« Studio 15: A Cheap Business Laptop | Home | Studio XPS 16: Hybrid on Fire »
Studio XPS 13: Well-dressed Business Laptop
By business laptop |
The main concerns of both laptop producers and laptop consumers are on the basic functions and performance of the computer. But with Studio XPS 13, the level of power is tied with an elegant look. At a first glance, you will notice its classy look but there’s more to it than its covering – the nVidia Hybrid SLI graphics. Hybrid power enabled switching the graphics card to a low power consuming state and the SLI enables scaling the graphics power to the integrated NVIDIA motherboard GPU. And amazingly, you can hardly experience lagging using this elegant notebook. As we can see, it offers up to 8GB of RAM. A pretty fast one if utilized.
This 13-inch notebook comes in two screen design options – the CCFL screen (compatible with 2MP camera) and the WLED screen (compatible with 1.3MP camera) which is a brighter one. But both has a resolution of about 1280×800, good enough to be incorporated with facial recognition software which can be configured as a security feature.
More features that you can enjoy in the Studio XPS 13 is the backlit keyboard, hinge-lights which indicate the battery charge and computer power status, the integrated webcam, and the Vista PCRestore. The keyboard is renovated to fit the small size and therefore some keys were relocated.
Its brilliant genuine leather accents and glossy surface is indeed an attractive combination. The leather part provides the grip while the glossy element provides the elegance. But these stylish cover is negated by the aluminium hinges which looks like a misplaced plastic attachment. It certainly is a distraction.
Moreover, Studio XPS 13 didn’t have enough of its ports. It only contains 2 USB ports – one is a regular USB port while the other is an e-SATA USB port where you can also plug in a regular USB device. These two ports are found on the left side of the notebook alongside the security cable slot, VGA, Ethernet, display-port connector and an HDMI port. On the opposite side, we have the ExpressCard slot, FireWire port, DVD drive, and the power connector port. The rear part is clean with ports and jacks showing only a single vent for hot air on the left-part of the base.
Now this vent has its downside with respect to its screen. The left part of the screen will result to discoloration since it blocks the vent for hot air. Now, this would further result to screen display distortion, or worse, malfunction of the screen.
Overall, this machine has great capabilities in terms of its core functions. But its drawbacks, the faulty cover function design and the minimum ports, are a bit incompetent. Considering the slight imperfections, these mistakes made the Studio XPS 13 less viable with the price of $1,524.00.
Technical Specifications:
· Processor: Intel® Core™2 Duo P9500 (2.53GHz, 3MB L2 Cache, 1067MHz FSB)
· Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate x64 Edition
· Memory: Up to 8GB2 1067MHz DDR3 SDRAM.
· Chipset: NVIDIA® MCP79MX
· Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® 9400M G
· LCD Display: “Edge-to-edge” Glossy 13.3 inch WXGA CCFL LCD display
· Audio and Speakers: 4 Watt Integrated Stereo Speakers, 2 watts per channel, 2 channels
· Hard Drives: Up to 500GB2 configured with a 5400RPM hard drive.
· Optical Drives: 8X DVD+/-RW Slot Load Drive
· Power: 6 cell 56 WHr Li-Ion Battery
· Camera: 2.0MP Integrated Webcam (with CCFL display)
· Wireless:
Wi-Fi Options: Dell 1515 Wireless N Mini-Card
Mobile Broadband Options: Dell Wireless 5530 Mini-Card for AT&TTM
Bluetooth Options: Bluetooth® Internal (2.0) mini-card
· Ports, Slots, Chassis:
Externally Accessible: (1) USB 2.0 compliant ports, USB 2.0 compliant / e-SATA port with Powershare, 15-pin VGA video connector, IEEE compliant 1394a port, Integrated network connector 10/100/1000 LAN (RJ45), 54mm Express Card slot, Display Port, HDMI Port, AC adapter connector, Audio jacks (2 line-out, 1 Mic-in), 8-in-1 Media Card Reader
Dimensions & Weight: Width: 12.56 inches (319mm), Height: 0.88 inches (22.55mm) front / 1.35 inches (34.34mm) back, Depth: 9.3 inches (236.12mm), Weight: Starting weight of 4.85 lbs. (2.2 kg)6(13.3″ display, 6 cell battery). Weights will vary depending on configurations and manufacturing variability.
Topics: Dell Business Laptops, Dell Studio Laptop Reviews, Dell XPS Review | No Comments »