StudioLaptop
Latest
Dell Studio 17 and Studio 15 review roundup
It's not every day we get to glimpse a brand new experience from Dell, and while Studio might just be near-XPS laptops in everyman clothing, that certainly seems to be a good thing. The laptops appear to combine the power of XPS and the prices of Inspiron, with some new perks like HDMI out and slot-loading drives to keep things fresh. The laptops tend a little thicker than their XPS counterparts, and the fact that these are hitting just before Centrino 2 might be cause to hesitate, but otherwise we're getting the feel from these reviews that the Studio line just might be the consumer lineup to beat if you can dig the design quirks and a little bit of bulk. Read - NotebookReview, Studio 17 ("Hard pressed to find a better 17-inch notebook in the same price range") Read - CNET Reviews, Studio 15 (7.3 / 10, "We'd be tempted to save up a few extra dollars for a thinner, lighter XPS.") Read - PC Mag, Studio 15 (4.5 / 5, Editor's Choice, "Retaining many of the XPS's qualities while selling it for Inspiron prices.") Read - Laptop Mag, Studio 17 (3.5 / 5, "For $1,599, you'll get plenty of multimedia muscle.")
Dell's new Studio laptops official, along with new Dell Dock and Dell Video software
Alright, this one is no surprise, but Dell is finally officially official about its leaked and re-leaked "Studio" laptop line. The specs are as previously stated, with a 15-inch Studio 15 model starting at $799, and a 17-inch Studio 17 model that starts at $999. What is perhaps more interesting than rehashing those laptop specs for old times sake is the new software Dell is pushing to these laptops and eventually the rest of its computers. Dell Dock is just like what it sounds, a program launcher along the lines of the OS X dock, but with some app-categorization magic and fairly extensive customization. Dell is also doing up Dell Video Chat, in partnership with SightSpeed, which integrates some rather easy-to-use video chat (powered by those integrated webcams on the Studio Laptops) with VoIP and IM for a pretty compelling alternative to Apple's iChat. In all it seems Dell's continued fascination with Apple is starting to really pay off for the end user, and those pricepoints are just as loveable as ever. Both laptops should be hitting retail in the next few days.%Gallery-26190%
