There hasn’t been a lot of excitement or anticipation surrounding the expected upgraded version of the Studio 15 Notebook mainly because it was expected, Dell told us a couple of months ago they were going to do it so there were no real secrets to uncover.
Now the new and improved Studio 15 is finally available, as from today actually, and although there are no real jaw dropping surprises in store regarding the new features, overall the new look Studio 15 is not bad at all.
The first thing you’ll notice is the much improved and larger 15.6” LED display upgraded from the previous 15 inch. This later one is more energy efficient too which always goes down well with energy conscious consumers.
It also comes with Microsoft Windows Vista with Home Premium Edition Service Pack 1 pre-installed, which is handy.
As for graphics, at the lower priced end of the scale you can have the basic Intel Graphics Media 4500 MHD video card but a much better 256 MB or 512 MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 Graphics chipset is an option if you want to pay a bit more, I certainly would.
There are other choices too. An Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 processor powers the Notebook complemented by 3 GB DDR2 memory, or you can upgrade this to 4GB if you prefer. Hard drive storage starts at 250GB rising to 320GB.
The Studio 15 still has a full sized keyboard just like it did before except that this time you can have the option of a backlit keyboard that will light up in low lit environments. I’ll go for that, there is nothing worse than fumbling around trying to find keys in the dark.
It also comes in the six basic colour choices there were before including Black Chainlink, Midnight Blue, Ruby Red, Plum Purple, Spring Green and Promise Pink, something to suit everyone.
Other features include a six cell battery, an integrated webcam, 5.1 surround sound, a 3 Watt Sub Woofer and of course there are also wireless connectivity options including Dell 802.11g or Intel Wi-Fi Link 5100 802.11a/g/n and a whole host of other ports such as HDMI out, USB ports and Ethernet. There is also the option of a Blu-ray player.
Prices for The new look Studio 15 start at a reasonable $649.
