Dell Studio 1537 Review
The Dell Studio 1537 is a sight for sore eyes, with our model coming with a red lid to round out its overall smooth appearance. It also comes with some decent firepower behind that standard Studio beauty, packing a latest generation Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26 GHz to go along with 4GB RAM, a 320GB HDD and a dedicated 256MB ATI Radeon HD 3450 GPU. When you consider that you can get all this for a cost that won’t exceed three digits, the Studio looks like a solid value.Design
Case look and feel
Like most Studios, the look and feel of the case is very nice. The red lid and silver Dell logo in its center looks stylish and the texture is smooth to the touch. Opening the lid you’ll see a silver frame around the wide, glossy screen, with a tiny webcam peering out at you from above and unfortunately some thin strips of rubber padding for when the lid closes (it’s useful and discreet, but other laptops manage to close fine without them). There is a Dell logo on the bottom of the display, but you’ll hardly notice it as its on a level with the hinge. The silver border extends around the black speakers and backlit keyboard, which is a nice effect, and the trackpad is simply a slight depression in the palmrest. The front of the laptop is tapered slightly so that the back is deeper than the front, avoiding the boxy look. When considering the overall look, the word smooth comes to mind again and again.
Size & Weight
If only it were lighter it might actually be as smooth as it looks, but at 6.11 lbs (more with the 9-cell battery) you won’t be casually lifting up the studio with one hand to show it off (not that we recommend that anyway). With dimensions of 14”x10.3”x1”/1.3” (front/back), the Studio isn’t exactly thin either. Our version came with the extended 9-cell battery, which props up the back at an angle that is not uncomfortable for typing but adds about another .75” to the depth in the back. The Studio isn’t so thick that it looks bad at all, so don’t worry about those style points. It’s just clearly not competing in the thin-and-light laptop category.
Keyboard and Trackpad
First and foremost, the backlit keyboard (optional) looks nice, it really does. It powers up gradually when typing and fades away after about 60 seconds without typing, and can be turned off or dimmed to save power. Overall the keyboard is full sized and comfortable to type on, with a limited but acceptable array of function keys and no dedicated number pad. There is a set of multimedia touch buttons above which light up the same white of the keyboard, as well as a few status lights in the top right corner beneath the speaker bay. The trackpad as well is comfortable to use, set slightly to the left and decently sized.
Display quality
The display quality is great, with the only shortfall being a rather average WXGA 1280x800 resolution. However, the display is LED backlit and extremely bright, making outdoor use a possible even in direct sunlight (the display is glossy, but we were able to see the words on a document clearly through our own reflection). Viewing angles are almost perfect, with a wide sweet spot and very little washout from the sides or below even at extreme angles (from above there is a good but lesser range).
Connectivity description
The Studio 1537 has a capable assortment of connectivity options, including HDMI, eSATA, and mini FireWire. The front and back are virtually barren, leaving just about everything to be handed by the left and right sides.
Starting with the most interesting, on the left side you’ll find a multicard reader, a remote control slot, 2 audio out jacks as well as audio in, Ethernet, 1USB and 1USB/eSATA, VGA, HDMI, a wireless on/off switch and a unique button for Dell’s “Wi-Fi Catcher” software. Not a bad haul.
On the right side the mini FireWire, 2 more USB ports and the slot loading DVD player are found, as well as the power jack and power button. The power button lights up when it’s on, but for some reason the Wi-Fi Catcher button which is symmetrically opposite it doesn’t light up, even when you’re using it, disturbing the symmetry.
The only thing on the front is the infrared sensor for the remote, and the only thing on the back is an exhaust fan. Frighteningly, due to the hinge design of the Studio, when the display is extended backwards about half this fan is covered up, the other half potentially blasting hot air onto the frame of your LCD. Barring some unusual circumstances this situation shouldn’t come up much though.
Upgrading possible?
Upgrading is always possible with Dell, which offers a wide assortment of Studio colors and designs. Beyond that, processors are available from the T4200 to the T9550, HDDs up to 500GB, WUXGA (1920x1200) resolution, and more. Unfortunately for potential gamers the 256MB GPU is as good as it gets, although that should be enough for the optional Blu-ray player to run smoothly. You can also get Vista Ultimate if you want, or at least some 64bit version of Vista, because it’s wasteful that our model came with Home Premium 32bit and 4GB RAM (32-bit operating systems can only utilize 3GB).
Features
The Studio 1537 comes with a few interesting features, some of which make the machine easier to look at and others which make it easier to use. The backlit keyboard and lighted touch-buttons garner obvious style points, and even the power cord itself has a glowing blue ring around it when it’s plugged into the wall. HDMI, eSATA, a biometric fingerprint reader and (optional) Blu-ray, Bluetooth and remote control help round out the feature set. The integrated webcam and accompanying software for easily making videos and other media is nice, and the dual headphone jack is a nice touch so that you and a friend can both listen to audio without disturbing those around you. There’s also a very Mac-like dock installed by default at the top of the screen for links and favorites, which we found to be a little too large and gaudy for our tastes (but fortunately can be easily closed).
Performance & Conclusion
Performance
The 1537, although unable to utilize 1GB of its 4GB RAM, is packed with a powerful processor, a dedicated GPU and ample RAM for most tasks. Although the specs fall short of the top notch, we expected the unit to perform well in testing. For more information on our testing procedures, see here: (http://www.laptoplogic.com/about/test/)
Windows Vista Experience Score
An overall score of 4.0 isn’t bad, and it’s clear the GPU is what’s keeping the score from being higher. We expected a little better from a dedicated GPU, but then again, it’s only 256MB.
PCMarkvantage
The Studio again performed a little under our expectations here, falling behind multimedia laptops such as the HDX and FW270j as well as the business ultraportable X301. It compared decently to the Y530, although that computer has inferior specs aside from the Nvidia 9300M, also 256MB.
WorldBench 6
In everyday task performance the 1537 looks a little better. Here it outperforms the Y530 and is equal or better to the aforementioned multimedia laptops.
Battery Performance, General Use
With the 9-cell battery, battery life was exceptional, clocking in at almost 6 hours before turning off. This was at 60% brightness and with WiFi and backlit keyboard enabled… if you really squeeze, you could probably approach 7 hours on this battery.
Battery Performance, DVD Use
Again, the battery life proved excellent here, easily surpassing three hours. That’s enough time to watch two average movies (as we did), or for the adventurous of you out there, one viewing of Lord of the Rings.
Real-life usage
In usage the laptop was fairly comfortable to use, although it has some flaws. The 9-cell battery pokes out narrowly from the bottom of the laptop, which does tilt the machine at a decent angle for typing, but unfortunately makes it very uncomfortable for actually placing on your lap. It also runs fairly warm, in particular in the front under the palmrest (it is less noticeable in the back because of the tilting). The laptop runs very quietly though even when playing Cds, and the sound quality is good.
Conclusion
Overall the Dell Studio 1537 is a stylish machine that is powerful enough to handle your media without breaking the bank. The modern Intel Core 2 Duo CPU along with 4GB RAM and a 320GB HDD go a long way when combined with a dedicated GPU, although not quite as far as we were hoping. Still, the colorful lid, extremely bright display and attractive overall design make the Studio a desirable laptop at a desirable price.
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