Support NeoGAF

[Straightballin]

I have ordered a studio 15 laptop with the following specs...

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5850 (2.16GHz/667Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
Jet Black
3GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2
Back-lit Keyboard
Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch display (1280x800)
256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450
Size: 320GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 8.1
8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)

Got this for $725 with tax and shipping it wont arrive until the 5th its taking forever. Now I see that HP has some deals going, you can see them here

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=898920

Im wondering if I should cancel my order and switch to an HP. I really want something future proof. And the budget is 725 after tax and shipping. I would be using the laptop mostly for schoolwork and possibly a little bit of gaming. Size is kind of an issue the studio is a 15.1 inch but idk if it is a large notebook because I have never seen it in person. Would any of the HPs be better for my needs?

Edit: oh yeah the studio has a hdmi port which is huge to me, I would probably have canceled the order if the hp tablet one had a hdmi port but it does not.

 

[CaptainABAB]

Got a Studio 15 for my wife, here is my experience:

- Sound coming out of the onboard speakers sounded really bad, noticed it was not working out of the right speaker - assumed that was why it sounded bad

- Got it replaced (bought it at Staples) - now both work - sound still sounds "tinny" coming out of the onboard speakers. Needless to say, my wife is very disappointed as she had decent sound out of her older Dell Inspiron 6000

- One of the 4 USB ports is acting up. A mouse connected to it will be reported by Windows as a "USB device is malfunctioning". All the other USB ports are working fine.

Now I have to decide whether I want to reinstall all the apps and configure everything AGAIN or just live with a bad usb port. She still has 3 other good USB ports.


Overall, I liked the laptop except for the on-board speakers. Feels solid, has good specs, looks nice (she got ruby red) and didn't come with too much preloaded crap. I don't know if I was unlucky with these two laptops, but I wish I stuck with an Inspiron for the speaker reasons.

I still think the 15 is better then the HP - more memory, more disk space - depends on whether you use headphones or the laptop speakers for audio.

 

[Straightballin]

Got a Studio 15 for my wife, here is my experience:

- Sound coming out of the onboard speakers sounded really bad, noticed it was not working out of the right speaker - assumed that was why it sounded bad

- Got it replaced (bought it at Staples) - now both work - sound still sounds "tinny" coming out of the onboard speakers. Needless to say, my wife is very disappointed as she had decent sound out of her older Dell Inspiron 6000

- One of the 4 USB ports is acting up. A mouse connected to it will be reported by Windows as a "USB device is malfunctioning". All the other USB ports are working fine.

Now I have to decide whether I want to reinstall all the apps and configure everything AGAIN or just live with a bad usb port. She still has 3 other good USB ports.


Overall, I liked the laptop except for the on-board speakers. Feels solid, has good specs, looks nice (she got ruby red) and didn't come with too much preloaded crap. I don't know if I was unlucky with these two laptops, but I wish I stuck with an Inspiron for the speaker reasons.

I still think the 15 is better then the HP - more memory, more disk space - depends on whether you use headphones or the laptop speakers for audio.

Is it thin, sleek, and light?

 

[CaptainABAB]

Is it thin? From the side, it's thinner on the front and gradually increases toward the end - kinda like a very sharp <

Not anywhere thin like the Mac Air.

Is it sleek? Yes. It looks and feels more like it was designed by Apple - nice lines and curves, etc. The lid feels very solid.

So far, seems resistant to fingerprints - both on the lid and front pad.

I also like that it doesn't use a latch like most laptops but still closes shut and stays shut (uses a magnet)

Is it light? - it is 6 pounds which is in the standard range for monitors this size. Drop the monitor size to get "lighter".

 

[CaptainABAB]

I'm surprised dell.com accepted my review of the Studio 15....

Title: Speakers ruin an otherwise excellent product Date: August 9, 2008

Pros
Excellent price for the features, feels and looks high quality, the ruby red top looks good, the vista support is good and there isn't that much in terms of preinstalled software that you have to remove.

Cons
Speakers sound "tinny" - I bought this laptop for my wife as a replacement for a 3 year old Inspiron 6000. She loves to listen to music while working and now finds it unbearable to listen to the poor sound output.


Additional Thoughts
I wish I had done more research on this aspect. I just assumed all laptops had decent speakers - I'm not expecting 5.1 or anything, the old Inspiron was fine in this regard.
8 of 11 people found this review helpful.


Overall: 2 [RATINGOF] 5

Quality: 2 [RATINGOF] 5
Features: 4 [RATINGOF] 5
Value: 4 [RATINGOF] 5

Reviewed by: Anonymous Reviewer
Duration of product use: Less than a month
Level of expertise: Expert

 

[Straightballin]

Ok thanks for your input. Im going to stick with it I guess. I really hope the laptop performs well with the specs I put and is somewhat "future proof"

 

[pxleyes]

If you wanted future proof in any way you should have gone with the XPS. Really though, future proof does not exist in laptops.

 

[Straightballin]

If you wanted future proof in any way you should have gone with the XPS. Really though, future proof does not exist in laptops.

It would have been out of my budget, unless you can direct me to a deal lower than 750 with tax on one.

 

[The Interrobanger]

Future proof with a $750 budget?

:lol :lol :lol

 

[Straightballin]

Alright I got the studio 15 laptop now every so often when I use it it makes some sort of clicking noise sometimes I don't hear it for minutes and then other times I hear it every 15 secs for a short period. Could it be a failing hard drive or is this normal? Ive been using it for about a month and a half now and its been doing it since Ive had it and the only problem I have with the laptop so far is it not coming out of sleep mode correctly (Everything powers on but nothing loads up on the screen and the light the shows the computer is busy doesnt light up)

 

[Weenerz]

Will probably fail soon if its clicking. Just a guess.