---> OFFICIAL: Dell STUDIO 14z Owner's Lounge <---

Hi guys...sorry for the long wait, I was out all day.




uh that picture is with full 1600x900 resolution.
Let me know if you need the pictures bigger or at another angle..Im new at this forum stuff

 

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/9120/dscn1899q.jpg
http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/7764/dscn1894e.jpg
http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/2519/dscn1900l.jpg
im not sure how to attach the pics properly
lol

 

The chainlink pattern is a lot more subtle in person and is barely noticeble from more than a foot away. As for the wirelesss-N card(which i do have) it is working fine("exellent" signal strength) from the basement while the wireless router is two floors above.

Also i have to say that everything feels well built and no rattling anywhere near the screen or anywhere else for that matter.

This picture should dismiss any concerns about battery life:



...Im willing to make a video if people are really interested. Just tell me what you want to see.

 

So with max brightness, wireless/bluetooth on, and (blank) kind of activity, you are getting somewhere abouts 4 hours? Is this with the 6 or 8 cell battery?

 

Thanks a lot for the pics! But why should that picture attest to the concerns about battery life? Four hours on High Performance mode is good, isn't it? Or am I missing something? Mind taking a similar pic with laptop on power saver mode?

Thanks again

 

oh im definately not paying 30$ for a colored laptop, chainlink looks awesome! I'll save the money for a 900p screen

 

To me 4 hours is great with everything maxed out, I was getting about 45mins on power saver mode on my toshiba satellite.


with the 8 cell btw

 

Thanks again. Assuming the estimate is accurate, we can extrapolate from that an approximate 5.5 hours on Power Saver mode. Very respectable.

 

guess I worded it wrong...dismiss was the word I was looking for lol

 

janahan, out of curiosity, when did you order your computer, and how long did it take to arrive? I ordered my computer on friday, scheduled delivery date july 14, but the ppl over at dell said it should arrive way before then. But it's still allegedly in production.

Thanks.

 

Yeah for those of you who received yours, how long did it take for it to arrive? I ordered mine on the 21st and my ESD is July 24. Hopefully it arrives a lot sooner than that.

 

I ordered mine on june 16th through their phone service. I was phoneing in to inquire about student discounts when the representitive told me that if I put my order in throught the phone line he will be able to expedite the order. I dont know how much of that is true but my estimated delivery was july 17th and I got mine this morning.

 

They are new, so they are taking quite some time to ship out.

 

So strange... I ordered mine later than you did (June 26), but have an earlier estimated delivery date (July 14).

 

I just ordered mine today, June 30th and it is scheduled to arrive around July 17th. I ordered over the phone and the guy said it would help expedite the order. He said it would probably arrive sooner though.
It was funny though because if I had ordered 1-2 days ago, it would have been scheduled to arrive by the 7th. Big difference. We will see how fast it ships out.

 

Phone orders have priority over online orders. If you ordered yours via phone and Acronyte ordered via internet, then it's not too far-fetched that yours would come first.

 

Thats because sales reps make $$$ for selling laptops. They dont like having things get cancelled and losing commission I'm sure.

 

Maybe when I get my new 14z, I will actually get to fit this picture on my screen without scrolling!

 

Id like to see a video where you test out the sound. Ive always wondered how good the speakers are. I also wonder if you have the Soundblaster software included?
Also, maybe you could install 3DMark05 or 3Dmark06 and show the results and progress of the video rendering? That would be good to see how well the GPU functions in real time.
Maybe you could also run Prime95 CPU stress test program in a quiet room and comment on the fan noise in various situations (under full load, idle, etc). Thanks!

 

I ordreded mine on June 16 and just got it 2 days ago.. my original estimated delviery date was 22 July 2009...... If you call and ask them about the order it may expidite. I called 2 times voicing my concernes about the order date and estimated delviery date and it seemed to get pushed faster....... of course when i got the laptop the battery was missing..........................

 

So I ran 3dmark 06 and these are the results i got:


As for the fan, it starts to become audible with a start of a simple application such as firefox or live messenger. I was in a room with almost no noise at all, which probably made it seem louder than it actually was. Under load(the 3dmark test) it began to spin up. I think there are four levels of fan speeds. On the last one it is pretty loud but i think thats normal. Just keep in mind that even during the loudest fan speed that playing music, even at a very low volume, makes it so you cant hear the fan at all. SO i think that if you arent listening for the fan, you probably wont be able to hear it atleast at the lower speeds.

The speakers are damn loud lol. They sound pretty clear I guess...but my audio expertise is very limited. Im downloading that software that dell charges for and ill see if I can hear any difference.

 

It sucks to get old. I took janahan's screen grab and made it my background image then scaled it to fit my current 14.1" screen. There is no way I could work on a laptop with system fonts that small.


VVarwick

 

Don't download that 'hi-def' software. It wont improve your audio unless you are outputting it to a major stereo system.

 

So I'm slightly less impressed with my order change to the 8 cell than originally. Last night I noticed that both my orders (6 cell and 8 cell version) were still in production even though I cancelled the 6 cell one over the phone when I bought the 8 cell. Turns out the sales rep never cancelled the 6 cell (and as the customer service rep tells me sales reps literally cannot cancel orders at all) and now my 6 cell has been built and cannot be cancelled any more.

At this point, I'm told my only option is to wait for the system to come, and then call them to up to arrange a return and full refund, which is kind of annoying.

 

The SAGA of Dell's rotten customer service contininues... The computers are good quality most of the time... .occasiaonly you get a lemon but the customer service sucks just like the majority of companies that send the jobs to offsite overseas shacks.

 

I'm sorry it didn't work out for you. I don't know if they can literally cancel orders, or only put in a request for someone else to cancel it, but they can certainly get an order cancelled.

 

Thats what I figured. I did not intend to hook up the computer to external speakers. I wanted to be sure that the software didnt enhance the normal audio coming from the laptop speakers.
I didnt want to purchase the 25 dollar software if it was not going to make the laptop speakers sound better. They already sound really good and if I cant make them better with the software, there is no need for the software for me!

If someone does have the software, can you host it somewhere so I can test it for myself? Im more curious than anything. If it doesnt change anything, I will just get rid of it. If it does, I will call dell up and see if I can purchase the software if it is really worth it.
The hard thing about making the decision of purchasing the audio software is that I cannot hear the difference between the two options!

 

I just looked up some info on the 9400M integrated GPU for the 14z and it was pretty interesting (3Dmark06 score of 2000-2100ish):

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9400M-G.11949.0.html


I had an old Dell Inspiron 9300 with the nVidia 6800 Go and it turns out that the 9400M is BETTER than the 6800 Go! (3Dmark06 score of 1900):

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-Go-6800.2139.0.html


I also modded the inspiron 9300 to accept the 6800 Ultra. Turns out that the Ultra is just a little better than the 9400M at 3Dmark06 score of 2500!:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-Go-6800-Ultra.2138.0.html

So if you were playing games on the old Inspiron 9300 with the nvidia 6800 Go or even the Ultra, you should be able to have performance in between these cards for sure!

For the 9400M, F.E.A.R. can run medium settings at 60fps and high settings at 15fps I believe. Refer to the first link for the 9400M. Crysis is playable at about 30fps on low settings. Doom 3 is playable on "Ultra" settings, playing at 83fps!!
My have times changed.

 

I ordered my laptop on June 3rd, I managed to get a slight deal on the warranty that necessitated me getting the intel wireless n card which delayed the ship date to July 9th, but I figured I was getting a better deal I could wait. Today they updated the estimated delivery date to July 23 and I think I'm going insane. Holy in the time I've ordered it, it's popped up in every retailer in my area, they've started and ended a deal which slashed the price, and apparently everyone else has been getting theirs ahead of estimates. The estimated ship dates on laptops ordered today are sooner than mine which i ordered 1 ing month ago. Holy I think I'm gonna kill something.

Anyone have any suggestions for me?

 

I got my 14z in a couple days ago, i love everything about it except that the battery rattles and the screen at the lowest brightness flickers

 

Its a nice machine.. My wife loves it and you know what its a nice machine... I may retrun my mac book and order another Studio 14z... by the way I found this card that fits in the slot... can someone tell me if I can install vista to this card and use the hard drive as normal storage... check this link...

http://www.amazon.com/Transcend-32GB-ExpressCard-SSD-MLC/dp/B000SK9DLY

 

Yes but not recommended. Poor performance. Better off getting an external HDD if you need some extra space.

 

For those who already received 14z,

I have never used 64 bit sys before but I heard compatibility issues with 64 bit windows. Have you guys experienced any problem installing software? Is it bootable from USB?

i really like this 14z but I am waiting for more feedback.

Thanks

 

I am looking at replacing my XPS M1330 notebook (has the dreaded nvidia) did you buy an external dvd drive with it? Also do you have the 8 cell battery?

 

I've been running 64-bit Vista for almost 2 years now. Most all 32-bit software runs just fine. The only problem I've had is with a Cisco VPN client that won't run under it. The only real annoyance is that there's no 64-bit Flash, so you have to keep running a 32-bit browser.

 

Your idea of a video where someone tests the sound will actually be more of a test of their recording equipment. Without highend equipment it's not the same as hearing it in person.

I can tell you that these speakers are very good (for a laptop). However, they distort and rattle at around half volume. Half volume is quite loud though. The sound card outputs good quality audio over the headphones too. I have had them hooked up to theater speakers and am impressed, but not as clear as toslink digital audio.

That is a neat idea for getting an idea of the screen realestate, but I hope you understand that it is in no way an accurate method of evaluating the quality of the lcd panel.

Agreed. You can't make audio "better" with software. The hardware is only capable of its specifications. Anything else is just a polished form of distortion that might trick you into thinking it sounds better.

I've found most games very playable as well. The new ArmA2 did not run well though. That might just be a programming thing, because ArmA1 ran like crap on my desktop with a 260GTX.

My battery is ever so slightly loose, but it does not "rattle". It makes no noise at all. I do not experience the flicker at lowest brightness either. Could it be that the LED lighting uses a frequency of ON-OFF's to attain variable brightness? If so then the lowest brightness would have the lowest frequency of ON-OFF cycles, making it easier to detect. This would be more visible to some people than others, like the 'rainbow' effect some people experience with single chip+colour wheel DLP. I am speculating, I do not know this for sure.

I have also been using 64bit for years. I have never had a single issue with any of the software I use, although I am aware that older versions of AutoCAD are not compatible. I use a newer version and did not experience a problem. Most of the compatibility issue hype occured for a few months before and after the original release of vista. Many hardware manufacturers did not release compatible drivers in time for the release. Major manufacturers like ATI and Nvidia had their drivers ready, it was more the obscure things like scanners and other accessories from smaller companies.

Have not tried booting from USB. I was going to reformat and start fresh when the laptop arrived, but the install was fairly clean with very little bloat, so I have not needed to yet!

 

I should be installing Windows 7 from my USB flash drive as soon as it arrives (the PC, not the drive). As long as the BIOS supports it, I can't imagine any problem. It worked without a hitch on my Acer netbook.

 

Getting around 3 hours on performance mode with relatively high brightness and running torrents and other programs. This is with 8cell battery.

PS-this is the real estate you get with the basic 720p.

 

Dude, if that's a view of your living room through the webcam you really need to clean up a bit!

 

Decrepit is all the rage in europe (That's just a wallpaper from interfacelift.com)

 

Thanks for the pic. Isn't it closer to four hours? 72% remaining with 2.8 hours left?

 

I don't think booting from Expresscard is supported, only internal drive, optical drive and USB.

Also, even if it were possible to boot from one of those, expect it to be even more sluggish than if installed on a 5400 RPM HDD. Expresscard SSDs are slow and not really meant to be anything more than additional flash storage.

 

the battery thing lies, because I had to stop using the laptop to take the snapshot. Using the laptop lowers the life a little, but yes it is >3 hours.

PS that is with WiFi on

 

Has anyone performed a clean install of vista on the 14z yet? I'm having problems with it asking for a missing driver. Let me know if you had this problem and were able to fix.

 

for those who already have received the system, how does the keyboard compare to other keyboards you have used in the past? namely, any positive or neg comparisons to lenovo keyboards, and the old powerbook/macbook pro keyboards (before they switched to separated keys) would be helpful.

 

i can't read this entire thread to possibly find thi answer as the answer to my question might make the whole process pointless, so please forgive if its there somewhere.

I recall a week or so ago suggesting the UK wasn't going to get this laptop, is this really true? i really hope not...

 

just a quick update. I still have not recieved my replacement and dell now claims that the 2 ghz core 2 duo is back ordered and they have no idea when it will be back in stock ?!?! this direct from a manager. I asked for a procesor upgrade then ( at my cost, s should just do it free for all the trouble so far) and was told they would have to cancel my order and re enter it thus sending me to the back of the production line. Boy these guys are starting to me off. so I must sit back and wait indefinatly. Anyone know a laptop with the same specs? 900p Screen, at least a 9400m video card and backlit keyboard are a must just havn't seen anything like this from any other vendors.

 

so the general build quality is good?

can someone take pics of the inside chainlink?

 

My sympathies - or - welcome to my boat, pick out a seat and join me in a beer while we wait.

Honestly I haven't seen anything like these specs at this price and weight. If I had, I'd have bought it already.

However, on their web site, when placing a test order I don't see any delays for any processor. How long ago was the replacement order placed?

 

The keyboard seems really nice to me. I like how it feels when you type and it isnt noisy. The arrangement is ok, but i dont like how the right shift key is shrunken. It'll take a bit to get used to it but it has a nice feel.