We got a quick look at
Dell's new Studio 14z thin-and-light, budget-friendly laptop, and were mildly impressed. The thing is lighter than it looks, has a great blend of performance, price, inputs and outputs, and doesn't even look too frumpy to boot. The chiclet-ish keyboard is fine, though not great, and while the lack of Studio XPS-style leather frills and capacitive touch controls might be seen as a drawback to some, we actually like the no-nonsense approach. The inclusion of HDMI, eSATA and an ExpressCard 34 slot are pretty clutch for this form factor and price, and while a cheap external drive might be necessary for occasional use at the desk, the removal of it makes total sense for the target audience of students. Perhaps most astonishing, however, is that Dell has finally figured out that people care what the bottom of their computer looks and feels like -- and this one feels great. It's a whole new world, people.
posted May 28th 2009 4:24PM
Is that a Dell or a Mac?
Can you read son? I know that they look similar in some respects, but seriously...
I forgot sarcasm on the internet doesnt exist...
Looks everything but a Mac, mate.
Good point..it has 2 buttons!
Yeah, no Macs have multiple buttons, shame that isn't it.
Anyone notice a rise in dual tone laptop designs after the introduction new MacBook?
My toshiba m60 had those colors 5 years ago... well before the MacBook. Please stop making cheap aestethic comments. This Laptop is a real winner. 50$ option to get 1600x900 resolution, E-sata and firewire, this is a nice laptop for video editing. Way better than the macbook for that purpose.
I am personnaly looking very closely at the Studio 15 with the ATI HD 4570 which is 2 time stronger than the 9400m. Its not available anymore in the US but it is on Dell.jp for a mere 849$. 2.4ghz, 4gb, HD 4570. wouhouuu!
@nonumbers: no clue, more like it. Ever heard of Sony ... you know, the folks whose keyboard Apple ripped off? They've had duotones for years.
Yea, it has a screen, a hinge and a keyboard; that's a mac alright. buddy this looks as much like a mac as you look like Chris Pine.
@Eminemdrdre00 Sarcasm on the internet is lacking intonation... so... yeah, it is pretty much useless. With enough pricks out there that will say the most ridiculous things, you can't just assume someone is being sarcastic on the internet.
Clutch.
right on dude
T minus. whenever it feels right.. galaxy five oh oh...
This notebook is TIGHT.. me wants
Soooo cash.
If my HP HDX Dragon had an anus, it would poop out one of those.
If it pooped out 5 of these things it would probably still weigh more than one of them...
Your saying your's doesn't?
Is the graphics intergrated or discrete?
Nvidia GeForce 9400M, so it's a powerful integrated.
The 9400M is hardly a "powerful" gpu. It's a low-end chip only capable of playing last-gen games. And no, it will not play Crysis.
If we keep this in perspective that it's a $650 notebook, I'd call it a powerful GPU.
Which makes it a powerful discrete option. The Intel chipset can't even play last-gen games, hell it can't even do World of Warcraft without being around 20FPS constantly at 1024x768. I know, I've tried! The 9400M is a great solution for a low end laptop. It gives you the WoW playability, some light Call of Duty 4, and nice HD video acceleration. All for a relatively low power draw and available in a $649 laptop.
Correction: powerful integrated solution. The 9400M is not discrete.
@ Tonicboy
"And no, it will not play Crysis."
Considering that it can be played on a 6200 (albeit low quality and low res) it will DEFINITELY play on a 9400m. Hell there are videos of Warhead playing on a 9400m on YT.
It'll play tf2, cod4, and wow
thats good enough for me!
damn this seems to be an awesome deal looking at Dell's site. seems a great deal for anyone that doesnt need an optical drive :D
Bottom of the machine still looks like every crappy PC laptop I've seen. Although I admit the top seems to be a lot nicer. I just wish these manufacturers would get away from silver plastic. I'm not a fan of these two-tone black and grey color schemes.
Why is the bottom of a laptop important? Maybe you or Paul can explain that one to me. I can't think of many things that would be lower on my list of priorities in a laptop purchase than what the bottom looks like.
Bottom of this thing is way better looking than the bottom of my Dell Latitude D630, anyway.
Wait...so only mildly impressed? Sounds like you were impressed as a whole.
"The thing is lighter than it looks, has a great blend of performance, price, inputs and outputs, and doesn't even look too frumpy to boot"
If that's mildly impressed, then I'm a little bit more than just mildly confused at the vocabulary for qualitative comparison around here.
read: as impressed as you could possibly be by a $650 laptop.
anyway, I agree with engadget, this one looks like a very good deal. no frills is a winner. yeah a unibody macbook is a lot nicer but it also costs 2x as much.
Will this be the Adamo killer? =)
After my experience with my last three laptops, I think every single review of any laptop should begin by talking about the power connector.
It is absolutely hilarious how cheaply manufacturers make this part, considering that a broken one means your laptop is dead.
So, how's this thing's power connector? Is it solid or does it flop around in its socket like 99% of other laptops? Is it pin-out or the reverse?
Exactly THIS.
I have a compaq sitting on my desk with a broken power connector..
Magsafe ftw.
@onetrack
MagSafe FTW indeed...
http://gizmodo.com/5262590/the-not+so+safe-magsafe-burnt-gallery
Oh you mean like my magsafe adapter that just melted?
@Jeff
Sure, Jeff, let's make the most important part of the review the power connector because obviously that's going to be of huge concern to the vast amount of people who rolled a 3 for dexterity in the great D&D game of life.
If it has a good battery life, it's a winner.
I've heard around 6 hours with the 8-cell
The Dell site claims six and a half hours on the 8-cell battery. Realistically you can probably guess around five hours then. Which is rather good. Added bonus is that the 8-cell battery is flush with the laptops body. That's a great bonus, the thing I dislike most about my M1330's 9-cell is how far it sticks out.
I know gaming kills battery life, I'd expect no more than 2 and a half hours of game time on the 8 cell.
That's what she said.
When it warms up and the fan kicks on, is it about as loud as standing 30 feet behind an F-16 during takeoff, like all other Dell laptops I've owned?
Their desktop PCs sound more like MD-80s.
Do you own one of these? I do, a studio 17 and it's whisper quiet. It smokes anything that the fruity OEM PC manufacturer builds, cost less and has many more features... So rather than making shit up, talk with some authority.
Maybe the fan whines like my old mini, or maybe it rattles like the imac I returned in December. Then again it might just have the awesome vibration of the macbook I returned two weeks ago.
For real... when did Dells start running Windows?
Doesn't look too bad.. Might pick one up for the gf after some reviews come out, she needs a new laptop. Sounds like there is a "high res" screen option too, which I'm thankful for.
I wish Dell comes out with a Studio XPS 14 soon