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

I ordered mine on 13th of July. Initial delivery estimate was July 28th but it was changed to Aug 6th today. I called Dell and told them that any further delay will make me canceled the order. It was not an empty threat since I need the laptop for my daughter before she leaves for college. I was told that my laptop is in the final assembly stage and should be shipped within few days.

Green
720p
T6500
500GB 5400
wireless G
3gb
8 cell
bluetooth
backlit keyboard

 

@niyox

I placed my order yesterday and i have pretty the same config except for the spring green and the 250 GB 7200 drive. If people's 'tops are getting delayed because of unavailable parts then hopefully i've dodged the bullet.

 

Mine is on the truck out for delivery. Anyways, heres my spec list again

Arriving Early

Black
P8600
720p
3GB
500GB 5200rpm
N Wireless
Bluetooth
8cell

 

Good point about the lid color. I just edited my post to add that (ruby red, by the way) and method of order (phone vs. internet), as that might help detect a pattern, as well.

Just curious, how did you find out the ruby red was delayed?

Damn me and my bold statement with the red lid.

And as for you ..., damn you and your luck!!!

Enjoy your new toy for all of us who are turning green with envy.

 

are any of you guys getting neoprene sleeves for the 14z? what would you guys recommend?

 

Oh mine was Ruby Red as well. Got delayed.

 

Try customizing a new 14z and you will see the ruby red lid delayed.

I just realized that the only things that could possibly be delayed are 14z motherboards and the body. all the other parts seem to be in healthy quantity with other laptops. guess someone didn't think the 14z demand would be so high. Not to mention best buy got a bunch of the red lid ones.

 

Here's hoping not too many people are interested in the green.

 

OOOO, yes! Let's all blame BestBuy! I hate BestBuy. Plus, I'd rather blame them than the company I'm going to be wedded to (metaphorically speaking) for the next 3 - 5 years. That way I can continue on in my world of make believe in which everything Dell touches turns to gold and their customer service is rated #1 by JD Power.

 

How dare you!? I'm looking for a way to downrank you now

Anyways, today my order got delayed for 1 week:

Phone order
Ruby Red
... other details in the sig

 

Now on the config page, it says ruby red will delay your ship date.

 

I politely inquired as to why it was delayed, and if anything could be done. I like to start off my customer service calls with: "Hii insert rep's name, how are you doing today?... I am doing okay too, thank you for asking, I was just curious...."

 

can those who have the 14z pop in the OS restore disk and see how big the file is? (if you have an external dvd drive)

I'm trying to figure out how to reinstall vista, but I don't know where to get the installation file. If it's <a few gigs than I can just use my other computer to copy the files on the restoration cd to a flash drive (that's why I'm asking)

 

"Downgrade" me? Is there anything lower than "newbie"?

Looks like it's "the curse of the red lids" for us.

 

In terms of battery life, this thing is great IF undervolted. I can get 5 hours with backlight at 7 bars, wireless on, bluetooth off. CPU cores are running at 33 idle, the gpu is at 48C steady. This is down about 7 degrees celcius GPU and CPU which is more than decent for a undervolt. I wish nvidia had an undervolting tool, this thing could have epic battery life. I'm pulling about 14W from the battery right now, gaming it can be about 30. I guess thats what the charger is for... People I would take some time to get familiar with RMClock, this is a must have tool for any laptop user. Lower power consumption means lower temps, better battery and the processors will last longer. Heat is the enemy.

 

So, as I said earlier, my laptop arrived today. So far so good. I'd say it gets fairly warm near the vent during heavy use, especially when on your lap or bed. It is much cooler when on a hard surface like a table. Also, the laptop seems to actually be a little heavier then I imagined although I do have the 8cell. It is definitely heavier then my old XPS 13. Overall though, I'm happy with it and hopefully this lasts me through my Masters schoolwork.

Oh, one thing to note though is that even though it gets pretty warm with heavy use, the laptop cools down pretty quickly once you stop.

 

really? damn i thought it was lighter than the xps studio 13. That's a little disappointing given the lack of optical drive, but im still gonna buy it.

 

Oh, I'm not sure about the studio 13. I was talking about the older XPS M1330. Should have clarified. It isn't that much heavier, just a little bit.

 

It's about 4.6-4.7lbs with the 8-cell battery. Not bad at all!

 

#666

I'm really disappointed with the delay, I was looking forward to it arriving next week.

 

Well add me to the list of delays...

Ordered mine on the 7/14 and it was supposed to ship today. Alas, this is not the case. New estimated delivery date is 8/4! AGGHHH!

And yes, mine is red...

update: What the heck?! The order configuration page no longer says that Ruby Red could delay your order...

 

Let's hope that means they got in a sh!tload of red lids and can now finish all our machines.

I'm a glass half full kinda guy.

 

I have to apologize. I wasn't maxed out, I was pretty much on default settings. When I maxed out everything I had definite lag.

My processor is the P8600. I'm not really a gamer. When you discuss FPS are you eyeballing it, or is there a way of testing it?

I am running Windows 7, 32-bit. The driver is from the Dell site, as the Nvidia Windows 7 driver won't install on Dells with 9400s.

I've also noticed some problems with hi bit rate 1080p video in mkv format, but that can happen on machines way more powerful than the 14z

 

Haha, I sure hope so. My patience is terrible when waiting on my new toys.

 

Seconded. already getting antsy.

 

Are we still talking about Sims 3? If you open the cheat dialog (you can search how, I forget) and type "fps on" it should come up in the top right.

 

Well it looks like Dell is going to make good on their word. My order was to be delivered on 7/24, they then ghanged it to 7/30. I just received an email saying that it was shipped on 7/22 to be here on 7/24. Checked in tracking and it is indeed in transit with 7/24 as delivery date.

OOOOOOOHHHHHHH!!!!!!! I AM SSSSSSOOOOOOOOO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Or you could also download Fraps and display FPS in all games.

 

I hate how they force you to buy the 320 GB+ hard drive in order to take advantage of the savings... My reps on the phone refused to change the base order until I finally found a guy who would change my 2 year warranty to 1 year and take off 60 dollars.

Mine is in production now.

 

Are you talking about the slightly upgraded config on the main page? or an e-value code?

I used the e-value code, which was pretty much rock bottom, with something like $50 knocked off.

 

do you have his number? i would love to save a few bucks and get that 320gig hdd down to 250 or something even smaller.

 

I don't think they carry anything smaller than that. worth a shot though.

 

The "slightly upgraded config" on the back to school delights page.
And they had the 250 GB hard drive on the "As Advertised" page yesterday.

@ jcll03:
They didn't knock down my hard drive...but I wished they did. The base configuration on the back to school delights page now is 500 GB, but mine is a 320 GB in production. You can probably shop around the Reps to find the right one who would do it for you... After 1-2 tries on the phone, don't tell them you're a "first time caller". If they don't want to do it for you, just tell them, "I'll think about it and call you back later." (in their terms, they know you refused them). My guy actually said, "No, don't do that. Look, I can get you the best deal we can offer." So he goes and drops the 2 year warranty.
Good luck .



Hey guys, I really don't like glossy screens, do you happen to know any good matte screen protectors that would go over the 14z nicely?

 

man the studio 14z looks like the perfect laptop for me...i'm waiting for a coupon right now, but do you think these delays are going to persist? as long as i get it by the end of august for college I'm fine with that, but im not sure how long it's going to take for a new coupon to come out

 

Just received the dreaded DELAY NOTIFICATION!

ruby red
3gb ram
2.4ghz
250gb 7200rpm
900p
dell 1515 N
bluetooth
back-lit keyboard
6-cell battery

so does it have to do with the red lids?
ordered mine on 7/14 to be delivered 7/29.
DELAYed to 8/5.

 

Yep, it's the Red Lids.

 

Been lurking around this forum for a while so I finally decided to post and say hi

Ordered the 14z over the phone on 7/7/2009 the estimated ship date was 22/7/2009. I received the shipment 24/7/2009 (shipped from USA to Canada).

Initially on the 21/7/2009 I received a phone call saying that the order would be delayed an additional 5 days, but on 23/7/2009 I received another phone call saying that it would ship on time. The actual shipment date was 21/7/2009.

System configuration (ordered in Canada).
Black Chainlink
C2D T6600
900p screen
3GB DDR3
320GB 7200RPM HDD
8-Cell battery
Wireless-N
No bluetooth.
No backlit keyboard.
No additional warrentees, essentials or accessories.

Initial impressions:

The black chain link cover looks very sleek when you take it out of the box. When I look at it I get the impression I'm looking waxed and buffed black sports car only with a DELL logo on it Yes, it is a finger print magnet, but I'm not bothered by it. The chain link pattern on the cover is very subtle and is not noticeable under normal room lighting conditions. The laptop I received had no scratches or dents or dings on it.

Picking up the laptop there is slight movement from the battery. If you tug on it you can feel it shift position, but only slightly. The laptop in my opinion doesn't feel too heavy, but it isn't very super light either. Personally I felt the weight came within my expectations for a 14" laptop.

The build quality is good. When you hold the open laptop in one hand grasping the front touchpad area, the case doesn't flex. The keyboard does have some flex when you type on it (i.e. hitting a key on the keyboard you can see the other keys near by depress). When the laptop lid closes, the screen sits flush over the keyboard. There are two rubber standoffs on the left and right side of the keyboard to keep the screen from hitting the keys.

I did notice that the two buttons on the touchpad are more "responsive" when they are depressed near the middle as opposed to the far ends. This is probably because of the position of the underlying switches for the two buttons.

In balanced power mode, when surfing the web, the fan occasionally partially spins up and turns off. The fan is audible if you are sitting in a quiet room. When the fan powers down you can hear the whir of the hard drive, but only if you are trying to listen for it. For web surfing and youtube watching the exhaust from the fan is warm. Personally I think the fan spins up a bit often for light usage, but I haven't really tweaked any of my power settings yet.

Using CheckeMON I verified that I have no dead pixels on the LCD panel (phew!)
At the lowest brightness setting the screen does not flicker. The LCD panel is not made by LG or AU Optronics. Under generic PnP Monitor Hardware Ids it says MONITOR\CMO1447 which should Chi Mei Optoelectronics. The particular panel is probably 14"W(N140O6). The screen is quite bright and I find myself using the lower end of the brightness settings.

Overall from my first few hours of using it, I'm very happy with this laptop.

 

Chi Mei Optoelectronics...that's a new one. So far all the Dell displays I've seen are SEC (Samsung), LG, or AUO.

 

Just got shippment e-mail. Ordered on 13th of July, with delivery date of 27th. Got delay e-mail few days ago (Aug 6th). Shipped yesterday - tracking indicates that it should be here tomorrow (Saturday delivery?) July 25.

 

Alright so you are in the same boat as me. Same order date, same initial delivery, same delay. Hopefully they get these out quickly. But mines been in the build stage for nearly 10 days now so who knows...

 

Received the delay notification as well yesterday:

Midnight Blue
3GB Ram
2.4 Ghz P8600
320GB 7200rpm
900p
Dell 1397 G
back-lit keyboard
8-cell battery

Ordered mine on 7/14 with delivery expected on 7/29. Now delayed till 8/5.

 

that's a lot of laptops to be delivered on 8/5.

 

Maybe the delays are by region? It seems that aside from the red lid, the delayed configurations are all over the place.

 

It looks like Dell removed the 'backlit' keyboard option. Not only is it not available in the online configuration, after speaking with an online rep she simply mentioned that it was no longer available as a purchase option.

WHY?!?!?!??!!?

This was a MAJOR point of purchase for me, as I frequently find myself in the dark on my computer. I still like the lappie, but it has been taken down a notch. I was *really* looking forward to the backlit keyboard!!

What is Dell doing? Is this anyway to conduct business? Lets hope that this is some sort of a glitch and the option will return. It doesn't seem likely, though, as it is the same on the Dell Canada and Dell US site.

Oh, and hi.


YARR!
}:^)~
FirstPostCorrupt

 

What? that really bites. I smell something fishy.

Those who have it already, how do you activate it? This is so that I can test it out when i get it, and make sure that it works.

 

I just went to the Dell US site and the backlit option is still there.

 

It appears as if it isn't available on the Canadian site.

 

I see it there as well. But not on Canada's site.

 

I think it's active by default. One of the function keys toggles between off and two intensity levels.

I have no idea why Dell does the things they do. If you look back further in the thread there was a period a week or two ago when most of the options weren't available in the US but remained available in Canada.

I guess buying from Dell is like the weather in Chicago - if you don't like it, wait a minute and it will be completely different. I'm sure the backlit keyboard will be available in Canada again soon. It's equally likely that next week we'll see it be the only available keyboard.

P.S. Worth waiting for! It's awesome.

 

Worse yet, the dvorak keyboard will be standard.