dell 14z pics

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Very nice pictures!

I approve of that color! :yes:

How are you liking it so far??

Cin

P.S. You have lot's of *gadgets*

 

Very nice pictures. We haven't really seen much of those until now. And Cin' is right, that is an awesome shade of red.

 

For cereal, speak!

 

Build quality feels very solid. I'm a big fan of the keyboard. The keys are very stiff. I'm enjoying the lettering on the keys too (interesting font). Absolutely no creaking of the casing as I squeeze it. Feels very very solid. Wow, I seriously like this kind of keyboard. Compared to apples chicklet its much more stiff/solid feeling.

brb, going to power down and open ram door.

 

There is some wiggle room from battery area, which can be seen from the open laptop (top is glossy black to match)

Mine doesn't close very tight. If I have the laptop vertical it opens a little.

When the laptop is open, if I tap the red back of the laptop I hear some rattling noises. I can tell where its coming from. Possibly inside??? Because its extremely tight and feel solidly constructed.

 

Is the rattling noise really bad?

The lappy looks really nice! What size batt' do you have?
The Windows Sidebar always give the impression of some bleeding....that's why I never use mine...


Cin

 

Its a nasty rattle sound to be honest. Can hear it from some light tapping. The 1600x900 LED screen is B-E-A-utiful. Contrast is better than macbook air from the comparisons I saw. Brightness was great.

Oh, I love the copy cat they did. The F-keys are all mapped like Apple laptops. I can adjust sound, lighting, keyboard backlit, wireless all from tapping one of the F-keys

 

What are your specs?

 

Your making it sound sweet..hmmm.... And the color is luvly...
I'm prone to the Red's heavily!

Yes, can you please post your specs??

If that rattle continues to be bothersome you might want to get that checked out & repaired!

Cin

 

2.4ghz, 3GB, 250gb 7200rpm, 900p

 

I have a new Intel 80gb ssd waiting for install (but I want to benchmark first with 7200rpm hd)

 

please do!

Forum Reviewers, take notice! You have been beaten by a consumer... for shame!

 

That must be a pic of the infamous soldered chip...

 

Ruby Red FTW!!!

I wish my 1536 coulda come with Ruby Red....it would have made it suck a little bit less...

 

Nice ...OH I just configured on EPP....I'm soo bad..

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8600, 3GB, 14.0” High Definition (720p) LED Display, 9400M GPU, 320GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM), Ruby Red, 8C Batt, Dell Wireless Internal BT, Backlit Keyboard, Vista Home Prem. 64Bit.

So, essentially about $1100 w/free Next Day shipping if I were to order.

If,.

Cin

 

THANKYOU for posting pics and info! This is looking really good. Looks like you got the multi-card reader mounted in the expansion slot? Is the lid rubberized like the other Studios? Kind of concerned about that rattle, of course. Anxiously awaiting more info...

 

The lid does feel like rubber. (you are talking about the red painted lid?)

Yup, if you tap the upper left side of the screen I get a very disturbing rattle sound. Prob just my lappy.

 

Its midnight, I have to get up in 5hrs ... sorry

 

Thanks again for sharing!
Maybe in a few days after spending more time with it, you could perhaps, write up a mini-review on it and post it here? (If you wanted, of course)!

I'm sure lot's of peeps would really appreciate it!

Cin

 

Okay, get some rest. As for tomorrow, I'm really curious about those speakers they've made such a big deal about ("tweeters" and all). And the benchmarks, of course...and the wireless, lol...maybe NBR can just pay you to do they review, since they seem to be too busy

 

How is the heat and noise?

 

And so the Memory slot is only 1 slot user removeable? meaning to make it 5 GB you would have to shell out 300 for a 1 x 4 gb dimm?

 

that and battery life!

 

I really like the looks of this new inspiron. So far, for my next laptop (portable carry around) it's between this and the HP dv3t. I really like this one though.

Maybe the other memory slot is under the keyboard?
I can't find the service manual on this one yet.

The red is very nice, but for me, ice blue ftw.
I can't wait to read more on this model.

 

I have the DV3T now, speedy and runs absolutely cool to touch even at vent (major improvement over previous HP) My P7350 cpu idle at around 37C each core, and 9300M GS 512mb video card idle at 40C. The HP is absolutely quiet, u can almost hug it to sleep without the fan noise and the heat disturbing you. Yes it still use the DDR 2 800mhz ram but expandable to 8gb, and 1 stick of 4 GB is only 140 bucks on newegg and now much performance loss from DDR 3. Just wanna share with u in case this dell is not to your expectation, the HP will be an excellent choice.

 

aaah, you reminded me that the fan noise was noticeable to me. But I am very sensitive to that stuff. I wasn't happy to find that while my machine was "idle" (only had a web browser open, no flash websites & cpu monitor was always below 5%) that the fan was kicking on. I also heard what I thought was a second fan but more likely the 7200rpm HD. Even after a cold boot I remember the fan wanted to run and was audible.

I am not a fan of the fan.

The touchpad buttons click too deep for my tastes. Its usable, just not my style.

Here is my 1-10 scale from my 2hrs of playing with it before bed:

Size: 6/10 (everyone else can fit an optical drive in a size like this, should be thinner)
Weight: 8/10
Screen: 9/10 (great contrast, brightness, horizontal==good)
Keyboard: 10/10 (because of f-key remaps, backlit, and solid build)
Build Quality: 8/10 (very sturdy, no creaking, "uni-body plastic" a term?)
Build Materials: 7/10 (all plastic, where is the magnesium or aluminum?)
Battery: TBD
Speed: TBD
Blender: TBD (does it blend)


Lastly, like Dell did with the XPS line of laptops. I would like the Studio to have a different lid. The colors are nice but from 5' my red Studio 14z will still look like the new red Inspiron 14. I'm wishing they would change the Dell logo for studio line. Dreams, dreams.

Background: I have owned all MacBooks, MacBook Pros, MacBook Air, Dell XPS 1535, Dell 700m, Dell 640m, Dell Lat E6500, MSI Wind, Asus 1000HE, ... I would own an Apple Laptop right now but 1440x900 is not enough resolution for me. I'm on a quest to find a 14-15" thin, light, high resolution screen, and backlit keyboard laptop.

Disclaimer: I am a fanboy of good gadgets, not a fanboy of popular brands.

 

My mistake, I misread this as the inspiron 14.

The 14z looks great too, and the weight is definitely a plus, but the lack of a disc drive and card reader make it a no go for me. I could live without a cd drive but an integrated card reader is a must. I thought the palmrest area was metal on the 14z.

More pics please.

Thanks Howard for the dv3t insight. So far that's my machine of choice.

 

Its silver painted plastic. SHOULD BE METAL!!!

For $15 I added an Express Card (EC), card reader. You can see it in the pics. Problem solved. I also already have the xbox hd-dvd usb drive to be used when needed.

What kind of "more pics" are you looking for? I am open to suggestions.

 

How bout a picture of the 900p screen? I am just wondering if the text, icons are too small.

 

ok, I took some with Macbook Air and 14z at full screen brightness ... not sure why it didn't get uploaded and added to this forum post. I'll add it later tonight. Oddly the Macbook Air 13.3" looks bigger because I think its height is more and the 14" 16:9 is wider (hence 1600x900)

 

I'm trying to decide between the dv3t and the 14z also. How is the build quality of the hp? I went to BB and saw the dv3510nr, and it seemed a little creaky. That's the thing I'm worried about. How is the build quality in your opinion?

 

Thanks for the pictures and ratings! This laptop looks awesome although I agree the size could have been thinner due to no optical drive. I like how you put a Macbook Air next to it for size comparisons. I never would have imagined the Macbook Air to be that thin! I am seriously considering this laptop and I'm just waiting for more reviews on battery life and speed. Nice job!

 

j33g,

I know you're probably overwhelmed with requests now that you have the 14z in your possession, but if you get time, I have kind of a different request

I'm curious as to how the memory performance is on this laptop vs. others because of the memory config (1gb soldered). When you get time would you mind running a quick memory bench vs. another laptop of similar caliber? If you don't have access to one, simple memory bench numbers would be great

 

many thanks for sharing with all of us. I can see everyone is appreciating the information!

When you hold it by clamping your pincers on the lid, does it clack together with the body of th laptop?
Strange question maybe buit you mention it opens a little when vertical...

Cheers

 

Nice. It's just a shame about the omitted optical drive, but I always have external ones when at home anyway (saves wear and tear on the internal one)

 

that's the one I have, its DV3510NR but its acutually a DV3T cause T denotes intel. The quality is excellent, no creaks, the rattle is from battery which they all do anyway. Keyboard is solid and body is very rigid. LED is very very good, sound quality is good as well. I confirmed with HP that DV3510NR comes with 2 years warranty not 1 like bestbuy says. Their employee have no idea about this either, but it is 2 years warranty I guarantee you that. Video card could handle call of duty 4 at 1024 x 768 fine, and at 13.3 inches LED its no problem at all.

Im still quite intersted in the 14Z cause I'm a laptop, gadget junkie, but you will not be disappointed with the DV3510NR. Like I said, it never gets hot, always cool at vent, NO hot wind blowing out and and fan is silent. Not even noticeable in a quiet room.

PS: if you have american express, use it on any computer purchase, it will give you 1 more year warranty on top of whatever brand you buy with no extra charge. All AE card gives you that.

 

good to know. I can't wait to hear how the 14z's fan and heat are. The dv3t comes out to be a little more expensive than I would like (even with the 30% coupon) because I max out the accidental warranty (going to college), and the 14z (if i wait for a 30% coupon) is right in my price range.

by the way, how is your battery life?

 

I'm disappointed that the palmrest is painted plastic on the 14z. Battery life would definitely be an interesting figure.

Lack of an optical drive isn't too big a deal but it defeats the purpose of portability as you'll have to drag around an external drive if needed. You get more flexibility options with an external, but nothing beats convenience. Carrying nothing more than the laptop and a mouse if desired is awesome.

The 14z really looks like a nice laptop, I just think there's better options at the price point.

Again, thanks for the comments on the dv3t Howard. And the bit on AE too.

 

I just find it odd that the Inspiron 14 gets an optical drive when the Studio 14z doesn't. But I guess if thats what the public wanted then that is what the public was given. Dell must have done some research before launching this thing right?

 

LOL research..... look at the xps m1330 its a good machine apart from that darn nvidia graphic chip decacle..............now if you can get the xps m1330 down to the weight it is why can't a studio be the same........... in my opionon dell should have kept the xps m1330 platform and just got rid of those faulty nvidia and replace with a better graphic card. They would definitly made more money than comming to market with this trash...i am regreting ordering this laptop it will definitly go right back to dell....... I am done....

 

Perhaps they give the research jobs to their interns?

 

Sweet pics, can't wait to see how much battery life it has. Too bad mine doesn't arrive until next month, can't wait!

 

They....hire.....interns???!!?

Back on topic, nice pics, though the ports look a little too low to the bottom of the case (base whatever). I'm sure it is strong, but it looks a little bit cheap and that's what bugs me....

 

I havent tested the battery life in one shot, but this is what I did

Charged 100% take to school. boot up and surfed net 10-15 mins with LED at lowest brightness and set to power saver, bluetooth off, then closed it for hibernate, then took to another class, took note for hour and 45 mins (2 hours total now) I still have about 55% battery left. So 2 hours on power saving and lowest LED brightness, use about half of the battery.

Mind you, I set my screen to auto go dark after 2 mins of inactivity, so during class discussion, the LED black out for a few times for a few mins each, I'm sure that helped with battery life too.

So for the HP DV3510NR battery should be able to stretch to about 4 hours with the way I use it. Just remember I had wireless ON and used power saver, lowest brightness, BT off and screen auto dark after 1 or 2 mins. This might not seem too good with a 13.3 inches laptop but remember this laptop still has a 512mb dedicated nvidia video card that draims power, so all in all not too bad.

Now lets see how good the battery life is for the OP's 14Z

 

Decisions, Decision;

I'm torn between Studio 14z, and the DV2z; both more or less fulfill my requirements, but neither one has a fully-fledged review up yet (HP has one for the previous model with single core). This thread by J33g definitely has been a big help. I'll be running Linux full time on this, so hopefully the drivers compatibility would work out.

The 14z has a bigger and higher res screen, and has a significantly faster CPU. The DV2z on the other hand, seems to have better construction, and is significantly smaller and lighter. Both have roughly the same graphics card (although the dedicated VRAM of the Radeon 3410 tips slightly in favor, especially when the 14z comes only with 3GB total). Both should have enough battery life for my usage (3.5 - 4 hours, given now that the dv2z comes with a higher capcity battery than before), but the 14z at least to claim a little extra; although nothing is really confirmed until J33g or some else runs a real world test.

Any thoughts?

 

DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT get DV2z, the single core version runs hot as hell, I played with two of them, one at Frys one at Staples, both of them runs super hot. Hot air continuously blow out from the vent and its audible by my ear even with all the ambient noise in the store. Google review, DV2 is known for the heat it puts out, fan continuous running. It has dedicated ATI 3410 video card, and AMD + ATI in laptop = HEAT. Imagine a duo core AMD + ATI card... big no no.. at least for me that is. ill take the Dell or the HP DV3T (intel) anyday over DV2

 

Thanks for the input, initially I was concerned about the heat as well. But after doing some research, it seems that the Athlon/Turion Neo X2 are actually a different design and should output less heat when idle, compared to the earlier version.

The earlier Huron chip on the first Yukon platform was basically a lower voltage version of the Lima core for desktops, which AMD rushed out to ship to the manufacturers for Q1 of this year. This design has been around for nearly 3 years, and does not have some of the more recent power saving techs. So that's basically a stopgap, not really meant for a long term solution for the Yukon/Congo platforms.

The Conesus dual core chip in the recently shipping DV2s are based off the newer "griffin" designs, basically a ULV version of the CPUs in the Puma platform. These have more recently added features for the mem-controller, SRQ, cross-bar, HTT-links, PLL, and voltage plane, etc. These should allow for much lower idle power, although the dual core version will have higher power under load than the original MV-40. The TDP quoted is always for the load power dissipation.

I'm a computer engineer by trade, so I have some contacts in most of these companies, and for the most part, the information has been reliable; although not 100 percent.

Anyway, it's still a hard decision, and the deal for the 14z I think ends by tomorrow morning. I'm wringing my brains out.

 

Dont buy dell or actually dun buy anything till after June 26, June 26 is the magic day for a free copy of Windows 7 if u buy on 6/26 and after, before that, windows 7 is on your own.

I owned dell for 10 years. various model. Early adopter of any dell model = lab mouse, including myself. Deal will come around. Wait till the 26th and use the HP coupon 30% off on techbarbain.com for DV3T or wait longer till dell deal come around again which they will.