The Dell Studio XPS 16 is certainly an attractive laptop with amazing display and good performance which comes within your budget. It can serve as a good entertainment laptop without breaking your bank. We have made a review of this stylish laptop. Let’s take a look on the following features.
- Processor,RAM
- Graphics
- Display
- Design
- Ports
- Keyboard
- Touchpad
- Webcam
- Sound
- Battery Life
- Weight
- Wireless Connectivity
- Price
- Verdict
Processor, RAM
The system comes with a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 processor and a 4GB of RAM which can be expanded upto 8GB. With this much high configuration, the computing experience had to be very good. While I was playing a DVD and running a virus scan, there was no problem navigating between multiple windows in Internet Explorer each with several tabs open.
Graphics
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3670 discrete graphics chipset with 512MB of memory provides top of the notch graphics that a gamer can be proud of. Though it is not a dedicated gaming system, playing high graphics games won’t be much of a problem.
Display
There are two options for the display one with White LED 720p with resolution of 1366X768 and another with RGB LED with 1080p with resolution of 1920 X 1080 pixels in 16 inch screen size. The RGB LED has a high 300 nits brightness and the picture quality delivered by the display is the best of all laptops currently available in the market. It delivers 100% of the color gamut and excellent contrast which gives brilliant colorful images. Playing Blu-Ray on this device is a treat to watch. Wide horizontal viewing angle ensures that you can watch a HD movie with a couple of your friends without any trouble.
However the edge to edge glass screen gives out heavy and distracting reflections and under sunlight it can be very hard to see anything on the screen because of the screen glare.
Design
Overall design of the Studio XPS 15 is very classy and eye catchy. The system is built on large 15.2X10.0X1.0 inch magnesium alloy chassis. An anodized aluminum strip stretches the width of the top and connects to a pair of thick and study hinges that bear the XPS logo. A panel of black, genuine leather at the base of the lid adds to the aesthetics of the machine. The bottom portion is not unnoticed either. It is covered with miniature X’s pulled from the XPS logo. However the glossy portion of the system’s top picks up fingerprints and smudges very easily. The screws that bind the hinges to the display make it a bit uglier.
Ports
On the left side you’ll find two USB 2.0 ports, and HDMI and DisplayPort connections which is used to stream out visuals to a larger screen, two headphone jacks, a microphone jack, Ethernet, and a Kensington lock slot. The right side has an ExpressCard/54 slot, an 8-in-1 memory card reader, FireWire 400 which can be used for speedy file transfer from external drives, a slot-loading Blu-ray drive for watching high-definition discs, and an eSATA port. The eSATA port doubles as a PowerShare USB port, which lets users recharge USB devices even when the PC is powered down. The front of the machine features illuminated status indicator lights and an IR port, while the back is clean; it contains just the battery and heat-exhaust opening.
Keyboard
The keyboard is backlit with flat sturdy keys. The response of the keys was not very good but typing at a descent speed was not much of a trouble. There a glossy strip above the keyboard that houses the XPS 16’s responsive multimedia touch controls. You can play/pause music, skip tracks, raise/lower/mute volume, eject discs, and toggle Wi-Fi radio on/off using these controls. There is a cool white backlight like the keyboard.
TouchPad
The touchpad is accurate and smooth. The mouse buttons are illuminated with strips and click feeling was very good and responsive.
WebCam
The 2MP WebCam provided clear images though there was some stuttering. The system features a FastAccess facial-recognition technology, which can be used in conjunction with the webcam.
Sound
The speakers were good compared to other laptops available in the market. The 7watt sound system with two large stereo speakers and a built-in subwoofer can a decent sized room with its 7.1 surround sound. However the sound was a bit distorted at full volume.
Battery Life
The powerful graphics and RGB LED screen sucks out the battery fast. The six cell battery pack lasted only around three hours in normal operating conditions. If you stress the system, the battery will run only two hours which is really low for a laptop of this category.
Weight
The laptop feels a bit heavier and is not meant for the frequent travelers. With six cell battery it weighs around 6.4 ounds and with the nine cell battery it would weigh around 6.9 pounds.
Wireless Connectivity
The 802.11a/g/n WiFi connection gives out smooth and fast web browsing experience. Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR is included and you can choose to configure it with 3G. The system is also GPS and WiMAX ready.
Price
Th base model costs around $1100 and with every features like 320GB 7200 RPM HDD, Blu-Ray Drive, 1080p LCD, it will cost around $1600.
Verdict
Dell’s Studio XPS 16 is a solidly built multimedia machine with an incredible 1080p display and very impressive features and you can also get them at an affordable price. Business users won’t find it useful as it has too low battery backup and the laptop is one of the heavy ones to carry around. But at the end it is a good entertainment laptop and movie buffs and gamers would want to die for it.
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