Dell Studio 15, my review

Thank you to my lil sister for allowing me to play with her lappy.

I was suppose to get a studio 15 before i discovered the benq.
So i know kinda a little more than the compaq review.

Specs~

• Intel Core 2 Duo CPU P8700 @2.53GHz
• 4 GB ram
• ATi Mobility Radeon HD 4570. 512 ram
• 320 GB hard drive.
• Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.
• Cd/Dvd drive. Slot loading.
• Bluetooth, Wlan N.
• 15' inch LED Screen with webcam and face recognition.
• 3 Usb with 1 e-sata, 1 HDMI, 1 VGA projector, 1 lan network, 1 memory card reader, 1 express card slot, 2 audio jacks, 1 mic jack.

First look & feel~

• The laptop is the dark red colour and damn its nice.
• The texture of the cover is smooth but has some rubber feel to it. Very nice.
• I like how the power cable has a light at the connector head and that the laptop power button is at the side.
• The sad thing is that this studio 15 doesn't have those touch sensitive multimedia buttons.
• The weight of the lappy is ok. Wont break your shoulder off unless carried around for 3 hours or less.

Here are some benchmark scores for the graphic card. *Click Here*

Notebookcheck gives very detailed benchmark scores.

What I've got~

• Ok so first thing i tried out was the speakers. It can go pretty loud with pretty good clarity only the bass lacks a little when at max volume.
• The screen can go from pretty dark to blinding glare. Not totally a bad thing. It also comes with a webcam for all web chats. At the start up, it will ask whether you wanna use the face recognition security option. (just type your password, its way faster). Webcam quality is average but better than my benq's. It is also bolt on pretty tight and secure.
• The keyboard for the 15 is comfortable and lovable. It is soft and bouncy. Doesnt make those clicking sounds like some laptops and the keys are big to hit on. Even the buttons on the touch pad is nice and soft but responsive without the clicking sound. The touch pad can be a little bit more responsive. The touch pad has the qualities of the mac, where you can zoom with 2 fingers. The special thing about the 15's keyboard is that the F1 to F12 keys are under the Fn category. Replacing them are the multimedia buttons which is pretty cool considering multimedia keys are used more frequently.
• The laptop came with those tool bars to keep everything neatly at the top of the desktop. Kinda a nice treat.
• I feel the laptop came with a little too much bloatware, slowing down the start up.
• Performance wise, this lappy is above average. Doesnt lag or hang when multi tasking. Laptop fan kicks into max speed when a game is opened. Good call. Left 4 Dead can be played on high quality. No lags with good details and shaders. Left 4 Dead 2 plays fine as well. On high details it doesnt lag or hang. Visuals and audio are good. From what i heard from my friend, WoW & COD4 is good too.
• Like the compaq, the fan is on the back left side of the laptop. So the laptop heats a little on the left side. Not really noticable. The left palm rest also warms up a little but just a little. All the rest of the lappy stays pretty cool. Just don't Tilt the screen all the way back and play a game as i have just found out that the hot air shoots up the screen instead of behind it.
• Battery life for the 15 is around 3 hours under normal usage with the Wlan on. Not sure bout this as i dont use the laptop with the battery.

My opinion~

• Well this would definitely be my laptop if i didin't find out about the benq. For the price, it offers pretty good specs.
• The usb ports are a little tighter than i like. Removing the thumbdrive from the laptop feels a little bit like tugging a cloth with my dogs.
• A little disappoited that it doesnt come with the touch sensitive multimedia buttons like my friend's Studio 16.
• I like it. Any occasional gamers looking for a budget laptop, this would be something you should check out.

Enjoy~
mroar~