Digital Home Thoughts: Dell Studio 14z Unboxing & First Impressions Video

This is an unboxing and first impressions video of the Dell Inspiron Studio 14z (I mistakenly thought it was called the Inspiron 14z, but it's not an Inspiron, it's a Studio notebook). This notebook, shown here in ruby red, is a little different that most notebooks in that it lacks a CD/DVD drive - but it's no netbook! It has a 14 inch, 16:9 aspect ratio screen running at 1600 x 900 resolution, which is Dell's 900p resolution option (an upgrade). The standard resolution is 720p, which is 1280 x 720.

Powering it all is an Intel Core 2 Duo: the P8600, running at 2.4 Ghz, with 3 MB of L2 cache. 3 GB of DDR3 RAM at 1066mhz provides the memory, and storage is handled by a 320 GB, 7200 RPM hard drive. The graphics processor is an NVIDIA GeForce 9400G-M, and the on-board 802.11 b/g/n WiFI is an Intel 1515 card. It also has Bluetooth 2.1, and an optional ExpressCard 8-in-1 memory card adaptor that arrived damaged as you'll see in the video. The keyboard is back-lit, which is an add-on option, and it's running Windows Vista 64-bit. Powering it all is a 6-cell, 54 WHr battery.

I paid $1306 CAD for this configuration from Dell Canada as of May 2009, but Dell's prices change daily to always check their Web site for the most accurate pricing information. 

Since shooting this video I've been using the 14z a fair bit, and my impressions of it are quite positive. The screen is superb - bright, evenly lit, and very crisp with the 1600 x 900 resolution. I'm less impressed with the fact that it only has an ExpressCard 34 slot, and not an ExpressCard 54 slot, because my Delkin CompactFlash adaptor needs a 54 slot. That means that I'll need to carry a USB-based CompactFlash card reader if I take this notebook travelling and want to off-load my DSLR photos. Not terribly convenient. But, all in all, the 14z is impressing me. Stay tuned for my video review.

Jason Dunn owns and operates Thoughts Media Inc., a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys photography, mobile devices, blogging, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, and his sometimes obedient dog. He's still searching for the ultimate netbook.

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