Dell Studio 17: When Gaming Isn't Enough
by Dustin Sklavos on August 26, 2010 12:10 AM EST
Dell Studio 17: Meant for Media
Dell's Studio lineup eclipses their Inspirons in pretty much every way. Better builds, better parts, better features, and in the long run, better values. So how does the Studio 17 stand on its own? Pretty well, actually.
There's no mistaking the line is designed to be more of a value (although the current pricing wouldn't necessarily have you believe that), but the blend and balance of performance and features are definitely there. Existing issues are generally minor ones: the fan can get a little loud under load, and the keyboard and touchpad take some getting used to. But the flipside is that the machine is profoundly capable of handling whatever tasks you throw at it. Media enthusiasts and video editors needing a machine to use on the go are going to be particularly well-served by the Studio 17's comparably long battery life and dual hard drive bays for ample storage.
I can already hear gamers crying foul in the comments, though. "Why would you buy this thing when you can get a G73 or [insert favorite model here] for the same price or a little more?" That's easy: the Studio 17 isn't meant for you. It wasn't designed with you in mind, and the ExpressCard and FireWire ports should both be proof enough of that. The "Studio" in the title should be a big clue as to who this was intended for, and given that I pride myself as being a part of that demographic, I can tell you it's well-suited for those purposes. This is not a gaming laptop. It's a workstation for people who can't afford workstation-class notebooks.
While the screen may not be the best, it's definitely good enough, and again, the dual drive bays, affordable quad-core, amazing speakers, and healthy variety of ports make it perfect for people who want to work on the go. The Mobility Radeon HD 4650 just means it can do a bit of light gaming every now and then without severely encroaching on the unit's battery life. The Studio 17 is well-rounded, and if you can find a good deal on it (Dell invariably has one going at some point), it comes highly recommended.
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JarredWalton - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
We list the gaming results mostly for people that *are* interested in those areas. We've decided to settle on testing "midrange" GPUs at Low, Medium, and High settings. We could put all the results on one page, but then it would be a really long page. Anyway, if you go by word count, the article is 3600 words long, and the gaming and graphics pages comprise a total of 800 words over four pages.Dustin Sklavos - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
I did when I first got the Studio 17, but the most recent BIOS update largely alleviated that issue. The thing runs a little toasty, but it's a huge notebook and the extended battery makes it abundantly clear it's not supposed to be used on your lap.I did my research before picking this one up, and haven't run into that BIOS issue or the AC adaptor issue.
synaesthetic - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
Why does this not have a Mobility Radeon 5850? Or at least a 5830? There's more than enough room, if a 5830 can be shoved into an Envy 15...What a waste.
Dustin Sklavos - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
Price, heat, and battery life.The Studio 17 is fairly large, but compared to some gaming notebooks it's actually not as bulky. And I can tell you the cooling system is on the "eh" side...going to a high-end GPU like that would tax it too much.
Also, 5830/50/70 all play hell on the battery, as the G73 results demonstrate.
JarredWalton - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
Now if he made the argument for HD 5650 or *maybe* 5730, that would be reasonable. Those aren't as fast as the 5800 series, but they're faster than old 4650. Of course, Dustin bought this as a bargain at Best Buy, which is probably why he has the older 4650... not that 560v is any different.seapeople - Thursday, August 26, 2010 - link
Yay, some love for 17 inchers! I'm glad you didn't go down the "Any laptop over 14 inches is a behemoth tank that you need a fork lift to carry around" road. Even if you did claim that battery life doesn't matter on a big laptop.... which is fairly silly. A long battery life on this laptop means the same as any other laptop -- that when you take it with you somewhere, you don't need to get out (or bring) the charger, which is even bigger on something like this.Also, I can fit my 17" Dell in a backpack which is small enough to count as your "personal bag" on an airplane (i.e., fits under the seat). Battery life is somewhat important in airports considering the lack of outlets.
Lingyis - Friday, August 27, 2010 - link
well, that's not cool. i just bought a studio 17 a couple days ago based on anandtech. really shouldn't do that too often to maintain anandtech's good reputation.fortunately, my specs are completely different. i5-520, no discrete graphics card, RGB 1080. the truth is that i bought it pretty much 99% for the RGB 1080 screen, which if it's anything like the XPS 16, should be awesome (XPS 16 no longer offers RGB screen as an option). another reason for the 17' is so that i don't need to lug around a numpad with me.
i won't do any gaming (well, nothing graphics intensive anyway) on the machine, pretty much using it either to remotely log on to work machines or run some local calculation jobs (mostly single-threaded) so hopefully battery life would be quite a bit better than what's tested here.
so fingers crossed. i don't think i'll like the keyboard (tried it out at best buy) but hopefully i'll get used to it and i'll end up loving the screen and, as a result, the laptop. i guess worst case i'll just get a keyboard when i'm not on the road.
that's the thing--studio 17's have so many configurations. i probably have buyer's bias at this point, but to go back on your rec based on just one config is just... not worth the humble pie.
ps. XPS 16 only has the "WLED" option these days, which i don't know how it's different from regular LED. any idea how it stacks up to the "RGB LED"?
Dustin Sklavos - Friday, August 27, 2010 - link
I'm not sure I understand how I'm reneging on my rec, especially since I'm actually using it myself and kept it. I love mine.How am I reneging?
Lingyis - Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - link
okay i guess you're not. i misread one of the lines.i have a question though: do you have a fan issue? i just got mine yesterday and the fan goes on and off every 10 seconds or so and it's driving me absolutely nuts. i'm not running anything intensive, just browsing the web or something.
Lingyis - Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - link
well okay i contacted dell customer support they said they'll send somebody to replace the fan unit. hopefully the resolves the issue.the guy was really pushy trying to sell me the complete warranty plan. but i'm thinking of replacing the hard drive with a SSD at some point in the future so i don't think it's worth the money.