Dell Studio Line Announced

Dell today introduced "Studio," a new consumer line designed for "self-expression and creative living." Dell is clearly targeting artists and other creatives who want a personalized notebook that is unique for the individual who owns it.

Packed with a solid range of features and offered with multiple customizable options it's possible to create a personalized laptop to satisfy your desktop replacement and everyday mobility needs.

The first Dell Studio products are two laptops, the Dell Studio 15 featuring a 15.4" display and Dell Studio 17 featuring a 17.1" display. These laptops offer attractive designs that share elements (such as the wedge-shaped profile and drop hinge) from the popular XPS line of premium notebooks, and come in your choice of colors and design elements for personalization. Beyond the wide range of color options and palm rest designs, the Studio notebooks offer slot-loading drives, optional built-in mobile broadband wireless, and optional mercury-free LED displays.

The many color options of the Studio 15 ( view large image)

Both notebooks are available today on the Dell Studio website starting at $799 for the Studio 15 and $999 for the Studio 17 and will be available at Best Buy and Staples stores in the next few days.

How Customizable Can You Get?

As with the Inspiron products, Dell will offer optional color-coordinated accessories and peripherals like backpacks and slip covers, mice, ear buds, etc. so customers can assemble a mobile high-definition package that's unique to each owner.

Plum Purple Studio 17 (view large image)

Tangerine Orange Studio 17 (view large image)

Both the 15-inch and 17-inch Studio laptops will be available in Plum Purple, Tangerine Orange, Flamingo Pink, Midnight Blue, Ruby Red, Spring Green or standard Jet Black. For a more subtly personalized laptop, Dell has added an optional high gloss Graphite Grey choice that can be customized with contrasting Black, or more vivid Blue, Pink or Red edge trim around the display back.

For those who are more concerned about performance and features than paint options, the Studio notebooks feature optional Blu-ray Disc drives, high definition displays, as well as optional built-in mobile broadband through wireless carriers like Verizon Wireless and Sprint.

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NotebookReview.com review of the Dell Studio 17

 

And just to be clear, this new Studio line basically replaces the Inspiron 1525 and Inspiron 1720, it's not a replacement for XPS. The Inspiron line won't go away, but it will become the budget option in the Dell consumer lineup. This is now the multimedia consumer offering from Dell, while XPS will be high-end (and higher priced).

 

The site's changed. It's http://www.dell.com/studiodell.

Actually scratch that. I can't seem to find it on the US servers.

 

"Studio Dell" is actually something different than the new Dell Studio line. The official Dell Studio site isn't up yet since it wasn't scheduled to go live until 7:00am EST.

Until the official Dell Studio home page is up and running I changed the link to direct to the Dell Studio laptop product page. Again, this is not the same thing as the "Studio Dell" website, though I understand why they would be easily confused.

 

I'll give them credit for the LED screen on the 17 inch and ATI graphics, but these are still pretty crippled. Kind of disappointing.

 

i actually like the improved xps design! wished my xps looks like one of these wonder how the upgraded xps line will look like

 

Yet again they only offer Glossy screens - when will they learn that people want the choice of both types.

 

How is this line any different from the XPS in terms of performance and options? I see that these have backlit keyboards (that XPS doesnt), similar design (I actually like the look better), more color options, same HDMI out, etc etc. Given a choice why choose a XPS1530 over this? What am I missing?

 

The XPS M1530 offers the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics card with 256MB of GDDR3 memory. The Studio 15 and Studio 17 currently only have one discrete graphics solution: the ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3450 (Studio 15) and ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3650 (Studio 17) both of which use slower GDDR2 memory.

Most "casual gamers" or average consumers who don't play the latest 3D video games won't care or even notice the difference, but if you're someone who wants to play tons of video games on your notebook the XPS M1530 is a better choice.

 

I would buy the Studio 15 if it had a better GPU option. Guessing they'll reserve better GPUs for the new XPS line. The $200 Blu-ray upgrade is awesome!

 

Agreed. I would order a Studio 15 today if I could get it with a matte screen.

 

I wish I would have waited before I got my M1530, but it does seem like I made the right choice. I prefer the better graphics card and slimness, although I do wish I had a backlit keyboard.

Considering the XPS line is supposed to be high-end, don't you think they'd end up implementing an optional backlit keyboard for it as well? It makes the Studio seem a bit more high-end in the keyboard department imo. If they do end up adding it to the XPS line though, I wish I would have waited.

 

Agreed. I was disappointed to not see a matte screen option. I often work from my kitchen table, and I'm surrounded by windows. The thought of using a glossy screen makes me nervous.

 

What about AVCHD video editing? Will the Studio 15's ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3450 be good enough for that?

 

How many market segments do they need? Jesus.

 

Now if they came out with a Studio 13, I would jump. Any idea if or when that would hit?

 

I read in one of the reviews that there would not be a 13.

Then again, who knows?

 

Maybe they're waiting for the new 13.1" 16:9 screens to become mass produced?

 

Maybe. But that'll be a ways off.

Besides, they didn't wait for the new 16" 19:9 screens.

 

Hmm. I like the color choices...Tangerine Orange, not bad....
I'm still waiting for the Mini I.

 

You know what? I'm with ya. I just came from BestBuy to see if they had any Dell Studio laptops in yet. Nope. But they had an m1330 sitting next to a 1525. One thing I realized is that I prefer the smaller footprint of the 13 incher over the 15. So now I'm hoping for a Studio 13 too!

 

What about the Inspiron 1420? Is the 1435 still coming?

 

The 1435 was scrapped last I heard.