Dell Studio XPS 16: the Eyes Have It
by Jarred Walton on April 2, 2009 6:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Conclusion
So just how good is the Dell Studio XPS 16? That really depends on what you want to do with your laptop. If you're just a typical business user writing email and surfing the web, it can certainly do everything you need… but then so can pretty much any other modern laptop. It has a good set of features, looks reasonably attractive, and performs well. It's not too expensive, but then it's not inexpensive either. As a portable multimedia platform, picking up one of the models with a Blu-ray drive will allow you to wander over to your friends' houses and watch movies on their HDTVs. Just don't plan on watching any Blu-ray movies without the power adapter - or the 9-cell battery at the very least.
For most users then, the Studio XPS 16 is a good laptop that's worth a look. Many people are concerned about price these days, so ultimately they might have to look elsewhere. Take a walk down the aisles of any electronics store and you're likely to see numerous laptops selling for under $1000 that can do pretty much everything you need. They might have a slightly slower processor, no discrete graphics chip, and/or no Blu-ray drive, but most people don't need those things - especially if it means decreased battery life. But that's the summary for "most" people.
There's another category of users where our recommendation changes dramatically. If you happen to spend most of your time in Photoshop (or similar programs were color quality matters) and you want a laptop that won't hold you back, you seriously need to consider the Dell Studio XPS 16. Maybe you just want a high quality laptop display, since that's what your eyes will look at when you're using the computer. For either class of user, you should look at competing notebooks that use the same display or something very close to it. (The Dell Precision M6400 and Sony VAIO AW are also supposed to have great LCDs, but they're also larger and heavier.)
I'm not going to give the Dell Studio XPS 16 a general Editors' Choice award, since there are aspects of the laptop that I think could be better (temperatures being my primary concern). However, if you happen to fall into the second category of users I just described, it definitely deserves a gold medal. Yes, the RGB LED panel in the Studio XPS 16 is that good. In a word: wow! This may be as good as it gets in the world of laptop LCDs until OLEDs become mainstream. If you're like me and have been repeatedly disappointed with lackluster laptop displays, the Studio XPS 16 may finally restore your faith in humanity. This is change that even I can believe in!
Update: If you're interested in the Studio XPS 16, Dell is currently offering a special price of $1250, which includes the 1080p RGBLED display. It's a total savings of $343 and is only available for two days, so you'll need to act fast! Incidentally, that special price doesn't have Blu-ray by default. Still, it's worth snapping up if you have the money available!
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RU482 - Friday, April 3, 2009 - link
ANy idea what the make/model of the LCD panel?JarredWalton - Friday, April 3, 2009 - link
See the test system page. It looks like a Seiko Epson M077D€160HT according to ASTRA32, but that may or may not be correct.rudy - Thursday, April 2, 2009 - link
The specs for all the machines would be really important here. And they should be included. Why is something like the macbook air which is no where near as powerful even in such a line up? If it is then why aren't other notebooks which pack battery life of an entire day put in there?rudy - Thursday, April 2, 2009 - link
You cannot seriously tell me that the best battery life per watt hour notebook running windows is an alienware seriously...JarredWalton - Thursday, April 2, 2009 - link
Look at the specifics of that Alienware. It's running with the X3100 IGP instead of the discrete GPU. That's why I harp on the need for every other laptop to allow such functionality.As for the remaining laptops, they're all in previous reviews on our site, under the Mobile tab. I just don't think it's necessary to include all 15 or whatever notebook configs in each review. I suppose I can post links to the config pages for reference, though.
As for the MacBook Air, performance isn't super high, but it still has a reasonable Core 2 Duo CPU and I believe NVIDIA IGP, which means performance isn't exactly terrible. There are other notebooks in those charts that aren't particularly high-end as well.
rudy - Thursday, April 2, 2009 - link
The keypad missing on this 16 inch model is a real downer. The space is there I think.JarredWalton - Thursday, April 2, 2009 - link
It's possible to fit in a keypad, but then the rest of the keyboard isn't centered. I have a 15.4" notebook I'm testing with a number keypad and overall I prefer the XPS 16 layout. Then again, that may have more to do with the keyboard on that other laptop simply being super flimsy.... Anyway, the XPS M1730 is still my favorite laptop keyboard, as it's the best of both worlds. It *should* be able to fit on the Studio XPS 16, but for whatever reason Dell didn't go that route.Hrel - Thursday, April 2, 2009 - link
Yeah, good job Jarred Walton; you included 3D Mark results, and not just some of them, frickin' ALL of them... lol. I guess Dereck and Anand could learn a thing or two from you. (That last sentence is said partially sarcastic and no disrespect is meant.) I added that cause that sentence kinda makes me sound like a prick, which I'm not.JarredWalton - Thursday, April 2, 2009 - link
My laptop tests have always included them, but I *really* don't put much stock in 3DMark. I include them simply because they're easy enough to run. Start, walk away, come back in a while and collect the results. I wish more of the game tests were that easy. :)Wesleyrpg - Friday, April 3, 2009 - link
Nice review jarred,i been looking at one of these to replace my XPS m1530, but am concerned that the 3670 is weaker than my 8600mGT in the gaming departmrnt....i'm an AVID WoW player, so which do you think will perform better in WoW?
Also.....those 3dmark scores, were there done in the displays natural resolution or 3dmarks default resolution?
Thanks and keep up the good work