Dell Studio 14: Defining Solid
by Dustin Sklavos on August 19, 2010 2:49 AM ESTStudio 14 Battery Life
So far, our review unit has shown us solid performance in applications and about the best performance we could ask for in gaming (given the lousy options presented), but an increasingly important metric these days is battery life. We expect good things out of the Studio 14: the high capacity 6-cell, 56Wh battery should be able to get us at least four hours of useful life out of the notebook.
Getting close to three hours of movie playback time is pretty reasonable; in fact it starts scraping under machines with integrated graphics and bigger batteries. Under internet usage it gets even better, with the Studio 14 pulling nearly five hours of useful life at a comfortable brightness. Dell's done their homework here: the battery life on our Studio 14 is miles ahead of their last generation. The exception to that statement is x264 playback, where the old 9400M IGP of the 14z surpasses the new 14, though it had a larger battery. Note that on a per Wh metric, the 14z scored 2.92 compared to 2.86 on the 14, so it's pretty close even in that case. The dedicated graphics may be extremely low-powered but the chip still draws more power than the integrated graphics would have, and there's no indication that the Studio 14 is switching between the two.
Given the excellent running time from the stock 6-cell battery, we feel comfortable recommending users who need more than five hours of life opting for the 9-cell. Dell's site suggests that extended battery can last for up to eight hours and thirty-five minutes (how delightfully specific), and it's reasonable to assume they aren't far off the mark.
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bijeshn - Thursday, August 19, 2010 - link
Thanks for the 'to-the point' review.However I would really like to see how the Studio 17 fares in comparison...
shamans33 - Thursday, August 19, 2010 - link
Same here....I'd like to see Studio 15 and Studio 17Dustin Sklavos - Thursday, August 19, 2010 - link
ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVEActually finishing up a review of the Studio 17 right now, but here's where I stand on the issues:
1. I bought mine a month ago, and love it.
2. It's a little noisy but it's POWERFUL.
3. Best speakers I've ever heard on a notebook.
Voldenuit - Thursday, August 19, 2010 - link
Too expensive - this should be $650-700 as configured, not $900.Slow GPU.
Too heavy - should be 4.5 lbs.
No Blu-ray drive - at $900, it should come with one.
Low resolution LCD - just because everyone else sucks, doesn't mean Dell should be left off the hook.
Unexceptional battery life - it's not bad, just "adequate", which sums up the Studio 14 really.
Agree with the conclusion that it is a thoroughly bland and unremarkable notebook. Where I don't agree is that it is a solid contender. "Don't be the best be like the rest" should be Dell's motto.
vol7ron - Thursday, August 19, 2010 - link
agreed.seanleeforever - Thursday, August 19, 2010 - link
with all due respect. no one pays retail price for dell.. what happen to those 20~30% off coupons? and 699 out of 1500 dollar coupons?900 retail price nicely translate to 600~700 street price.
neothe0ne - Thursday, August 19, 2010 - link
You can get the Envy 14 with Core i3-370m (probably faster than the i5-430m) and Radeon 5650 + switchable graphics for $1000. Not to mention the Envy's base Intel 6200 wireless is probably leagues better than "Dell" wireless by their own component upgrade pricing. This Studio 14 for $900 is a crap deal.djjazzyjeff - Thursday, August 19, 2010 - link
The Envy 14 is an overpriced, gratuitously branded piece of crap. Hideous styling, downclocked GPU and abhorrent trackpad make the Envy 14 a non-starter for most.zoxo - Thursday, August 19, 2010 - link
what's wrong with the style of the Envy14? My only problems with that machine is the lack of matte screen option, and general availability (especially in Europe)neothe0ne - Thursday, August 19, 2010 - link
You haven't actually configured and used the touchpad, have you?