Dell Studio 14z: Thin and Light Done Right
by Jarred Walton on October 20, 2009 3:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Dell Studio 14z General Windows Performance
Quite a few people have asked for some general performance numbers in terms of Windows boot/shutdown, hibernate/resume, and sleep/wake times. Results vary between runs, but we minimize that effect by booting to a clean desktop, letting Windows stabilize, and repeating the tests multiple times. We report the best-case result for each system. Again, keep in mind that the netbooks have less RAM and run Windows XP, which gives them a big advantage in hibernate/resume tests. The Studio 14z is also equipped with 3GB RAM, which should yield better performance compared to the Gateway systems in hibernate/resume testing.
Despite having a faster CPU, OS boot times remain similar to other systems. It's a little surprising that the Gateway NV58 actually boots several seconds faster than the Studio 14z, but the Studio 14z does place at the top of the pack in shutdown time, and hibernate time is also very good considering memory sizes. The laptop POST time certainly impacts the boot/resume results, and again it would be great if laptop manufacturers would spend more time optimizing for improved POST speeds. One area will where we have no explanation for the poor result is the sleep performance; the Studio 14z consistently took 20 seconds or longer to enter suspend mode, though it does offer the fastest "wake" result of any system tested to date.
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GeorgeH - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
That was an excellent review, thanks. The commentary on each section was just enough to highlight important takeaways and asides without a lot of fluff.The only other (very minor) thing that I would have mentioned is that the external DVD burner (slim, eSATA, USB powered) from Dell is a $90 option or about $50-60 for a decentish USB unit from online retailers.
tiberious - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
When i bought mine a few months ago, they included the CPU option of: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9550 (2.66GHz/1066Mhz FSB/6MB cache).Which makes it a much more useful machine.
tiberious - Monday, October 26, 2009 - link
I should also note the only reason i bought this laptop over other similar sized laptops (hp elitebook's/macbook) was the screen resolution. Short of splashing out on a sony Z series, there doesn't seem to be anyone making smallish laptops with decent resolutions.maddoctor - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
Good, because it's Intel Inside and with new Core Ix based laptops, nvidia will not have any chance with Intel's chipsets infrastructure business.themadmilkman - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
Just when I thought there was nothing worse than an Apple fanboy...stmok - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
themadmilkman, just ignore him.JohnConnor - Sunday, September 12, 2010 - link
Jarred,I've read your reviews for many years. Please don't throw your personal color choice, preferences, into a review, as it isn't professional.
I'm a straight male who is 43, and I like the plum purple, out of the choices given
It 's one of the reasons why I bought my 14z. I got it refurbished, with a T4200, for $648
with 3GB of RAM.(I bought the Dell USB dvd-drive, which can blaze using 2 USB ports.
To all others who don't have this notebook should know this. with, the stock CPU, it was slow.
Add a T9550 CPU, and a 4GB stick of DDR3 1066Mhz[for 5GB total RAM)
[both of which I upgraded myself)] and the 8 cell battery, and you have a portable notebook, just above netbook size, which will give you over 8 hours of runtime without the AC!
I run OS X 10.6.4 SL with Windows 7 Pro x64, in Virtual Box, and love it