Question about cd drive and WLED

Hi there,

I want to buy Dell Studio 15, but I have a couple questions. Somebody tell me about DVD Drive and WLED display. I read that the DVD Drive is very noisy and WLED display is very bright. ATI 3470 isn't a good card. Is it true?
What about chipset in Studio 15?

 

The ATI 3470 is fine, it just won't play the most demanding games. It depends on what you want to do with it. The chipset depends on whether you get it with the ATI or Intel video.

 

I will buy Dell with ATI 3470. Could you write me about chipset. Thanks.

 

It will have the PM45 (Montevina) chipset as I don't think Dell is selling the older 1535 models.

 

I want to buy this laptop:

Studio 15
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5900 (2.20GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
Windows Vista Home Premium Edition SP1
3GB DDR2 at 800MHz
320GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
Jet Black
8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450

What do you think about WLED display (1280x800) ???
Thanks

 

I would opt for the higher resolution WLED if it is in your budget. At 15inch you kind of want the high resolution. Otherwise, I think you have a very solid notebook.

 

Dell is still selling the older 1535 on their site ... in the 3 starting configurations the first two are the 1535's. You can tell if the base graphics are X3100 or the base LCD isn't WLED then it's the older 1535. The 1537 has a base graphics card of Intel 4500HD and the 1280x800 is WLED.

 

the video card is Ati Radeon 34 50
LED display with 1440x900 is all you need

 

That's the same spec I have (except I got the purple lid). I wish I could've plumped for the 1440x900 WLED, which according to the manual actually seems to offer considerably improved viewing angles, but that's the only thing I'd have done differently. And I love the laptop overall.

The 1280x800 is still fine, though, and I do have the WLED version of it which definitely helps. It's so bright I usually leave it on minimum brightness and it's enough even in a well-lit environment in my house; only under huge amounts of fluorescent lighting (like the breakroom at work) have I needed to bump it up a couple of notches. At minimum brightness, it's not much dimmer than my old Latitude C610's screen is at maximum brightness, if you can believe that.

As to your other questions, the ATI 3450 is solid, if unremarkable (in this day and age) graphics hardware. The only new-ish game I've tried on it so far is X3: Terran Conflict, and it's far from silky-smooth when there's a lot going on but it's definitely playable. I guess it helps that it's definitely not a twitch game. Older games are stunning on it; Vampire Bloodlines is glorious with everything cranked, although the game only does 4:3, and the original 1999-vintage Unreal Tournament with everything maxed, including the hidden preferences, was still returning 150fps according to its timedemo feature... and that one plays nice with widescreen, too.

Of course, if you stick to native resolutions, 1280x800 will give better framerates than 1440x900; that's only to be expected.

And the DVD drive is fairly noisy when running at full speed, and gets some vibration going too. It does the job, though, and running a DVD movie (which it's obviously doing at a slower speed) it's plenty quiet enough for me. Plus the slot-loading mechanism makes awesome robotic noises when inserting or ejecting a disc that just make me smile.

YMMV, of course... much like cars, two examples of the same laptop that are the same on paper can differ a lot in the real world.

 

Are you happy with your Dell Studio 1537 ?

 

Very much so.