Dell Studio 15
When Dell crossed the
bargain pricing of its Inspiron laptops with the design
sense of its XPS line, something sensational emerged—a
new mainstream laptop line called Dell Studio. With
the new line, Dell hopes to reel in the latest generation
of back-to-schoolers, content creators, social-network
addicts, and camera enthusiasts, just to name a few
groups.
dell 15 bannerThe Dell Studio 15
is a stylish 15-inch laptop that represents the convergence
of the Dell Inspiron 1525 and XPS M1530. Some of its
highlights include spectacular performance scores,
excellent configuration options, and an extensive
color palette. It earns the Editors' Choice for mainstream
laptops because it offers all of these things for
just $1,199 (direct, E-Value code DNDPUA1, for a limited
time).
This is not the first time I've
seen wacky colors being offered on a Dell laptop.
Among the seven being offered, Flamingo Pink, Tangerine
Orange, Plum Purple and Spring Green were also available
with the Inspiron 1525. The Studio 15 continues the
same tradition but with a slight twist. You can either
choose a solid color or spruce up a model in any of
the seven colors with in-mold decorations (IMD), like
the designs on the HP Pavilion dv5t, patterns embedded
beneath a glossy finish. Granted, it's not as fancy
as the aluminum trim found in the XPS M1530 and the
Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Penryn), but it's to Dell's
credit that the Studio 15 combines two of the most
commonly used design trends in laptops.
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The Studio 15's styling is also
a tribute to the XPS M1530. You might recognize the
drop-down hinges, similar to the ones on the M1530
and the Lenovo IdeaPad Y510. It even has the same
tapering design as the M1530, becoming thinner as
you move toward the bezel. At 5.9 pounds, it's a shade
lighter than the 6.2-pound M1530, although the Apple
MacBook Pro is still the undisputed 15-inch mainstream
lightweight with its 5.3-pound frame. I'm surprised
that Dell didn't offer a 13-inch Studio, as it would
appeal to mobile professionals. As it stands now,
the Studio line consists of the 15 and the Studio
1735 17-inch widescreen. (Stay tuned for my review
of the latter.)
You won't be disappointed with the
typing experience on the Studio 15, as the keyboard,
mouse buttons, and touchpad are engineered to perfection.
Like the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch, the 15's widescreen
is backed by LEDs and has a 1,440-by-900 resolution,
which delivered a superb viewing experience. What
the MacBook Pro doesn't offer and the 15 does is an
option to upgrade to a 1,920-by-1,200 (1080p) resolution
screen.
A wide array of upgradable features
makes the 15 shine. Embellishing its sleek look is
a slot-loading DVD burner, which can be upgraded to
a Blu-ray reader for $200. You can enhance the Blu-ray
experience by using the included HDMI port to display
the image on a larger monitor. With the proliferation
of digital cameras and video content, you'll be glad
of the four-in-one card reader, the variety of hard-drive
configurations (my review unit has a 250GB drive),
and the 2-megapixel webcam, to help you stay in line
with these trends. Mobile broadband or a cellular
modem is a feature I've been pleading for on the MacBook
Pro, the Gateway M-152XL, and the Toshiba Satellite
A305-S6845. At least Dell offers it as an option on
the 15.
Performance-wise, the 15 and the
MacBook Pro 15-inch (Penryn) are worthy adversaries,
with the slight edge going to the 15. With its 2.5-GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of RAM, its SYSmark
2007 Preview Overall score of 122 topped the Apple's
by 9 percent and is the best Overall score we've seen
so far on a mainstream laptop. The Dell also led the
pack in video encoding and Photoshop CS3 tests. The
Gateway M-152XL came close to matching the 15's SYSmark
results falling within a point short of its Overall
score. As for 3D gaming, the 15 has a midrange ATI
graphics card, which isn't as powerful as the ones
that come with the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (nVidia
GeForce 8600M GT) and ASUS M50Sa-A1 (ATI Radeon HD
3600). At this price point, however, be grateful that
you are getting a decent gaming card. Finally, 3 hours
20 minutes doesn't look too impressive as a battery
score, but keep in mind that this is a 53-Wh battery.
You can easily get into the 5-hour range with the
9-cell upgrade ($79).
The Dell Studio 15 inherits many
of the XPS 1530's strengths and almost none of its
weaknesses. What it really comes down to, however,
is superb configuration options. The 15 outperforms
many of its toughest competitors and has the potential
to inflict even more damage when upgraded. The only
competitor with a richer feature set and just as many
upgradable options is the HP Pavilion dv5t, but undercutting
Dell's current price will be a monumental task for
HP.
Source: www.pcmag.com
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