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studio posts

Dell UK offers free flights to US or Europe with Inspiron or Studio 15 purchase

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 11th 2009 at 7:29AM

Dell's offering a free return flight (that's round-trip in Yanklish) from the UK to the US or Europe with the purchase of a £499 Inspiron 15 or £599 Studio 15. There are limitations such as airports (Heathrow and Gatwick only for trips to the US) and destinations (New York, Boston, DC, Amsterdam, Berlin, Madrid, Lisbon, and a few more city airports) but the offer seems to be a good deal if you're flexible and wanted to fly to any of these cities over the next year anyway. Just don't get too hung up on any one destination when submitting your request:

The Booking Request Form entitles you, the bearer, to one return flight offer as specified, to one of the featured destinations. To obtain the flight you will be required to provide 3 alternative destinations and 3 alternative travel dates. Our booking agent will use all reasonable endeavours to meet your booking requests but this cannot be guaranteed and, in such circumstances, you will be offered an alternative.

Still, if you're lucky enough to grab a coveted LHR to JFK slot, then a spot-check shows flights starting at about £400 in August 2009. In other words, the laptop is nearly free if you were already headed in that direction. So go ahead, you like to gamble, right?

[Thanks, ugotamesij]

Dell's Studio XPS 13 and 16 laptops with a kiss of Merlot Red

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 1st 2009 at 6:23AM

Hey, it's just a color change but red is undeniably sexy especially when wrapped around Dell's design-heavy Studio XPS 13 and 16 laptops. Already rumored and spied, a post over at Dell's Direct2Dell blog makes the Merlot Red laptops official. Man, high-gloss finish with red leather accents... it's like kissing Betty Page. Er, was that out loud?

Gallery: Dell's Studio XPS 13 and 16 laptops with a kiss of Merlot Red

Dell's Mini 9 vanishes from retail site as red Studio XPS 16 returns (update: Mini 9 is on the outs)

by Ross Miller, posted May 29th 2009 at 7:24PM

We don't want to point fingers, but at the same time Dell's Studio XPS 16 red option suddenly returns -- now a "Merlot" instead of once-axed "Crimson" -- the Mini 9 conspicuously goes missing from the company's website. Coincidence? We think not. It's a regular murder mystery, and it looks like we have our prime suspect here, caught... erm, red-lidded. Catching the killer, though, won't bring it back, but at least its younger brother, the Vostro A90, still seems to alive and kicking.

Update: We just got off the phone with a Dell customer service rep who told us the same thing a handful of our tipsters heard: the Mini 9's being phased out, with its official "End of Life" possibly as soon as Monday. Shed a tear for our 2008 netbook of the year.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Read - Merlot red Studio XPS 16
Read - Dell.com search for "Mini 9"
Read - Refurbished Laptop stockroom

Dell Studio 14z hands-on

by Paul Miller, posted May 28th 2009 at 4:24PM

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.

Gallery: Dell Studio 14z hands-on

Dell stays vivacious with Studio 14z, gets going at $649

by Darren Murph, posted May 28th 2009 at 7:41AM

Go 'head with your bad self, Dell! The colorful Studio line is expanding this fine morning, with the newest member rocking a slightly unorthodox 14-inch (LED) display size. Designed for hipster students and those at the top of the computing bell curve, this perfectly average portable offers up Core 2 Duo CPU options, 720 / 900p screen resolutions, integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics, HDMI / DisplayPort outputs, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, dual headphone jacks, up to 500GB of HDD space, a 34mm ExpressCard slot, six-cell battery (an optional eight-cell will last over six hours), WiFi, optional Bluetooth and even an external Blu-ray drive if you're feeling frisky. Supposedly the machine will be available to order later today in the US and Canada, with prices starting at $649.

Gallery: Dell stays vivacious with Studio 14z, gets going at $649

Dell now offering Studio XPS 13 with Ubuntu

by Darren Murph, posted May 24th 2009 at 8:53AM

Dell's been showing Ubuntu lots of love over the past few months, so it's no real shock to see the Linux-based operating system slide on over to Dell's hottest (literally and figuratively) 13-incher. The Studio XPS 13 can now be ordered with Ubuntu 8.10 or 7.04 right from the factory, though it seems you'll be forced to upgrade to Jaunty Jackalope once the rig hits your doorstep. Ah well, you won't find us kvetching over added options, so we'll just pencil on a smile and raise a glass to diversity at Round Rock.

[Thanks, Landon]

Dell Studio One 19 unboxing, hands-on, and impressions

by Jacob Schulman, posted May 21st 2009 at 4:00PM

We thought it'd be a good idea to get all touchy-feely with Dell's latest -- and its most family friendly -- all-in-one, the Studio One 19, and while there are things we like, there are certainly a bunch of things that we wish they had done differently. Although it's already gotten some lukewarm reviews, we decided to put it through its paces and check it out for ourselves. Click on after the break for more of our impressions and what we really thought about this interesting machine.

Gallery: Dell Studio One 19 unboxing

Continue reading Dell Studio One 19 unboxing, hands-on, and impressions

Dell injects WiMAX into trio of laptops

by Ross Miller, posted May 6th 2009 at 1:55AM

While making a point to assert it's looking into LTE as well, Dell has for now jumped on the WiMAX bandwagon by announcing it'll offer the technology as an option on its Studio 15, Studio 17, and Studio XPS 16 laptops. US customers can pick the Intel 5150 WiMAX / Wireless-N combo card for $60 under the wireless card tab when customizing. Right now, we'd wager a few people living in Portland, Atlanta, or pockets of Baltimore just got mighty happy.

How would you change Dell's Studio XPS 13 / 16?

by Darren Murph, posted May 2nd 2009 at 12:54AM

Make no mistake -- Dell's Studio XPS 13 and Studio XPS 16 are drastic departures for it in terms of laptop design. Highly stylized, a touch of leather and a bombastic keyboard -- things that were never really associated with Dell prior to its Studio family coming to light. Now that both of these portables have been out for a tick, we're interested to see how your experience has been. Are you feeling the new designs? Is the hardware up to snuff? Tinkered with any alternative OS choices? We know it'll be hard to get honest with a machine you've relied on so heavily for the past few weeks, but trust us, it's good for the soul.

RealDVD ripping software heads to court, fair use advocates on pins and needles

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 27th 2009 at 5:08AM

Let's face it -- quite a lot is resting on the outcome of this case. For months now, RealNetworks has been unable to legally sell its RealDVD movie ripping software after a court issued a temporary restraining order that remains valid until it's decided if the application violates the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act). Now, the software is finally having its day in court, and the outcome could shape the future of the DVD player (for better or worse). You see, Real has already assembled a prototype Facet device that hums along on Linux; essentially, this DVD playing machine would sell for around $300 and could store up to 70 movies internally. On the surface, this sounds entirely like a poor man's Kaleidescape, but only time will tell if The Man agrees. Cross your fingers folks, we get the feeling fair use advocates are going to need the luck.

Sonic shoves Qflix DVD burners into more Dell desktops

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 23rd 2009 at 9:22AM

We know you're struggling to believe your eyes, but those Qflix burners actually are still hanging around. For those who missed all the action last year, these devices enable users to download a DRM-laced film onto their PC and burn it onto a specially-keyed DVD for playback. In other words, you can forget about toasting flicks to that dusty stack of DVD-Rs you've got laying around from late '05. For whatever reason, Dell has seen fit to extend its partnership with Sonic Solutions by offering internal Qflix drives on the Studio XPS Desktop, Studio XPS 435, Studio Desktop and Studio Slim Desktop. The wild part? Its actually charging more for having you clean out its inventory.

Dell rolls out updated Studio 15 laptop

by Donald Melanson, posted Apr 21st 2009 at 11:35AM

Dell sort of spoiled the surprise by dishing out some of the details about its updated Studio 15 laptop on its support site a full two months ago (not to mention that little business in Singapore), but the company has now finally gotten fully official with the laptop, and made it available in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. The big news with this update is a new and improved 15.6-inch LED-backlit display, which packs a native 1366 x 768 resolution, and gets paired with some upgraded ATI Mobility Radeon HD4570 graphics (available with 256MB or 512MB of on-board memory). Otherwise, you can expect the usual range of Core 2 Duo processors, a built-in 2 megapixel webcam, HDMI out, an optional Blu-ray drive, an optional backlit keyboard, and your choice of six colors, including the snazzy Black Chainlink design pictured above. This being the Studio series, you can also expect prices to remain at a reasonable $649 for the base model, with things moving up considerably from there if you opt for some of those aforementioned options.

Dell Studio XPS 435 up for sale, action starts at $1099

by Paul Miller, posted Feb 26th 2009 at 9:55AM

Yeah, we're smitten. We couldn't tell you what Dell's doing here that they haven't managed in the last 100,000 XPS desktop designs, but whatever it is we want to buy it flowers and CryEngine 2-powered games. The new Studio XPS 435 landed on Dell's site a couple days ago, and is now available for configuration and sale. The "base model" sports a 2.66GHz Core i7-920 processor, 3GB of RAM and an ATI Radeon HD 3650 256MB graphics card. Things of course rise dramatically from there -- you can add another grand to the pricetag by bumping the processor alone, and the 24GB of RAM option is a nice $1,500 addition -- but we'd say the base model is a pretty solid start. Dell's quoting a March 19th ship date, but that's just "preliminary" at the moment.

[Via DesktopReview]

Gallery: Dell Studio XPS 435

Dell Studio 15 with HD screen and Mobility Radeon HD 4570 graphics lands in Singapore

by Nilay Patel, posted Feb 24th 2009 at 12:14AM

We first caught wind of an updated Dell Studio 15 when drivers for a 1555 model with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 graphics popped up on Dell's support site, and surprise -- Dell Singapore's gone and posted specs and pricing. The 1555 gets more than just a GPU boost to a 512MB 4570, it's also scoring a new 15.6-inch WLED 1366 x 768 screen, so you can actually watch some of that high-def media at an appropriate res. The basic config nets you all the new stuff plus a 2.4GHz P8600 Core 2 Duo, 3GB of RAM and a 250GB drive for S$1,599 ($1,044), which is actually a pretty stellar deal -- let's hope this bad boy makes it Stateside, and soon.

[Thanks, Karthik]

Dell's Studio 15 line getting ATI graphics boost?

by Tim Stevens, posted Feb 18th 2009 at 9:14AM

It's not too often that a new product is leaked via its own support site -- in fact most companies can't even get drivers up ahead of release -- but if an update to Dell's download database is correct the Studio 15 is about to receive an update in the graphics department. A new model called the Studio 1555 was added yesterday to the Dell download site and included there is a driver for ATI's Mobility Radeon HD 4570 GPU. The Studio 15's current Intel 4500MHD is also listed, meaning the faster 4570 will likely be an option, and a desirable one at that. No further information about this update or new model is available, but if you were looking for a new Studio you might just want to hold off until we can figure out what's up. If, on the other hand, you were looking for a new studio apartment then go for it -- we've heard that now is an excellent time to buy.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]