

You know, I'm not that big a fan of Dell's but they got one thing over Apple, their laptop screens tilt back much further than any Macbook would dare dream.

[wes @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:32PM]

hey at least your apple comment makes sense in this DELL thread

[peshue @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:32PM]

Thank god for that. Being tall using a macbook on my lap can be very difficult.

[waiownsyou @ Jun 3rd 2008 3:01PM]

Yeah but the MacBook Pros (don't know about regular ones) have a more sturdy feeling to them.

I'm not saying that as an Apple fanboy. I own an Inspiron and a MBP. Just throwing it out there.

And yes, the lack of tilt angle PHAILS on the MBP.

[Mike Cerm @ Jun 3rd 2008 4:27PM]

I actually hate the new hinge design. My XPS m1210 opens all the way past horizontal, the hinge is much smaller, and doesn't have that weird angle on the side.

Dell's new hinges are better than the competition, but I think they used to be even better. The only thing that I really about the new ones is how sturdy they are.

[El Taco @ Jun 3rd 2008 6:51PM]

um...is that really an important factor that you look at when choosing a laptop, or is that sarcastic?

[Flashpoint @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:27PM]

Thicker is better.

My girlfriend taught me that one.

[JJV @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:32PM]

how can that be taught? its physically impossible to be taught that, in the sense that you mean.

[hopenglish @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:33PM]

I'm sorry... Previously you were adverse to a little weight on your girlfriends... but now...

Norbit?

[thatrotierkid @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:59PM]

Inflated her too much?

Careful not to pop her

;-)

[waiownsyou @ Jun 3rd 2008 3:00PM]

That's nice. I'm not a fan of fat girls though.

[itlnstln @ Jun 3rd 2008 5:11PM]

@waiownsyou

Thick != fat. Tthick tends to be more muscular (think: volleyball players) not fat (think: your mom).

[Mobius_1 @ Jun 3rd 2008 10:45PM]

Thick also = dumb

[jorvay @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:33PM]

Nice stuff, but it's frustrating that Dell doesn't have more high-power, small form factor options (i.e. xps 1330).
I guess tiny cheapbooks are taking over a lot of that market right now.

[BigD145 @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:33PM]

Oh look, a Lenovo. Oh, wait... that's not the Lenovo logo.

[BlissX @ Jun 3rd 2008 6:33PM]

Don't know why you've been ranked down.

This Dell is strikingly similar to the Lenovo IdeaPad Y510.

[Brian @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:34PM]

Dang, I was really looking forward to the 14.1", 15.4" is still just too big to lug around.

I guess I have to save up and go 13.3" XPS now.

[blomster @ Jun 3rd 2008 3:33PM]

Save the 1435!

[Za @ Jun 3rd 2008 6:59PM]

I'd rather see a 1235 - I'd be willing to deal with a bit more weight and a lower price than the Thinkpads out now. Something comparable to what the 700m was.

[Jon @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:34PM]

Where are the Mini Dell laptops i want one !

[sriram @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:36PM]

This would make more sense as a revision of their SMB Precision Mobile line. Would make more sense than losing the XPS branding.

[Deed @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:42PM]

I'm really sore that Dell's suddenly reworking the shit out of their Inspirons. Sure, the old "stylish" models such as the 1520 I have can be considered kind of ugly, but that means everyone who got one of these as a value product misses out on all these fancy reworkings. It's good that the 1525s only had mediocre integrated chipsets, but I bet the *530s are going to sport GeForce 9*M GPUs. Oh well.

[PeterF @ Jun 3rd 2008 3:27PM]

The 1520 is nearly a year old. What do you expect? You want them to keep the same design for ever and never improve?

[Deed @ Jun 4th 2008 8:03PM]

Yeah sure, I just don't remember Dell refreshing their product lines as frequently, though that's just me being pretty ignorant. I only really got into the laptop game when I started researching them thoroughly four months before Christmas.

[rawag77 @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:47PM]

Some days I wish I still worked there. I got to see all the goodies first on engadget and the next day in my cubicle.

[Neil @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:54PM]

Is everyone completely ignoring the Inspiron logo on this thing?

[Nilay Patel @ Jun 3rd 2008 2:58PM]

That's the slightly older picture from the previous leak -- the new info we got today says these will be branded as Studio and not Inspiron.

[Trey @ Jun 3rd 2008 3:09PM]

So the article doesn't pertain to the pictures? The pictures are future inspirons but the article is describing a laptop between the xps and the inspirons?

[Michael LaFramboise @ Jun 3rd 2008 3:09PM]

Its just a damn shame they can't seem to make a single laptop w/o using a dozen different shades of grey... Would it really be that terribly hard to make it all one color?

[rcappo @ Jun 3rd 2008 3:13PM]

Will it have DVI or HDMI out? Or at least an option to get one with it? Some of us have moved on from VGA and resolutions less than 1920x1080.

[Samboini @ Jun 3rd 2008 4:28PM]

Over 1920 x 1080 on a laptop? You would need a magnifying glass just to read your emails, assuming the graphics card didn't explode in a fiery ball of fury first.

[ToasterGlove @ Jun 3rd 2008 3:24PM]

I think these will be released on June 5th. Right now Dell is offering absolutely ridiculous sales (up to $599 off) on their current XPS laptops. These offers expire on the 5th which would still be during Computex, where Dell could announce this new line of laptops!!!

There's my 2cents.