Dell Studio 15.4"

[GMFan]

I am looking into buying a new notebook for general purposes like internet, music, video, skype etc.

One of my friends has a 15.4" Dell Studio notebook and I really like it...especially with the back-lit keyboard.

I have owned 3 HP laptops over the years without issues...but I really like the looks and the features on this Dell unit. It has a great screen, keyboard, mouse pad, etc.

Anyone have any comments in general regarding the Dell studio? Anyone own one?

Is it really worth getting the 1080p screen over the 720p?
I'm looking to order within the next week.

Thanks.

 

[JHZR2]

I'd buy the highest quality screen I could get - this is most important.

I don't trust Dell for quality though...

And if you are going to carry it much, bigger ones start to get inconvenient.

 

[Nick R]

Stick with a Samsung or Asus laptop, or HP. Stay far away from Dell. Seen way too many problems with Dell over the years.

For some reason, links don't work. Go to Bestbuy.com and search,

Samsung R580-JBB2 (SKU 1251609)

ASUS K52-BBR9 (SKU 1257181)

HP Pavilion dv5 2135dx (SKU 1258693)

 

[wallyuwl]

I also do not trust Dell for quality. I'd stick with Toshiba, Sony, or Asus. Toshiba is by far the best value. We bought a new Samsung a few months ago and it had something in it that made it stutter when playing music or video (online or not). So we exchanged it for a different Samsung (different model), and same issue. Dell, HP, and Acer are just not good. Dell especially has become very bad. So, we bought a Toshiba and love it. We now have two Toshibas, one over two years old (I'm typing on it now) and the newer one. Both have been excellent. Toshiba also has a nice assortment of pre-loaded Toshiba utilities that you don't get with other brands.

For the screen, 720p is fine for that size screen. It is fine for televisions 32" and under, actually. You won't tell the difference between it and 1080p. Now, brightness of the screen is another matter. Get the brightest screen you can.

 

[Mr Nice]

How much are you looking to spend ?

 

[barlowc]

I'll echo the quality concerns on the Dell laptops. I went through Latitude models about one every 18 months because something critical (e.g. screen, power, motherboard) would stop working.

A family member and a friend both have Toshiba laptops that are very nice, weren't too expensive, and haven't had any problems.

My personal choice is Lenovo. I just got a new T410 for work.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: wallyuwl


For the screen, 720p is fine for that size screen. It is fine for televisions 32" and under, actually. You won't tell the difference between it and 1080p. Now, brightness of the screen is another matter. Get the brightest screen you can.



In theory yes, in practice the higher-res screens tend to be higher quality, brighter, etc... Important for any viewing, promoting sharper text, etc.

That's the one area besides ram where I would spend money.

 

[dishdude]

I have a 17" Studio and the better half has a 15.4" Studio, and we love them. I have had mine for a little over a year and it has been great. I love the slot load CD, the backlit keyboard and the screen is amazing. The 17" also has a ten key, sensor touch buttons for volume and media control, and a gimmicky JBL 2.1 sound system that actually sounds pretty good. Not sure if I am convinced the "subwoofer" on the bottom does much though.

I'd buy them again in second.

 

[Familyguy]

I just got one at work. The idiot IT folks insisted on paving over the Windows 7 and downgraded it to XP (with IE6, mind you). I subsequently paved over it again and re-installed Windows 7 and I run virtualbox with a virtual XP instance when I'm forced to connect to the work network.

So far, I'm pretty happy with it. The lighted keyboard comes in handy on the plane sometimes. I would have liked to have a higher screen resolution (maybe 1680x1050), but the standard 1440xwhatever is serviceable. It's reasonably fast with the "core i7" that only has 2 cores and the battery life is acceptable.

If it was me, I'd probably get an Asus instead though. More bang for the buck. But my company insists on Dell laptops.

Best,

 

[GMFan]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
Stick with a Samsung or Asus laptop, or HP. Stay far away from Dell. Seen way too many problems with Dell over the years.

For some reason, links don't work. Go to Bestbuy.com and search,

Samsung R580-JBB2 (SKU 1251609)

ASUS K52-BBR9 (SKU 1257181)

HP Pavilion dv5 2135dx (SKU 1258693)


I really like that HP and Asus notebook. I have an ASUS netbook and it has been great.

Is HP still decent or have they gone downhill? I've had (3) HP notebooks (all with AMD chips) over the years and some of them have gotten 5 years of use without issue. One of the HP did have the screen hinges break and another had the battery conk out after 8 months (my current one).

I would not travel/move the laptop that much. I just have limited space. It would stay on my desk 95% of the time.

What is the Intel Core i3 comparable with? Is that basically a Core 2 Duo? Is the i5 worth the cost over the i3? I certainly want it to be powerful enough to last me at least 4 or so years as that is typically how long I keep my notebooks. I'm not real picky though over whether it is an Intel or AMD system.

Thanks for the help so far.

Sorry, forgot to say that my price range is anywhere under $900 or so, but I'm not one to spend more than I have to for something I don't need. I definitely know I don't require a top of the line system.

 

[wallyuwl]

The best value is a i5 processor for how long you want to keep it. The i3 is a nice little processor, but you might not be happy enough with it three years from now to keep for four.

 

[oldmaninsc]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
I have a 17" Studio and the better half has a 15.4" Studio, and we love them. I have had mine for a little over a year and it has been great. I love the slot load CD, the backlit keyboard and the screen is amazing. The 17" also has a ten key, sensor touch buttons for volume and media control, and a gimmicky JBL 2.1 sound system that actually sounds pretty good. Not sure if I am convinced the "subwoofer" on the bottom does much though.

I'd buy them again in second.


I bought my daughter the 15.4 Studio one about a year and a half ago. We've had nothing but problems. From about the 6 month period, we had trouble with it booting. When she would first turn in on in the morning, sometimes she would have to turn it off and on several times to get it to boot. But it was sporadic - and wouldn't do when a tech was present. We ran numerous tests and couldn't find any problems.

The web cam quit at about the time the warranty was up. The battery quit holding a charge about the same time and she has other problems with it (which may be software related - it has Vista on it). The dvd slot drive does weird stuff too - like ejects for no reason.
I have a Dell Inspirion 8600 that I bought 5 years ago. Really didn't use it that much until about a year ago, and now I'm having LOTS of problems with it to the point it's almost useless. For the first 4 years I'd say we used it maybe 100 hours total - just when we went on a trip to check email and such.
I used to like Dell but due to these instances and problems I've had with some of their desktops I would steer clear.

My daughter does like the back-lite keyboard too.

My other daughter and a close friend have HP laptops (about a year old) with no problems at all.

 

[Nick R]

My mom actually just today bought a Samsung QX410 with an i5, and a NVIDIA graphics chip in it. All 3 of the ones I recommended are nice. If you are looking at something with an i5, see if you can find a similar one with an AMD Phenom II X2 or X3. In the laptop arena the AMD and intel are both very, very good. Whichever you like best, really. For what it's worth I'm still on my old Core 2 Duo E7300. Granted I have it overclocked to 3.6Ghz, so it's no slouch.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

I have seen hundreds of Dell laptops over the last decade and a half.

The Dell Latitude D620/D630 are the most problematic as they are subject to the nVidia design problem. I started a topic on this issue here recently, http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2032246
The units with the generic Intel video have been fine.

My boss bought a Studio 15. While not the fastest performer at tht time, he really likes it.

Bottom line: laptops don't last forever no matter who makes 'em. Spend the $$ on the 5 year warranty upcharge if you want to be assured that it will last for you over the long haul.

Hard disks do fail. Make sure you backup your data regularly somehow, someway.

Spend the extra couple hundred on SSD drive, you will be glad you did. The performance difference is amazing, especially on laptop units.


However, I have recently found another impressive laptop that I setup for a person, the Toshiba 17.3" screen for $599:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214030

Intel i3 version, $699:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214021

Lastly, the Dell screen that's offered on the E6410 a "premium panel" is truly amazing. It's the brightest non-glossy screen I've ever seen. Combined with the back-lit keyboard, it's been the most popular unit here. Use the 6-cell battery, it's quite light.

Good luck!

 

[OVERKILL]

What's your budget?

The ASUS G53 for example is a phenomenally well-equipped notebook:

CPU : Intel i7-740QM (1.73GHz Quad-Core)
LCD Size & Resolution : 15.6" FHD (1920x1080) (LED)
MB Chipset : Intel HM55
Optical Drive : Super Multi DVD RW
Memory : 6GB DDR3 1333Mhz (3X2GB, 1 skt free), max. 16GB
VGA Card : NV GTX 460M 1.5G GDDR5 VRAM
Hard Drive : 750G 7200RPM
WLAN/ TPM/ LAN : 802.11B/G/N, No TPM, 10/100/1000
Battery/ Bluetooth/ FP : Li-ion 8-cell, Yes, No
Interface/ Card Reader : 3x USB 2.0, 1x USB 3.0, 1xHDMI/ 8-in-1
Color/Weight/WxDxH : Black/7.9lBS/15.6" x 11.9" x 0.8" - 2"
Warranty : 2 Yr Global/30days ZBD/1 Yr Accidental Damage
Operating System : Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
Camera : 2.0M
Carry bag & mouse : Gaming backpack & gaming mouse

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

overkill, does Asus have a support arm of their business like Dell does, where they come out to your house/business and fix things next day?

I really like the Asus products we've purchased, but it seems like everything is ship-back-to-depot to fix.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: ToyotaNSaturn
overkill, does Asus have a support arm of their business like Dell does, where they come out to your house/business and fix things next day?

I really like the Asus products we've purchased, but it seems like everything is ship-back-to-depot to fix.




They have priority repair, but I believe it still involves shipment to the depot. I have not seen any mention of on-site repair.

 

[Rand]

If you carry it daily you might consider a 14" laptop

still big enough but much less bulky. I love my 14" lenovo.. still get 5-6 hours of battery life too.

I went down from a 15.6" laptop and I like it.

Lenovo has really good coupon deals too if you watch
logicbuy.com they come up every month or so. Mine was 1200~~ something retail I paid under 600