Dell Studio 14: Defining Solid
by Dustin Sklavos on August 19, 2010 2:49 AM ESTStudio 14 Battery Life
So far, our review unit has shown us solid performance in applications and about the best performance we could ask for in gaming (given the lousy options presented), but an increasingly important metric these days is battery life. We expect good things out of the Studio 14: the high capacity 6-cell, 56Wh battery should be able to get us at least four hours of useful life out of the notebook.
Getting close to three hours of movie playback time is pretty reasonable; in fact it starts scraping under machines with integrated graphics and bigger batteries. Under internet usage it gets even better, with the Studio 14 pulling nearly five hours of useful life at a comfortable brightness. Dell's done their homework here: the battery life on our Studio 14 is miles ahead of their last generation. The exception to that statement is x264 playback, where the old 9400M IGP of the 14z surpasses the new 14, though it had a larger battery. Note that on a per Wh metric, the 14z scored 2.92 compared to 2.86 on the 14, so it's pretty close even in that case. The dedicated graphics may be extremely low-powered but the chip still draws more power than the integrated graphics would have, and there's no indication that the Studio 14 is switching between the two.
Given the excellent running time from the stock 6-cell battery, we feel comfortable recommending users who need more than five hours of life opting for the 9-cell. Dell's site suggests that extended battery can last for up to eight hours and thirty-five minutes (how delightfully specific), and it's reasonable to assume they aren't far off the mark.
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jasperjones - Thursday, August 19, 2010 - link
You must think your readers are somewhat dumb. I don't see any reason why, in recent reviews, we're being shown the table with system specs twice.Dustin Sklavos - Friday, August 20, 2010 - link
As a convenience so you don't have to memorize the specs every time you look at the first page. :)Hrel - Thursday, August 19, 2010 - link
yeah... 900 dollars?! Only way this laptop is worth that is if you put an ATI 5650 GPU or better in it, and a screen with a resolution of 1600x900 or better.taltamir - Friday, August 20, 2010 - link
with a GPU that crappy, why bother at all?The only two options should be the 5650 (or faster) or no discrete GPU at all (saving both money, power consumption, and weight)... having a crappy discrete GPU is a DRAWBACK not a plus for a laptop... its still not playing any games.
JarredWalton - Friday, August 20, 2010 - link
That's only partially true. Even the 5470 and 310M are about 2.5 times faster than the best current IGPs (with the exception of the G320M that's only used in Apple MacBook, since NVIDIA can't make Core 2010 chipsets). If it were a $75 upgrade, that would at least be something you could justify, but $150 is what it costs to get the 5650/335M level, which are another 2.5X increase over these entry GPUs.synaesthetic - Monday, August 23, 2010 - link
These GPU upgrades are barely worth $50 extra on the price. Asking $150 is absolutely ludicrous.But really, no laptop maker offers reasonably priced discrete GPU upgrades except for Sony (where they are almost always $50 extra regardless of what type of GPU you get).
As another poster mentioned, this machine is not a good deal. In the 14" space, the HP Envy 14 and the Sony Vaio CW rule the roost. Especially if you catch the Vaio CW on a Best Buy sale, where you can get the CW27FX variant with the i5-520M, 1600x900 LCD, NV GT330M and a BD-ROM drive for $950.
asmoma - Sunday, August 22, 2010 - link
I'm curious about the performance and the battery life/energy usage of the phenom pxxx and the kite platform. Is someone at anandtech working on a review? :)JarredWalton - Sunday, August 22, 2010 - link
Yes... when the replacement gets here. We got an early piece of hardware, and unfortunately all the wrinkles weren't ironed out.Avenger19 - Sunday, August 22, 2010 - link
Hello,I would like to wade in with my 2c worth. I have owned a Studio 14 for about 1 month, I7 720, 8GB ram, Crucial C300 SSD. I am very happy with the configuration, the only downside is the relatively wimpy ATI video chip. I have a 5870 SLI machine for those tasks. The size and weight are perfect for me The "lack" of LED indicators are a blessing for me. Highly recommended.
geforcefly - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
My Studio 1458 has been a really good laptop for me. And one of the few 14" machines that has an LED backlit panel, slot load DVD, Core i5, AND an optional extended-life battery. I love the clean design and my i5-430 will outperform the old T9900. 4GB, 320GB, and 1,366x768 is plenty of pixels without having to look though a magnifying glass.