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

That's a great guide! Thx! Any word on whether the 14z will support bootable USB? Don't make any assumptions about Dell, LOL!!!

 

Considering they are pushing external DVD drives, it's guaranteed that you can boot to USB.

 

YOU all raise good points.........And I can admit maybe I jumped the gun... On another note there are several guides on the web that show you how to create a bootable usb flash drive to do a install... just note that after the initial part when it reboots remove the usb flash (thumb)drive and reinsert after it has begun the install. see link below

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Install-Windows-Vista-From-a-USB-2-0-Flash-Drive-48396.shtml

Please accept my apologies if I have offended anyone. Maybe I am venting due to the estimated delviery date of a computer that I purchased on June 16 or is it the 18th I don't remember..... As stated before my account has been charged alaready but the status says in PRODUCTION.

Also on another note are you saying that this laptop won't be good for my music creation efforts........

I would have got the xpsm1330 but due to the GPU issues failing i didn't want to take that chance................. Any insight you would have on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

Don't know if anyone's already mentioned this, but it looks like there will be a "Studio 14" discount for tomorrow's Day of Deals. Does anyone know if Dell means the 14z? Never heard of a "Studio 14" laptop before.

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/days_of_deals?c=us&l=en&cs=19

EDIT: unless they are referencing the Studio 14 from so long ago...? Or this one? I'm really confused
http://www1.ap.dell.com/my/en/home/...d.aspx?refid=laptop-studio-14&cs=mydhs1&s=dhs

EDIT 2: I just got off the phone with a Dell rep. He said that it is, indeed, the 14z that is on sale tomorrow.

 

Sigh and it will be the 26th that you will get free windows 7 if you buy a vista pc. If you order tomorrow, no free windows 7.

However there is an HP coupon 30% off over 999 going around which should last will into the 26th.....P8600. 4 GB 800mhz ram 320gb HD,G 105M 512mb video, LED and the works for 950 shipped. Wait 4 days, free windows 7 too..

 

Granted its not DDR 3, but the difference is minimal to none, and upgradeable to 8 gb ram. Also DDR 2 runs noticeably cooler than DDR 3 due to latency and 1 stick of 4 GB PC 6400 ddr 2 notebook ram is 150 bucks only. d

 

There will always be more sales and savings. Just wait till next month if you are worried about price/Windows 7. The 'Back to School' sales will be nonstop at every company and vendor (lenovo, dell, hp, etc...)

 

yeah but it still remains can i cancel an order that is in production without paying that restocking fee.

 

My guess would be no. However I was also of the understanding that they charge when it ships. At least, that is what they've done before on my orders. I would recommend phoning and asking about that in particular. Good luck getting through though.

 

Within the 21 day return period, if you return the laptop due to a defect or anything that's Dell's fault, they will usually waive the restocking fee, and if they don't at first, you can usually convince them. If you're just returning it because you don't want the laptop anymore or just don't like it, then they will usually charge the 15% fee, and will not budge.

 

Do you think I can cancel the order today?

 

Why not call and find out?

 

Unfortunately I just checked and not much of a deal at all!

 

You get an upgraded warranty to 2 years and in home service.

You get the $50 upgraded cpu, an upgraded hard drive and the silly "software" for hd audio.

 

I think you can get a better deal by going through Dell EPP. I rather pay less and get a 1yr warranty.

Does anyone have a screen shot of how the 900p looks like on the 14z? I am just afraid it might be too small.

 

Got my tracking info and it's coming fed ex ground and should be delivered by 06/24/09. I went to best buy yesterday and they had one there. Build quality seemed great but I didn't want to try to much with the geek sqaud watching over my shoulder. The display was the base model and the keyboard was not backlit so I can't coment on those either. The basic LCD seemed good but washed out a lot with any vertical movment but head on it was almost perfect. It was pretty thin in person and realy light. Over all I am realy looking forward to mine!

 

Best Buy is starting to stock the 14z? It's not on their website... I'll have to go check the local store(s) and see if any have it yet, I want to see one of these in person. How much is Best Buy selling it for and do you recall the specs of this retail model?

~Aryq~

 

I just went to Best Buy to hopefully see it in person to decide on purchasing but they did not have any.

 

Must just be slowly starting to trickle out into stores, then.

~Aryq~

 

Always call ahead first and ask!!!

 

one was in my local store, but now its gone...

 

I called Dell and they assigned me a case number... The rep could not tell me anything just says in production. He acted like he was going to the assembly line to check (LOL) yeah right he is in some off shore location....In any event I was told if I cancel now they would charge me 15% restocking fee.. I argued and they said maybe they can do 10% ?????????? so now does Dell haggle for restocking fee.... maybe we can call in our orders and haggle on price(LOL)

 

They can't charge you a restocking fee for a notebook that you don't even have yet.

 

Did you ask them why you were charged before your laptop shipped?

 

Dell EPP and Days of Deals are stackable. In my cart it says: "Dell EPP Members save $220 off select Studio 14z systems!" This deal ends in two days, so I'm assuming this is the "Days of Deals" deal.

Unit Price ($1,279.00) - Days of Deals ($220) - 7% for EPP ($74.13) = Subtotal ($984.87). This with the P8600, 900p screen, 8-cell battery, 500GB at 5400RPM HDD, back-lit keyboard, Media Card Reader, Bluetooth, etc. Basically, it's ~$14 cheaper than it is without the Days of Deals (not including the better warranty) with my configuration, which probably isn't too far off from most. Nice try, Dell...

If only there were actual reviews out....

 

Just so you guys know, I have purchased DELL for over 10 years, never had restocking fee for return. However, recently purchased and returned a Studio xps 13, which was defective, they even wanted to charge 15% restocking fee for that. They are going very strict on it now with quality going on and taking back more units.. more like shooting themselves in the foot. Just something to keep in mind when you buy...15% penalty is very likely.

 

Was out shopping tonight with my roommate for some clothes for an interview he has tomorrow, and we were near a Best Buy so we decided to stop in. Sure enough, this one had a 14z out on the floor!

My initial impression is, its nice! It definitely is thin, and certainly light (although the battery was not in it, so I couldn't get a complete sense of weight/size). Best Buy is selling it for $749.99, with the T6500 processor (Core 2 Duo, 2.1ghz), 3gb of RAM, 320gb HDD, and standard 1366x768 screen. The lid color is red. No backlit keyboard. Vista 64bit Home Premium. The sheet did not say what battery it comes with, but it says up to 5 hours 20 minutes battery life.

One other thing I noticed, the trackpad seems larger/wider than on my 1537.

For what its worth, this Best Buy no longer had the Studio 15 on display for sale (and I saw none in the cage, either). On BBY's website, the 15 has gone into the "outlet" area, so its probably getting discontinued. They did have the Studio 17 on display, and at full price (its cheaper on BestBuy.com right now, also in the outlet area).

Ciao,
~Aryq~

 

I posted pics http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=392923

 

I got mine today and I love the laptop, hate Dell. Everything was perfect except the color was wrong. I wanted black and got plum instead. 7 calls to Dell later and now they are shipping a new one. I did try out this one though I loaded up left 4 dead and it ran fine on default settings at 1200x720 ( I believe that was the res don't have it in front of me right now. Also as for the battery at the second lowest brightness settings it was reporting over 5 hours ( ihave the 8 cell battery). The backlit keyboard is amazing and the 1600x900 screen is beautifull! Personaly never seen a better one. Everything seems very sturdy no creeks or rattles. As for the weight, it was graver than I expected but the again the 2 laptops I have to compare it with right now are the latitude d430 and the aver aspire one so take that with a grain of salt.

 

Goombay,

How about heat and noise? j33q said his fan kicked on with very little usage. How does the plum color look? Like the pics on Dell's site?

 

yeah any info on heat + fan noise would be awesome.

 

The plum color is darker than on the site, so much so I almost mistook it for an off black untill i turned the lights on The fan does seem to come on alot but it is wisper quiet. Personaly I don't mind AT ALL cause the laptop runs cool. there is no uncomfortable heat from the top or bottom and after 45 minutes of office and internet use there was just mildly warm air coming out the vent on the left side. That air got hot whn running left for dead but the laptop itself was still pretty cool. I was amazed at this. here are some pics of the laptop :

 

As a side note I just realized I may be the only person in the world with the chainlink pattern and the plum color together cause you cannot order it this way lol. you can only get black with chainlink, all the other colors come with flat silver inside. Maybee I should keep it after all just cause it is unique.

 

also the tiny little speakers are stunning for what they are. When playing a game on it my wife was yelling to turn it down from the other room! They don't come across as tiny but they don't have much bass. But I didn't expect a sub in there either lol

 

Thanks for the pics and info! I'm sure we'd all be interested to know what kind of battery life you're getting, once you have an idea.

 

great to see that heat and fan noise aren't really an issue.

also, can you verify how to get to the hdd? (probably in the manuel... i dont want to force you to open it up or anything)

 

this is the service manual for thez (dell tech calls it the) :

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/studio1440/en/sm/index.htm

the hard drive is accessed from under the keyboard also bad news for those hoping for more ram slots, there are none. the one accesable through the bottom door is all there is. the other 1 gig is not soldered in per say, but part of the motherboard itself. there is no second slot, the chips are just part of the board. you can see the mother board under the keyboard here :

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/studio1440/en/sm/sysboard.htm#wp1039860

but so far with vista 64 3 gigs seems to be enough and windows 7 is even better on memory managment so this shouldn't be as big an issue as everyone makes it out to be. you can just grab a 4 gig stick when the prices fall in 6 months to 100 - 150.00 lol

 

Goomba, could you post your specs and comment on the battery life while watching a DVD for instance?

 

specs are :

Intel Core 2 Duo T6400, 2.0GHz800Mhz, 2M L2 Cache
3gb ram
hd screen
backlit keyboard
250 gig 5400 rmp hard drive
Dell Wireless 1515 Wireless-N
74 WHR 8-CELL LION PRIM BATT

 

goddamn having to take off the keyboard pisses me off. Any body know how difficult that actually is?

 

As for a battery test I don't have time before i have to ship it back, sorry. but for my usage so far, I would say you should be able to get at least 4 hours of regular use (email, excel, webbrowsing etc) with brightnes turned down.

 

its pretty easy if your used to working on laptops. instructions here :
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/studio1440/en/sm/keyboard.htm#wp1179891

From the guide :

Turn the computer over and open the display.

Ease the keyboard surround up using your fingers or a plastic scribe.
Lift the keyboard surround off the computer.

Remove the two screws at the top of the keyboard.

Carefully slide the keyboard out of the computer
Release the keyboard cable connector latch and disconnect the keyboard cable from the system board connector.

For backlit keyboards, release the keyboard backlight cable connector latch to disconnect the keyboard backlight cable from the system board connector.

Lift the keyboard off the computer.

 

Mine shipped on the 23rd, should arrive today (but hasn't). Tomorrow I hope! I'll be keeping mine, barring any unforgivable flaws, so if someone has a specific test they'd like done please post detailed instructions and I'll hammer them out in the evenings.

 

I got a call from the Dell rep today... I was told since I chose the top CPU that it was on hold for testing... sounds fishy but I still don't see any change in the shipping...... im about to go over to the macbook

 

does the 14z support sataII?

 

One quick question for anyone who has the 14z with the 8-in-1 card reader option: does the card reader basically take the place of the ExpressCard slot? Is it possible to use both the card reader and ExpressCard slot simultaneously?

Thanks

 

yes the reader goes in the express card slot

 

Yes you can use them both simultaneously, in that using the media card reader also uses the express card slot in order for it to function. No in that you cannot use the media card reader AND another card in the express card slot at the same time.

Personally, I use the media card reader infrequently, so it wouldn't be a problem for me to just take it out and be able to use the slot for something else. However, I prefer to get a USB card reader that will work on a desktop also...same price roughly, if not cheaper aftermarket

 

Ah, okay thanks for clearing that up. I would use an external USB media card reader, but, for me, the whole purpose of having the reader is to avoid cables and free up a USB port. Without the card reader, I could simply plug in my device (camera, recorder, whatever) using a USB cable, but this is a minor inconvenience I hope to avoid.

 

Wow this is stange I called to cancel my order and they told me it shipped.... status still said in production so I tried to cancel... I get up this morning and it says shipped.... I don't want the think I decided to head over to Apple store and get me one of the new Macbooks..... can i refuse delviery and avoid the restocking charge or am I stuck with this thing when it gets here.