How is this Dell laptop?

Before beginning, I admit I have created this topic before in "What notebook should I buy?" board but I decided to re-create it as I finalized my specs and that topic was sort of dead.

Hello guys, I'm in New Delhi, India and am looking to buy a laptop at the end of this month. I'm a programmer and need a laptop which is nice and portable along with a decent battery life, so I chose a Dell Studio 1555. Although gaming is not my main concern with this laptop as a got a Desktop for that, I'd still like to know how it fares out in semi-old games such as LOTR:BFME2, BF2142 and some new ones such as Burnout Paradise, CoH, E:Total War. Note that this laptop is costing me INR : 54,258 without taxes and shipping.

Color : Ruby Red (Ohh boy, the magic of red)
CPU : Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 (2.4GHz, 3MB cache, 1066MHz FSB)
RAM : 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 SDRAM
GPU : ATi Mobility Radeon 4570 512 MB
OS : Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit w/ Windows 7 Upgrade coupon
Display : 15.6" 1368 x 768 w/ 2.0MP Camera
Optical Drive : Slot Load 8X DVD+/-RW Drive with DVD+R double layer write capability
Hard Drive : 320GB 7200RPM Drive
Audio : Integrated audio w/ subwoofer
Battery : 9 cell Li-ion battery
Keyboard : Dell Backlit keyboard with touchpad.

So how is it? Apart from the questions above, here are a few more :
How does it compare against a desktop w/ E4500 @ 2.2GHz, 3GB DDR2 RAM and 7300GT 512MB?
How long do I expect the battery life to last while : a) Normal use(Programming, Web surfing etc), b) Gaming/heavy usage
How heavy can I expect it to be? Will it be under 3KGs?

 

The Studio 1555 can definitely run Battlefield 2142 quite smoothly at the native resolution. I haven't tried any of the other games, though.

Compared to that desktop setup, I'd say the laptop will be more powerful. The 7300GT is a pretty old and weak card, and the CPU and RAM will be comparable.

As for battery life, with the 9 cell, you can expect 5 to 6 hours on power saving mode for normal use, and maybe 2 hours of high-performance heavy use.

 

At what settings? High or low? Also how is this laptop for portability? Since you have more or less the same setup as mine, how heavy is it? Thanks for the answer

Also If I get a 1600 x 900 screen, will the GPU fare well in that case?

 

I run BF2142 at 1024x768 at pretty much all high settings. Like I say, I've never played any of the other games, so I can't speak for them.

The weight with the 9 cell battery is around 5.5 pounds; not sure how that converts to kilograms (too lazy! ), but it's very nicely portable. I just put mine in my SwissGear laptop backpack and carry it to and from class every day.

With the 1600x900 display, the GPU performance will take a slight hit, but it shouldn't be too bad. Games that run well at 1366x768 should still run reasonably well at 1600x900. You can always turn the settings down, too.

 

Hm, how is the 720p screen on your Studio 15? I'm personally not looking for an overkill with screen size/resolution and I can possibly save some money for a few games and even a big fudge. Can you help me out and take a few pictures with it and a browser opened showing a page with text? yahoo home page or even this page. It'll be a great favor. And 5.5 lbs translate into 2.5KG I think, that's nice.

 

I love the 720p display. It's a good resolution for the size.

Here's a photo of the 720p. It looks absolutely terrible; the camera is built into my mobile phone. It should still give you a decent idea of how big things are, though:

 

Thanks a ton! Thats exactly the kind of compare I wanted. A friend of mine gave me a picture of 900p, and it seems that there really is not much of a difference. P.S., what battery do you have? If it is 9 cell, does the extra part that comes out annoying?

 

I've got the 9 cell. It's slightly trickier to fit into my backpack, but it still goes in. And it elevates the back of the keyboard at a nice angle.

 

Thanks, I guess I'll go ahead with the configuration .

 

if you are really keen on buying a 15" then i'll recommend that you wait a while. Dell just refreshed Studio 14 line a couple of days back introducing DDR3 RAM and new configuration options etc.

same should hold true for Studio 15.

i agree the performance diff between a 800fsb ddr2 and 1066fsb ddr3 might not be all that much, but there's no harm going for the latest type of ram along with some new config options.

 

I'm holding of till Diwali/Dushera(Festivals in India), because at that point of time the prices are usually at the lowest of the year and every company has their own offers going on. I don't give a damn about DDR3.

 

And I wouldn't either if I was you. The Studio 15 is not going to be refreshed anytime soon; it was only refreshed from the previous studio 15 model maybe 5 or 6 months ago.

 

Yep, the Studio 15 is the most "evolved" of Dell's current lineup. The Studio 15 series was introduced with the 1535 (Intel Santa Rosa platform) and 1536 (AMD-based, retail only), which were eventually replaced by the 1537 (identical to the first two, but Intel Montevina platform inside). Some months later, they came along with the 1537 Special Edition, which had a unique lid design and edge-to-edge glass display. And a little while after that, they rolled out the 1555, which introduced several physical and internal alterations and improvements, and phased out the 1535-1537 models.

The Studio 15 is the only Studio series that's been "refreshed" as such; the Studio 14z itself is a pretty new model and it still in its original model, the 1440. The Studio 17 went from the Santa Rosa based 1735 to the Montevina based 1737 (like the 1535 -> 1537), but has not been refreshed and it does not look like it will be.

 

new inspiron 15 with intel i7 cpu is coming soon. just wait for that.

 

I don't think there is any point. i7 CPU notebook is genuinely going to be MUCH more expensive then a Core 2 Duo P8600 and I'm already at my edge of the budget. Plus Inspiron's GPU usually suck(It has a 4330 AFAIK ATM).

 

The Studio 15 has the Core i7 now, starting at $999.

 

I don't see it? Not even on the US site.

 

It's on the Canadian and the UK sites right at this very minute. Didn't think it was on the US site yet though.

EDIT: actually, after checking the Canadian site again I can't find it now; but it was there earlier and still is on the UK site. It is also on the US site here last base spec out of the list of four.