By Quite frankly, we were surprised to find a Dell Studio laptop on the shelves at Staples. We would have guessed that as Dell’s upscale, entertainment-focused laptop line, the Studio would have ceded shelf space to Dell’s mainstream Inspiron line. Both laptop lines are present at the office-supply store, however, and representing the Studio line is the Studio 1555 (4285MBU) ($749.98), a 15.6-inch desktop replacement. Its size and specs make it a good fit for the office or the home. The dual-core Intel processor and 4GB of memory make for a smooth Windows 7 experience, the 9-cell battery delivers more than 6.5 hours of running time, and at just shy of 6 pounds, it’s still light enough for daily travel. This Studio 1555 is nearly identical to the Editors’ Choice award-winning Dell Studio 1555 (USE006CS) reviewed earlier this year; it bumps up the processor a notch while knocking $50 off the price. Given that this model follows the same recipe and does so for less, we think the Studio 1555 (S1555-4285MBU) deserves to keep the Editors’ Choice that the preceding Studio 1555 earned.
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Design
The Dell Studio 1555’s chassis features a boxier shape than that of Dell’s Inspiron line. This reviewer is of the opinion that the Inspiron design, with its rounded corners and slopped edges, is the more attractive of the two and likely more appealing to home users. In addition to its boxy design, the Studio 1555 is rather bulky, thanks in large part to its huge, 9-cell battery. The laptop measures 14.3 inches wide by 9.5 inches deep. It’s 1.1 inches thick, but when you factor in the battery, which protrudes from the bottom of the system, it measures 2.0 inches thick.
Two small rubber feet stick out from the bottom of the battery to keep the laptop from sliding on a desk or table, but they also dig into your thighs when the laptop rests on your laptop; it gets to be a bit uncomfortable after a few minutes. Despite the big battery, the Studio 1555 limbos in under the 6-pound mark, weighing in at 5.9 pounds. With a standard 6-cell battery, the 15.5-inch Sony VAIO VGN-NW270F is only marginally lighter at 5.6 pounds.
Specifications
Type
General Purpose
Processor Name
Intel Core 2 Duo T6600
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Processor Speed
2.2 GHz
RAM
4 GB
Weight
5.9 lb
Screen Size
15.6 inches
Screen Size Type
widescreen
Graphics Card
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
Storage Capacity (as Tested)
500 GB
Networking Options
802.11n
Primary Optical Drive
DVD+/-RW (Plus Minus)
More
The keyboard is exceedingly comfortable. The extra-wide 15.6-inch display (it features a 16:9 aspect ratio as opposed to the standard 16:10 widescreen aspect ratio), leaves plenty of room for the keyboard. Dell didn’t try to cram in a dedicated number pad; instead, it smartly outfits the Studio 1555 with a spacious keyboard. No keys are shortened. Likewise, the mouse buttons are soft and quiet. The touchpad is the same silver color as the glossy wrist rest, but it’s demarcated by a slight depression and a matte finish.
Rounded hinges connect the lid to the keyboard deck, and the power button is located in the center of the right hinge. The lid is a midnight blue color and features a soft, satin finish. The keyboard deck is a silver plastic, and the screen bezel is a glossy black. It all adds up to a simple yet attractive appearance that fit in at work or home.
One last word on the design, and it’s not a good one. After 15 or 20 minutes of continuous use, I felt a hot spot develop on the wrist rest, to the immediate right of the touchpad. It never got to the point where I feared system failure, but it was less than comfortable during long computing stretches.
Features
The 15.6-inch screen features LED backlighting, resulting in a thin display that boasts a bright image. The native resolution is a fairly pedestrian 1,366 by 768. Whether watching a DVD or streaming a 720p video, we saw an image that displayed vivid colors and smooth movement.
The Dell Studio 1555 features a useful collection of ports. You’ll find HDMI and FireWire ports, in addition to three USB 2.0 ports, a VGA port, an Ethernet jack, and a media card reader. One of the USB ports doubles as an eSATA port. There’s also an ExpressCard/34 slot and not one but two headphone jacks. You don’t get a Blu-ray drive like you do in the $799 Sony NW270F, but the DVD burner is of the slot-loading variety. The laptop’s 500GB was a mild surprise; other laptops in this price range, such as the Sony NW270F, feature a 320GB drive.
Dell Studio 1555 (4285MBU)
Performance
The Dell Studio 1555 (4285MBU) is nearly identical to the Studio 1555 (USE006CS). Both systems feature the same core specs: 4GB of memory, a 500GB hard drive, and integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics. The only difference is moving from the 2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6500 processor in the earlier Studio model to the 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo T6600. The slight up-tick in clockspeed allowed the S1555 (4285MBU) to post better benchmark scores on the PCMark Vantage and Windows Media Encoder tests, but the scores on the Cinebench R10 and Photoshop tests edged backward.
Compared with the AMD-based Toshiba Satellite L505D-S6947’s performance on our tests, the Studio 1555’s scores speak well of Intel’s Core 2 Duo processor. For example, the Studio 1555 finished the Windows Media Encoder test in 1 minute 10 seconds, which nearly half the time of the Toshiba’s score of 2:02. Likewise, on Cinebench, the Dell’s score of 4682 topped the Toshiba’s score of 3382 by a whopping 38%. Overall, the Studio 1555 (4285MBU) offers competitive performance for the price and more than enough oomph for you to operate smoothly and without lag in Windows 7 Home Premium.
The integrated Intel graphics put a damper on 3D gaming and intensive graphics endeavors like video editing. Should those pursuits and the Studio 1555 both appeal to you, you’ll have to upgrade the graphics solution.
The Studio 1555’s 9-cell battery adds a little travel weight to your laptop bag, but you’ll likely conclude it’s worth the extra heft when you see it ran for 6 hours 37 minutes on MobileMark 2007. That’s 37 minutes longer than the previous Studio 1555’s score and somewhere between 2 and 4 hours longer than the battery life of comparative laptops.
The Dell Studio 1555 (4285MBU), available at Staples, represents a good value; you’ll pay more for similar specs when purchasing direct from Dell. With its long-lasting battery, useful feature set, and functional design, the Studio 1555 is a smart choice for budget shoppers searching for something between a desktop replacement and a mainstream laptop.
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