---> OFFICIAL: Dell STUDIO 14z Owner's Lounge <---

Well- i think it runs pretty hot compared to my t61. other than that my only complain is that the mouse buttons dont press when you click them sometimes.

now to the good part- i love everything else- great screen, amazing keyboard, definitely go for the backlight option.

 

I'm considering the 14z & have 2 questions.

Will the base cpu (T4200) have enough horsepower to play blu-ray movies smoothly with zero stuttering?

Has Dell removed the media card reader option, I can't find it anywhere?

 

when do you guys think a coupon will come out for this? I'm gonna buy one of these for college, but the wait for a coupon is making the timing a little tight.

 

It should, but I would go for the more power efficient and cooler running P-series processors (25W) instead of T-series (35W).

It's there, it's an ExpressCard 34 card reader for $20, which will use up your ExpressCard slot. Or just get one off eBay later for approximately the same price.

 

This is not a fair comparison: comparing a consumer notebook with a business notebook. I think Latitude E6400 is what you can compare to T400.

Why? With Windows 7 excellent memory management features, even 3GB of RAM is perfect for 99% of tasks, unless you do some super heavy Photoshop or audio/video editing, but then you'd be buying a different machine. So no, I'd say that's not a problem.

 

Even though the final version of Windows 7 (version 6.1.7600) has been built on July 13 (and might be on torrents soon), it won't be available to general public until October 22 though.

 

FANTASTIC, I just purchased an extra ruby red lid as well as a backlit keyboard for the 14z. I want to return the items but it was my fault so they are going to charge me a restocking fee of course. Email me if anyone is interested......

 

You could try this: http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=1445187&p=21141189&highlight=studio%2014z#post21141189

Plus, you can get an additional 5% off is you use Paypal (explained on second page of thread).

 

I just read on engadget theyre releasing an inspiron 13 and its 3.9 lbs you should look into that

 

How does this work? I see nothing about it on the second page.

 

The weight is not all. Inspiron line is basic computing, normally it lacks some nice features of the Studio line. For example, I won't ever buy a laptop without a backlit keyboard, or a mediocre battery, just a personal preference.

 

Don't forget about FEA work. I think even with the 3 GB this computer can preform pretty nicely. Plus, in a year or so I am sure the 4 GB sticks will be down in cost substantially, then its time for 5 GB .

 

But then, everyone will have upgraded their laptops to 8GB and we'll be stuck on 5GB.

btw, just wanted to say "hello" to everyone. This my first post ever, but I've been a longtime visitor. Just bought a 14z and I am psyched!

 

Cool! I'm seriously thinking about buying one of these when I get some money. Is there anything you think that would keep me from not wanting it? Meaning is there any problems?

 

Sorry, I meant that I just ordered it (arriving on July 31st) so I won't be able to give any real perspective on it. But currently, the only thing that's bothering me is the RAM issue.

I was actually considering the Inspiron 14 since you can opt for 4GB and also have an optical drive. But the backlit keyboard and nvidia geforce card won me over. Also sucks that an 8cell battery isn't an option.

 

No, 8GB is not gonna happen until at least summer of 2011. Remember Moore's law, 18 months?

 

This is straight from the BB thread ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=395586): is anybody else having the flicker problem on the lowest brightness setting? If so, which display do you have? It appears that this is only happening with LG displays...

Also, how much battery life is everyone getting? Having the screen at lowest brightness, with 2-3 applications open, and doing basic web browsing (without flash), I appear to be getting only 4.5-5hrs with the 8-cell battery. I expected it to be more around the 6hr range, especially with the screen turned down all the way.

 

Argh! They just canceled my order and reordered it exactly the same for no apparent reason at all!

 

I just turned my screen down all the way, and I did not get any flicker. How long after setting it lower do people notice? I can't really attest to any battery performance as I typically have my cord with me or leave it plugged in.

 

Not his inspiron has a great graphics card good processor- it look spretty good i look at on the singapore website

 

Well I still don't have my studio 14z. I am officially giving up. I was one of the first to receive mine but they sent me the wrong color. I was made to send it back because they swore they could not just send me a replacement lcd with the correct color and a tech to install it. The joke is they now sell different colors for you to swap yourself for 40-50.00! I was supposed to have this replacement by July 1st (it is now the 17th) I won't even begin to go into the horrible 10+ hours of pain on the phone with these Indian robots that speak English but don't comprehend it. I have since ordered and received a Studio xps 13 ( I have to get a Dell cause I need to use the DPA account or I would have gotten a Sony or Apple) you can read my experiences with it here : http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5095130&postcount=3052

in a nut shell it is a great machine, very similar to the 14z except for better graphics option and smaller res screen. If you have a choice of brand don't buy a dell at all, go with a company that has actual customer service. If you have to have a dell like me for whatever reason and play games at all go with the xps 13. if you need a larger res screen go with the 14z.

 

I am patiently awaiting the shipment and delivery of my new Studio 14z. I ordered it on July 5th with an expected delivery date of July 23rd and original shipment date of July 17th. I go on today (July 17th) hoping to see it shipped, and instead I get to see they updated the delivery date to August 3rd. Needless to say I was a bit upset over this. If this weren't such a cool notebook with advantages over other laptops (no real overheating or flex problems), I probably would've tried to cancel and possibly order from the outlet instead, but I'll keep waiting since this seems to be an improvement on the Studio XPS 13 and XPS M1330, plus I don't like to deal with Indians. Anyone else have this happen to them (postponed delivery date)?

 

It appears 3-5 minutes after I boot-up. The first time I had to restart after updates, I was so happy and thought that a patch perhaps fixed it! The flicker isn't a big deal, but it's definitely noticeable.

 

So far I've been very impressed with my laptop. Not so impressed with dell's customer service (needless to say, a long story) or shipping time, or puralator making me drive 2 hours to their nearest branch and pick it up because they couldn't find my house, but the laptop itself is wicked. It's absolutely gorgeous, apart from the giant dell logo on the front which i think they should replace with something a little less chunky, and maybe position it on the bottom to the side, but whatever. The keyboard and touchpad are really great. The keys have a really nice feel and spring and are positioned very nicely. The screen is super sexy. It is a smudge magnet but i really don't care because i enjoy fondling the glossy finish on it and petting my sexy baby.
She purrs very softly, and her speakers have very good quality, for a laptop of her price. What i like the best about her though, is that she doesn't send superheated air out of her vent and get too hot on my lap, so i can spend as much time with my precious as i need. Also, she's beautiful on the inside as well. She crunches games surprisingly well, although is too fair for hardcore gaming, of course. Spore on max settings runs perfectly fine at a good framerate, for example, although it is not the most graphically intensive game to begin with i suppose.
Anyways, if you can bear with dell's ridiculous delays, broken and misplaced parts, and unpleasant customer service I think she's a deserving reward for the price you can get her for.

 

that's probably the greatest post ive ever read

 

does the 14z use a 2.5" hdd? or 1.8"?

 

I was looking through the 14z repair manual and I came across something called the "hall sensor". Just looked it up and I believe the hall sensor helps the computer know when the lid is open or shut so it can go to sleep or wake up. The hall sensor under the [left side of the] palm rest detects when the magnet (in the display) is close and then activates either wake or sleep accordingly.
Just FYI

 

I believe it uses a 2.5" HDD.

Does everyone else here have an Alps touchpad? I'm a little disappointed.. I wanted to use two-finger scroll, but it's only for Synaptics touchpads.

 

"Here is a way to make it even sweeter with an additional 5% discount if you have a paypal account.

Go to paypal - www.paypal.com (make sure you are on the Personal paypal tab)
click on the ad banner which says 40% off for back to school.

It will take you a link for dell with 5% saving.

Enter the E-value codes from the earlier post in this thread at the top right corner of the dell web page, and remember to make your payment via paypal..."

 

I must have just gotten lucky with dell's customer service, this time and in the past, I was generally pleased with my experience. I don't particularly see why employees nationality should come into play in the aggressions I see, they are just doing their job. After all, don't we demand the lower prices that inclines Dell to export these services overseas?

 

I am sure you haven't dealt with Sony or Apple customer service yet, otherwise you wouldn't say that! My personal experience with Dell's customer service (having owned 4 Dell notebooks) has been very positive.

 

I have dealt with apple and they have been the best. Let me add to that that I cannot stand OSX as it cannot do anything I need to to so I have not owned a apple laptop or desktop just an iPhone. But anytime I have taken one of them in I have had great service. I too always had a great experience with dell and having worked for them before a few years back I kinda knew the ropes to getting stuff done.

But not now.

They are rude on the phone, cut me off while I'm speaking and hang up on me. And asking for a manager to let them know whats going on is a joke too. They accused me of being the one to hang up saying it was my bad connection! Even today dealing with a dell tech through chat he disconnected the chat when I asked for a dvd with the face recognizing software that should have come with the XPS 13. He just ended chat and it was DEFIANTLY not terminated on my side. The manager that answered the next chat said it must have been a network problem on my end! And the absolute worst part is that the call centers in India hire people for SPEAKING English, not UNDERSTANDING it. The just go down their script and are oblivious to anything you might say to them. The guy on the second chat (before the manager) wanted to remote connect to my laptop to trouble shoot the problem. ALL I WANTED WAS THE DVD WITH THE SOFTWARE! after telling him that he said it was required before he could go any further ?!?! this is just one tech support problem, I can go on and on about my almost 10 hours invested into cust care calls about the 14z that I will probably never receive.

and to end this rant, to let you know I am a believer that you get more done being nice and polite than yelling at people so I know I seem angry but I have not been towards any of the reps on the phone EXCEPT the one that told me I could not get my 14z color corrected ( I received purple instead of black) and said that i was just looking at it in bad light that i really did have black and would not let me speak to his manager!

 

Ok, that would be quite frustrating. I'd be super pissed if I got a purple laptop.

 

It's not their fault they cannot understand English 100%. I am not unhappy about that. I am fine with speaking slower, repeating what I said, use simpler volcabulary.

What I am unhappy about is the way they made it sound like I did something wrong when the problem is on their end. Ie) when I cannot check my status with my postal code after being able to do so for over a week, I called them worried something was changed. They first accused me of going to the wrong page to check status (I was going to the page that the email led me), when the problem persists on the page the rep sent me, I called them again and this time they accused me of typing my postal code wrong, when I assure them I did not, they just keep repeating that sometime their web interface just won't return the correct data and there's nothing they can do about that!

I still cannot check my status with my postal to this day, and I am not 100% sure they have the right address to this day.

 

I can definitely see that as being an all around terrible experience. Hopefully, things will get sorted out . I do think as someone else put it "this baby" is worth the wait "she" is quite nice to play with .

 

Guys, anybody knows how to remove the two (or three?) stickers/labels (CPU, Windows, and EnergyStar) from the palm rest so that it remains clean and the labels are "re-usable"?

 

You might as well just scrap them, clean off the glue residue from the palmrest with rubbing alcohol, and if you ever want the stickers again, buy them for $2 for a 3-pack on eBay.

Seriously, trying to get those off with the glue intact is way more trouble than they're worth.

 

The thought of having to deal with Dell customer service bothers me. So far I have not had to deal with them, when I got my Inspiron 5100 back in 03 and then the Dimension 4700 in 05. Both came relatively quickly and without problems. We had to replace the monitor for the desktop once when it died within warranty, and they sent a new one without any real hitches. I got an email last night notifying me of the delay with the Studio 14z shipment. They actually re-corrected the delivery date to July 30th from the August 3rd estimate they scared me with yesterday morning (without email notification; i was checking the order status on dell.com). In the email last night they apologized for the delay and came just short of promising for it to arrive on or before the new July 30th deadline. For some reason this email left me more confident in things and in Dell, which is probably what they wanted (and for us NOT to cancel our orders) . I've pasted below the main body of the email...

"There has been a delay in fulfilling your Order Number listed below and we have adjusted the
estimated delivery date for this order (see Revised Estimated Delivery Date).

Based on the latest available information, we are confident we will deliver your order on
or before this new date. We apologize for the delay and appreciate your patience.

When your order ships we will send you an Order Shipped e-mail which will contain
the Estimated Delivery Date and tracking information for your order."

 

I just got my studio!! I ordered two days after the win7 offer came out, had it delayed once and now it's here. I've had it for about 2 days now and it's been treating my very well. I ordered the P8600, bluetooth, backlite keyboard, n, 8cell. I also got the high res screen and I had to turn up the dpi because everything is ridiculously tiny. I am amazed by how well this thing plays games for having an intergrated chip. The power vs TDP on the 9400 blows my mind. I was able to play the bioshock demo at 720p with one or two settings off of max and pull a playable framerate--certianly playable but not silky smooth. Probably would have to lower textures for that
The included software was all junk.(suprise) The facial recognition was cool but one way or another lighting was always off or the camera wouldn't intialize. Some people perhaps at a desk would probably love this software, just sit down and you're logged in. Remote access was stupid to me, the reason I got a lappy is so I don't have to be without it, and having a potentially hackable VPN client on my computer just doesn't scream secure. The only thing I kept was datasafe, and that's just until i get an external hdd.
Battery life wasn't exceptional, but I didn't really expect the "6 and a half hours" that dell was promising. My average (two or three charges in dont take my word for it) batt life is probably 4 and a half hours, add in dell powersaving and you might squeeze it up to 5 with low, low backlighting. This is with backlighting about 1/3 the way up, wifi on bluetooth off, web browsing, last.fm streaming.
Anyone have any questions about this sexy piece of machinery?

 

I got the T6400, I can't even imagine the P8600 + all those goodies .

Has anyone else experienced issues with the base model wireless card locking up router and modem?

 

I believe 1.8 HD only go up to 250 GB right now, so definitely the 320 and 500 GB options are 2.5

Everyone has an Alps. The drivers and downloads section for the 14z doesn't have a Synaptics driver, only Alps. Ironic that the cheapy Acer netbook my 14z replaced had better touchpad features.

 

So it's not possible to scroll vertically on a webpage by sliding your finger on the right side of the touchpad?

 

It's possible, it even supports chiral scrolling. I would have much preferred two finger scroll, though.

I'm not a huge fan of the touchpad.. My last touchpad was Synaptics and it seemed to be much more responsive. The buttons wiggle around in their place and don't feel very solid. Then again, I've only had the laptop for about 2 days so I'm still adjusting to it.

 

anybody know how tall these 2.5" drives are that the 14z uses? 9.5mm? 7mm?

 

How quiet is the laptop?

 

It's extremely quiet and heat efficient. Most of the time you can't even hear the fan, even if you listen for it. I'm pretty amazed how cool and quiet this laptop stays.

 

You wanna put an SSD in there? At least that's what I plan to do: a fast 32 or 64 GB drive would be excellent.

 

I certainly hear it, but as someone else mentioned it is more of a sexy purrrrr. Personally though, I feel heat dissipation is a good thing

 

Nevermind, I can hear it -- but barely. I've always had music playing in the background, ahah. It is a nice sound though. And a lot quieter than my old laptop.

 

Nice! I think it's great that Dell put the vent on the side, because in their "wedge" style notebooks the vents on the back are obscured when the lid is open (XPS m1330, Studio XPS 13, etc).