Parsing the intended markets for Dell's ever-shifting in-house brand names requires some tea-leaf reading. It's been easier lately, with the company stripping down its consumer brands to just the Inspiron and XPS lines.
Now the company is adding a new line between the budget Inspiron and the high-end XPS. The new Studio line, as personified by the 15.4-inch Studio 15, has the same tapered shape, slot-loading optical drive and rounded hinge as the Dell XPS M1530, but a similarly configured Studio system costs roughly £350 less than a similarly outfitted XPS.
The base model of the Studio 15 costs around £479. We've reviewed a model that includes an upgraded CPU, which costs around £540 from Dell. All prices were correct at the time of writing.
Design
The trade-off is mostly in size and finish. Even though it has a
similar look, the Studio laptop is about 25 per cent thicker and
slightly heavier than its more upscale XPS cousin, with plastic accents
instead of metal.
We'd be tempted to toss in the extra £350 for the brushed-metal wrist rest and slimmer design of the XPS, but the Studio line does offer personalisation options -- including lots of colours and graphic imprints -- beyond what's available for Dell's other laptops.
While clearly inspired by the popular XPS M1530, the Studio 15 has a more angular look, with its large side hinges curving the screen down at a sharp angle; the XPS presents a more rounded look. At 2.77kg, it's too heavy to tote around every day, but still at the lower end of the 15-inch scale.
Our early review unit had a matte midnight blue lid, but as mentioned, there are a variety of colour options. It's also available in several artistic design motifs.
Features
The Studio 15 follows Dell's recent -- and welcome -- trend of putting HDMI
outputs and touch-sensitive control buttons on just about every
laptop. You can also get those on even the cheapest Inspiron 15-inch models.
Like the XPS M1530, it has a slot-loading optical drive and an Express
Card slot that doubles as a holder for a credit-card-style media
remote.
Also like the XPS M1530, the Studio 15 has a 15.4-inch LED-backlit display with a native resolution of 1,440x900 pixels, which is standard for higher-end mid-size laptops. Dell's cheaper Inspiron 1525 has a 1,280x800-pixel display, but the extra screen real estate at the higher resolution in the Studio 15 makes for a much less cluttered desktop. We prefer these newer LED displays over older LCD models lit by a fluorescent lamp because of their lighter weight, brighter whites and lower power consumption.
Dell includes plenty of additional upgrade options and an industry-standard one-year parts-and-labour warranty
with the system.
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User reviews7
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Syed Aun Ali 25 July 2011
Good: Most economical with max. specs
Bad: Gaming
Comment: Mine hadn't a single issue that all of u are talking about........
I found it simply Awesome!
except gaming
proteus 9 July 2010
Good: See review
Bad: Very poor quality.
Comment: I've owned my sudio 15 for a little over a year, and the DVD drive failed (see my earlier review here on CNET), and now, the screen has failed. I'm simply shocked at the lack of quality. Avoid.
proteus 11 June 2010
Good: Basic functions ok
Bad: Too many flaws for a machine in this category.
Comment: I have the 1537 Studio model. Given price category I expected better performance. First thing, the DVD player does not read discs. Having searched online, I've found that DVD problems are common to this model. The built-in speakers are simply abysmal, again confirmed by other users experiences, sounding tinny like an old transistor radio. The 'sound blaster' technology that was offered at the time I bought mine, isn't the sound driver at all, and otherwise has no purpose. I've tried to understand what purpose it serves on the machine, but have found none. I found the bluetooth impossible to use, even with the Dell bluetooth headphones I purchased. I finally gave up trying to synch them (an I am reasonably tech saavy). Nothing should ever be that hard. The glossy screen produces a lot of glare and means you can never use the laptop where bright light is present and absolutely not out of doors. There's a software application, "Dell Media Direct" which is a kind of hybrid music/photo/video platform, but is basically worthless, and most people will use iTunes and some other combination to access mulitmedia. Nevertheless, this worthless software is executed by a touch sensor right above the keyboard. Everytime you wipe the laptop dust, the program executes. I was told by Dell it cannot be disabled. Wipe the dust you will do, and often. I don't know why, but the plastic of this laptop is an absolute dust magnet. I'm not a clean freak, but it drives me crazy that it attracts so much of it. Doesn't Dell know anything about materials composition at this point in time?? Finally, the volume controls are touch sensor technology. They are small and being located above the keyboard are ergonomically not very usable (nor very visible). My Latitude laptop had mechanical buttons beneath the touchpad. That made sense. On the whole, I've been soured on Dell, who I used to admire. On a separate note, I'm simply tired of PC based products that are a hybrid of different manufacturers products (my unworking Samsung DVD player for example), and will probably buy Apple next go round. Besides, Windows, as we know, is rubbish.
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