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: Not Perfect, but a Good Thin and Light Nonetheless
Though not without its flaws, the Dell Studio 14z ends up being one of the better current laptop solutions on the market. For a reasonable price (around $1000 for the tested configuration), users can get a laptop that will handle all of the most common situations. The Studio 14z delivers decent application performance, adequate entry-level gaming performance, and acceptable battery life, all in a package that weighs under 5 pounds.
One of the highlights of the 14z is undoubtedly the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics. Not only can they provide accelerated video decoding, but they end up being the best current IGP solution in terms of graphics performance -- roughly 50% faster than the ATI HD 3200 (although that's not an exact figure considering the different CPUs). That puts Intel in an interesting position for laptops, as the best combination right now appears to be an Intel CPU with an NVIDIA chipset… a combination that we won't be able to use with Core i5/i7 laptops. It's not a big problem when the only Core i7 mobile CPUs use the Clarksfield core, clearly a high-performance option, but come 2010 Arrandale will mix things up. Arrandale will also include a new Intel IGP, so hopefully Intel can get solid graphics drivers and performance for a change; we'll believe it when we see it.
The real difficulty for many prospective owners of the Studio 14z is going to be deciding what they want most. If you downgrade to the T6500 CPU, you're still looking at $800 for a laptop. There's no doubt the Studio 14z is faster than the Gateway NV52 or NV58, but it's more expensive and there's a ton of competition in the $800 market segment. The Studio 14z balances CPU and GPU performance with battery life, while other options (i.e. the Acer Aspire 5738PG) move to a larger chassis in order to deliver more graphics performance.
If you're looking for something that weighs under 5 pounds, delivers four hours or more of battery life (depending on task and power profile settings), and you don't mind the lack of an optical drive, the Dell Studio 14z is definitely worth a look. It may not be as elegant looking as a MacBook or ThinkPad, but it works very well. While the tested configuration costs as much as the standard MacBook, you can get the base model 14z for as little as $750. Upgrade to the 8-cell battery, 1600x900 LCD, backlit keyboard, and 802.11n WiFi and you're still looking at $900 -- $100 less than the current MacBook. (Note that we don't recommend the CPU upgrade to the P8600, unless you need the Intel virtualization technology for Win7's XP mode.) Windows 7 is also standard now, which means you should expect slightly better performance and battery life.
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beastyben1 - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
the speakers are the best I've had in a laptop. very loud and clear.BPB - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
Got this a few months ago for my daughter and we have been VERY happy with it. I believe we went with an 8400 CPU, and I do think as mentioned they were offering higher than the 8600 option mentioned in the article. My daughter got her's in pink, by the way. I guess they got rid of that color option. We went with the higher res screen and backlit keyboard. Again, very, very happy with it.beastyben1 - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
I've owned this laptop since August.Everything is perfect, except the worst touchpad drivers I have ever used. Sticks, freezes just terrible. Must use a mouse. Otherwise I love it. T6500, 8-cell, 1600X900 LED.
FATCamaro - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
How do you people accept this kind of junk. I'm glad I switched to Mac once I started buying laptops.The0ne - Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - link
Your single interpretation of defect means absolutely nothing in regards to the quality of the laptop. Having said that why in the world you any one of you start a "mine is better than yours" or "Mac is better than Windows PC" debate? It's pointless and childish.You're going to have to face that fact that there is NO SINGLE product made without defects. There is no Quality system that will give your 100%, and no TPS doesn't either.
But you all know this and yet lower yourself to this type of discussion. I wouldn't mind so much if this was in other tech sites but I don't like it on Anandtech where there are typically very knowledgeable and respectful users.
And lastly I'm 100% sure none of you voicing your opinion is not even in the industry or manufacturing/logistic to know what you're saying other than Google-ing. Trust me when I say this, there are no perfect product. What you call junk isn't junk and what you hail as the mightiest is not either. All you can do is try to Google, or what I call it research, as much as you can and hope that what you paid for isn't in one of the bad ones made.
Eagle17 - Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - link
I have a macbook pro with the santa rosa chips. I have frequent problems with it. I am on my third battery (at $130 ea) the backlit keyboard does not always light up anymore, only 2 usb slots, a funky not always works hold two fingers and press the button for right clicks. The OS is so/so I would be just as happy with linux since there are not many native macos applications that I find usefull.the unit is all aluminum which at first glance makes it seem very sturdy however in the three years i have owned it the lid has started to stick and requires more force to open. And like most modern laptops it does get blistering hot.. the metal case just makes that worse.
The led backlit screen is very good though. that is the one thing i really like about this device. maybe the only thing.
JimmyJimmington - Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - link
"And like most modern laptops it does get blistering hot.. the metal case just makes that worse."I don't know what you mean by "most modern laptops." If a laptop is too hard to put on your lap then it's poorly designed.
Eagle17 - Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - link
sorry I mean the last few C2D laptops I have had (2 hp 8xxx series, the macbook pro, and a lenovo t500) they all get pretty hot althought the macbook is the worst.both of my atom based netbooks are just fine though. (acer 9in and asus 1005ha)
Pirks - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
Junk? My Alineware notebook pwns any MacBook Pro and dances on its unicorpse, including the top of the line MBP 17, because it has faster hardware. The Alienware's trackpad is shitty, you're right on that, PC trackpads are mostly shit these days compared to Macs but my Alienware still plays all my games REAL fast while MBP craaawls slooowly given same resolution and detail settings... so to each his own. When MBP starts playing games as fast as my Alienware then I may think about it, but it'll never happen, alas. At least not with Jobs at helm.beastyben1 - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
like Macs are not subject to faults? I'd much rather have this. my .02.