Dell is going big on personalisation with the 15.4″ screen multimedia laptop Studio 15, with five colours and 11 artistic designs available to choose from. The Studio 15 can be equipped with an Intel Core 2 Duo and dedicated ATI graphics. It comes with a slot-loading DVD drive, backlit keyboard, sleek drop-hinge design, widescreen glossy display and touch sensitive buttons. Software wise the Dell Studio 15 includes a unique Apple Mac OS X launch dock.
Parsing the intended markets for Dell’s ever-shifting in-house brand names requires a bit of tea-leaf reading, although it’s been easier of late, with the company stripping down its consumer brands to just the Inspiron and XPS lines. Now the company is adding a new line between the budget Inspiron and the high-end XPS. The new Studio line, as personified by the $1,250 15-inch Studio 15, has the same tapered shape, slot-loading optical drive, and rounded hinge as the Dell XPS M1530, but a similarly configured Studio system costs roughly $300 less than a similarly outfitted XPS.
The trade-off is mostly in size and finish. Even though it has a similar look, the Studio laptop is about 25 percent thicker and slightly heavier than its more upscale XPS cousin, with plastic accents instead of metal. We’d be tempted to toss in the extra $300 for the brushed-metal wrist rest and slimmer design of the XPS, but the Studio line does offer personalization options (lots of colors and graphic imprints) beyond what’s available for Dell’s other laptops, along with a slot-loading optical drive and credit-card-style media remote for about $200 more than a similarly configured Inspiron 1525 (not including discrete graphics, which are not available on the 1525).
| Price as reviewed / Starting price | $1,189 / $799 |
| Processor | 2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 |
| Memory | 2GB, 667MHz DDR2 |
| Hard drive | 250GB 5,400rpm |
| Chipset | Intel GM965 |
| Graphics | ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3400 |
| Operating System | Windows Vista Premium |
| Dimensions (WDH) | 14 x 10.16 x 1.25 inches |
| Screen size (diagonal) | 15.4 inches |
| System weight / Weight with AC adapter | 6.0 / 7.2 pounds |
| Category | Mainstream |
While clearly inspired by the popular XPS M1530, the Studio 15 has a more angular look, with its large side hinges curving the screen down at a sharp angle; the XPS presents a more rounded look. At 6 pounds, it’s a bit heavy to tote around every day, but still at the lower end of the 15-inch scale, around 6 pounds. Our early review unit had a matte midnight blue lid, but there are a variety of color options. We’ve also seen some leaked shots online of several artistic designs motifs that should be available in the future, which we’ve previously covered on Crave.
On the whole, the Studio 15 has a good array of connectivity options. Down the left hand edge you’ll find both HDMI and VGA output, Gigabit Ethernet, USB, a combo USB/eSATA port, 4-pin Firewire, microphone and two headphone sockets. Flip over to the other side and you’ll see a power connector, an additional USB port, memory card reader (SD, MMC, Memory Stick), ExpressCard 34 and a slot for the internal DVD writer. If you’re hunting for the power switch, you’ll find that nestling in the middle of the screen hinge on the right hand side.
Sony VGP-BPS8 Battery, DELL Studio 15 Battery, Dell xps m1530 Battery, Dell xps m1730 Battery
Not logged in