Dell Studio 14z First Look

[Skyshade]

The Samsung X460 has been lauded as the lightest, thinnest 14.1" available with the following dimensions-
13.3"x9.7"x0.8"-1.25"

I think MSI X400 is the lightest and thinnest 14" now. Weighing 1.5kg. But is has CULV.

Both are thin, but lightest is still Panasonic's Y-series, a 1.5 kg 14.1" 1400x1050 (4:3 form factor, so it's larger than any 14.1" wide-screen laptops you mentioned) screen with C2D L7800 and integrated optical. Of course, its price tag is not a friendly as neither nor the new Dell.

14z is better than its predecessors, but it's far from an engineering marvel. I like its price tag, but I am not sure about taking the optical out for a 14.1" laptop -- if I really want to only get a mobile companion instead of a full featured laptop at 14.1" size, MSI X400 seems to be a much stronger contender by being lighter and thinner.

[TexasEx7]

I'm having a tough time deciding between the S14z and the Lenovo Y450...

Pretty much, the fact that the 14z comes with the 1GB soldered on already really irritates me, because that means to get past my target of 4GB I would have to cough up the 400 bucks for a 4GB RAM chip, whereas I could have easily just spent 60 bucks to put in two 2GB chips.

The Y450 Build comes with the P7450 processor with the 4GB RAM, and my target S14z build has the P8600 and 3GB of RAM.

Not to mention, for similar weight and dimensions I can get the optical drive on the Y450, and it also has a discreet graphics card (the equivalent of the onboard chipset for the S14z).

Price comes out to be about the same for either with the sale/discounts on both sides... Should I take the Dell just because the screen is a little prettier? Or does something in my configuration point to the Y450?

[dalamchops]

the Ideapad screen is no slouch, i had the y430 and the screen was awesome. The Nvidia G110M is definitely better than Integrated 9400 (around 500pt 3DMARK06 difference)

The Dell has a better cpu though.

[jaycee]

I'm just the opposite, I have a Latitude E6400 and I rarely use the optical drive. I actually have a second hard drive in the optical bay slot almost all the time. There are obviously users who still need/want an optical drive, but many more who apparently don't.

Hasn't the M1330 already been replaced by the Studio XPS 13 (1340)?- LINK

While it is also a rarity that I actually use the optical but the point is, leaving out the optical could have afforded Dell the ability to make it even slimmer and lighter. Which they didn't. Sub-1 inch max thickness would have been nice. And its not really light. In comparison, my M1330 with the 9 cell weights in at 2kg.

I might be splitting hairs, but Dell could have made it as slim as the Mini 12. Now, that would have been something.

Dell could have put in a much slimmer display though, and with the space vacated by the optical, perhaps a second HDD bay?

But at the odd times you need to carry the ex-optical, its a PITA

As for the XPS 13, I don't like glossy notebooks.... so I haven't found a notebook I would like to replace the M1330 with. My new fleet of E6400s came in somewhat of a dissapointment.

I'll give this to Dell though, for the price, it is good value.

[allfiredup]

I'm having a tough time deciding between the S14z and the Lenovo Y450...

Pretty much, the fact that the 14z comes with the 1GB soldered on already really irritates me, because that means to get past my target of 4GB I would have to cough up the 400 bucks for a 4GB RAM chip, whereas I could have easily just spent 60 bucks to put in two 2GB chips.

I'm not understanding the reasoning for the integrated 1GB of DDR3!? Maybe it was easier to achieve the thinnest design without stacking two DIMMs as in a normal notebook? But even if that was the case, they should have included 2GB integrated (so adding a 2GB DIMM in the single slot would make 4GB)!

Then again, how often do you use more than 3GB of memory? The price of a single 4GB DIMM will eventually be much cheaper than it is now, too..

The Y450 Build comes with the P7450 processor with the 4GB RAM, and my target S14z build has the P8600 and 3GB of RAM.

Not to mention, for similar weight and dimensions I can get the optical drive on the Y450, and it also has a discreet graphics card (the equivalent of the onboard chipset for the S14z).

Price comes out to be about the same for either with the sale/discounts on both sides... Should I take the Dell just because the screen is a little prettier? Or does something in my configuration point to the Y450?

If you choose the 14z, do you plan on choosing the 1600x900 display upgrade? Or just the standard 1366x768 LED? That could be the deciding factor....

The Y450 is well-equipped in some ways (DVD-RW, Intel N-wireless, Bluetooth, 4GB RAM) but there's no room for customization/upgrades. You can only get the 2.13GHz P7450, 320GB 5400rpm hard drive, 1366x768 display, 6-cell battery- it only comes one way.

The Dell allows for much broader customization (and I'd venture that the Dell will be the battery-life champ, especially with the 8-cell option). The 14z also offers a backlit keyboard, which isn't available on the Y450.

Then there's the matter of the optical drive- does it matter to you?

TexasEx7- I can hook you up with a discount to bring the Y430 down to $773.14 before tax (vs. $899 minus $50 coupon). If you're interested, click on my user name to see my profile and look under Contact Info for 'Send an email'.

[allfiredup]

I might be splitting hairs, but Dell could have made it as slim as the Mini 12. Now, that would have been something.

Dell could have put in a much slimmer display though, and with the space vacated by the optical, perhaps a second HDD bay?

I'll give this to Dell though, for the price, it is good value.

Because it doesn't have an optical drive, the ports aren't crowded or stacked as they are on a lot of other models.

Right side- Express Card, 3-audio jacks, 1394, USB, USB/eSATA, AC jack
Left side- HDMI, DisplayPort, VENT covering over half of the length, USB, RJ-45 (network)

I'm hoping that the oversized vent on the left side will result in a cool-running system! It will also be interesting to see if there are any vents on the bottom or if it's solid.

The inclusion of both HDMI and DisplayPort seems a bit redundant, now that I've thought about it. HDMI alone would have been sufficient. Most folks I know use an adapter to convert their DisplayPort to HDMI. A fourth USB port would be more useful than the DisplayPort, IMO.

[kkl1014]

Because it doesn't have an optical drive, the ports aren't crowded or stacked as they are on a lot of other models.

Right side- Express Card, 3-audio jacks, 1394, USB, USB/eSATA, AC jack
Left side- HDMI, DisplayPort, VENT covering over half of the length, USB, RJ-45 (network)

I'm hoping that the oversized vent on the left side will result in a cool-running system! It will also be interesting to see if there are any vents on the bottom or if it's solid.

The inclusion of both HDMI and DisplayPort seems a bit redundant, now that I've thought about it. HDMI alone would have been sufficient. Most folks I know use an adapter to convert their DisplayPort to HDMI. A fourth USB port would be more useful than the DisplayPort, IMO.

DisplayPort allows for driving large 2560 x 1600 monitors though, something that HDMI can't. I know most people don't have 30" monitors to drive, but it's nice to have the ability to.

That and VGA needs to die anyway.

[Phil]

It may even be possible to drive dual display...

[ian760105]

What do people think about the "spring green" color offered by this new 14z?

[Kirtan]

This system looks great to me. I'm in the market for a laptop for photo editing and to take on the road. This might fit the bill nicely.

I was going to start to switch to Apple with my first Macbook but this might keep me on the pc side for awhile...