Dell Studio 14z: Thin and Light Done Right
by Jarred Walton on October 20, 2009 3:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Battery Life without Killing Graphics
We run many scenarios for our battery life tests. Since most the 14z doesn't include an internal optical drive, we will focus on DivX HD, x264 HD, Internet, and idle battery life. The GeForce 9400M definitely helps in video playback with complex H.264 codecs. We measured CPU utilization for both 720p and 1080p x264 videos and Windows Media Player Home Cinema; the maximum CPU usage for 1080p was only 12%, and average CPU use was just over 5% for both 720p and 1080p. Interestingly enough, 720p DivX decoding actually required slightly more CPU time (8.5%).
Compared to other laptops, the Studio 14z delivers reasonable battery life. However, we are using the larger 8-cell battery (71.6Wh/74Wh), and even in our idle test we didn't come anywhere near the 6.5 hours of battery life Dell lists on their website using the default power settings. In order to get to 6.5 hours, you need to enable the "Dell Extended Battery Life" option, which switches to the "Power Saver" profile, disables the Glass UI, and makes a few other tweaks.
It looks like the Studio 14z should offer comparable battery life to the standard MacBook, at least with the 8-cell battery, but that means the MacBook is making better use of its 60Wh battery. The MacBook Pro remains out of reach of similarly equipped Windows laptops (for now). The Studio 14z does extremely well in the Internet and x264 decoding tests, where it beats the Gateway NV58 by over 20% and 40% respectively. The Gateway NV58 has a smaller battery, however, and in relative battery life the NV58 still outperforms the 14z in Internet tests.
Incidentally, battery life while gaming remains acceptable: we were able to run 3DMark06 in a loop for just over three hours (188 minutes), with essentially the same performance as we achieved on AC power. Even with the smaller 56Wh battery, users should still be able to get over two hours of gaming, just shy of three hours of Internet surfing (depending on web site complexity), or about 2.5 hours of HD video playback. That's not as good as the standard MacBook (3.1 hours of video playback and web surfing on a 45Wh battery), but it's no longer a complete blowout.
Power Requirements
As a corollary to the battery life tests, we also performed measurements of power requirements using the AC adapters and a Kill-A-Watt device. These numbers are only accurate to the nearest Watt, so a difference of 1W (i.e. from rounding) could obscure up to a 12% actual difference in power requirements. Also note that power requirements change when you switch to DC power, and power supply (power brick) efficiency comes into play when using the AC adapter, so the battery life tests are a better indication of true power requirements.
The Studio 14z has impressive idle power requirements, coming in just below the NV58. When we put a load on the CPU, however, the lower clock speed on the T6500 in the NV58 puts it back in the lead. Worth noting is that the T6500 has a TDP of 35W compared to 25W for the P8600, but all indications are that it actually doesn't use as much power. TDP isn't a true measurement of power requirements!? Say it isn't so…. Perhaps more interesting is that in our simulated gaming test (3DMark at native LCD resolution), the Studio 14z ends up using less power than any of the other laptops. It's still a far cry away from the netbooks, but it's nice that users can get what appears to be the best current IGP solution without compromising on power requirements.
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beastyben1 - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
the speakers are the best I've had in a laptop. very loud and clear.BPB - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
Got this a few months ago for my daughter and we have been VERY happy with it. I believe we went with an 8400 CPU, and I do think as mentioned they were offering higher than the 8600 option mentioned in the article. My daughter got her's in pink, by the way. I guess they got rid of that color option. We went with the higher res screen and backlit keyboard. Again, very, very happy with it.beastyben1 - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
I've owned this laptop since August.Everything is perfect, except the worst touchpad drivers I have ever used. Sticks, freezes just terrible. Must use a mouse. Otherwise I love it. T6500, 8-cell, 1600X900 LED.
FATCamaro - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
How do you people accept this kind of junk. I'm glad I switched to Mac once I started buying laptops.The0ne - Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - link
Your single interpretation of defect means absolutely nothing in regards to the quality of the laptop. Having said that why in the world you any one of you start a "mine is better than yours" or "Mac is better than Windows PC" debate? It's pointless and childish.You're going to have to face that fact that there is NO SINGLE product made without defects. There is no Quality system that will give your 100%, and no TPS doesn't either.
But you all know this and yet lower yourself to this type of discussion. I wouldn't mind so much if this was in other tech sites but I don't like it on Anandtech where there are typically very knowledgeable and respectful users.
And lastly I'm 100% sure none of you voicing your opinion is not even in the industry or manufacturing/logistic to know what you're saying other than Google-ing. Trust me when I say this, there are no perfect product. What you call junk isn't junk and what you hail as the mightiest is not either. All you can do is try to Google, or what I call it research, as much as you can and hope that what you paid for isn't in one of the bad ones made.
Eagle17 - Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - link
I have a macbook pro with the santa rosa chips. I have frequent problems with it. I am on my third battery (at $130 ea) the backlit keyboard does not always light up anymore, only 2 usb slots, a funky not always works hold two fingers and press the button for right clicks. The OS is so/so I would be just as happy with linux since there are not many native macos applications that I find usefull.the unit is all aluminum which at first glance makes it seem very sturdy however in the three years i have owned it the lid has started to stick and requires more force to open. And like most modern laptops it does get blistering hot.. the metal case just makes that worse.
The led backlit screen is very good though. that is the one thing i really like about this device. maybe the only thing.
JimmyJimmington - Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - link
"And like most modern laptops it does get blistering hot.. the metal case just makes that worse."I don't know what you mean by "most modern laptops." If a laptop is too hard to put on your lap then it's poorly designed.
Eagle17 - Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - link
sorry I mean the last few C2D laptops I have had (2 hp 8xxx series, the macbook pro, and a lenovo t500) they all get pretty hot althought the macbook is the worst.both of my atom based netbooks are just fine though. (acer 9in and asus 1005ha)
Pirks - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
Junk? My Alineware notebook pwns any MacBook Pro and dances on its unicorpse, including the top of the line MBP 17, because it has faster hardware. The Alienware's trackpad is shitty, you're right on that, PC trackpads are mostly shit these days compared to Macs but my Alienware still plays all my games REAL fast while MBP craaawls slooowly given same resolution and detail settings... so to each his own. When MBP starts playing games as fast as my Alienware then I may think about it, but it'll never happen, alas. At least not with Jobs at helm.beastyben1 - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - link
like Macs are not subject to faults? I'd much rather have this. my .02.