We've had this model for almost one year now, only I bought mine from the Dell outlet---Scratch & Dent. a new lid cover $22 plus a new[backlit] keyboard $35 for $57 total initial investment towards making this new!Specs (Studio 1440 aka Studio 14z):
Windows 7 Home Premium 64BIT (Upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate 64BIT) Windows Anytime Upgrade $87.00 here on amazon
Purple
2.2Ghz CPU T2200 65watt (upgraded to E7500 2.93Ghz [much Cooler due to 45watt power and much faster, when need be. Also added
5 extra hours to battery life, up to 8.5Hrs[From 3.5Hrs] when kept on minimum QuickSet setting, as CPU shuts parts down to save energy!
5GB DDR3-1066Mhz MEM
256MB Nvidia 9400m Video chip (not discrete, uses 256MB of system Memory)
500GB HDD WD Scorpio blue 5,400RPM (Upgraded to 1TB WD Scorpio Black 7,200RPM HDD)
HDMI port
Display Port
eSATA/USB 3.0
3 x USB 2.0
Backlit keyboard
2MP Creative Webcam
Dual-Array MIC
Wireless Card 1397g(upgraded to Wireless N)
2MP webcam
JBL Speakers
Bluetooth micro USB dongle added
Pros:
Light (under 3 Lbs)
Fast (even with original CPU)
Good battery power (on 9 cell battery)
Stable Windows 7 Operating system (Bitlocker protects data) Only with "Ultimate"
Stylish good looks
Cons:
No CD/DVD drive [However this might be a con for others, I bought a Dell 8x24x16x USB DVD Burner to use when needed] Which isn't often in a digital world!
Sound is really good but could have been designed better.
1GB DDR 1066Mhz MEM is soldered to the mainboard.(ours came with 3GB, we bought a 4GB Stick for 5GB total dual-channel)
(Review)
We are really happy with this Model. Yes we put a few upgrades, on to make it more powerful, as my fiancé'[The IT Wiz]who wrote all the technical stuff for this review for me is a POWER user, who likes to play games, on the go. He uses this for work, and play, as do I. We watch Amazon Prime video in 1080P connecting to both TVs using the HDMI, for the 73" and the Display Port for the 55" in the bedroom. Many people don't know this but this laptop has the same "exact" specs as the first Apple 13" notebook, and with a retail OSX disc from apple, and the help of mydellmini.com You can install MAC OSX Tiger or (LION 10.6.4 which we have in Tri boot with Ubuntu 9.04(dell OEM) and Windows 7 Ultimate x64. I guess Apple just prefers you pay top $$ for their hardware, we didn't.
This is a sturdy laptop(I call it a laptop since it can be used on my lap without burning me, getting hot or
feeling heavy) that has fallen twice from 4 and 6 feet, while on and still works fine. The backlit keyboard is a must for nighttime sessions, and adjusts from low to high(key brightness) it only makes (slight) noise if you are encoding HD video for longer then 1/2 hour, which is when the fan will kick on. it has a hum, that is not considered bothersome, but I remember it being louder when the stock CPU was in it(The TXXX series 65Watt CPUs are more hot & power hungry,[let alone the Quad series] way more then the E series. Make sure you flash the BIOS, to the latest version, if you plan on upgrading the CPU. You can get it from
just enter Studio for Make and 1440 for Model
(Not 14z as there is a XPS 1454 named the same, that BIOS will fry your board I guarantee it)
So to sum up, this is a great little lappy, which is highly mobile, yet powerful enough for heavy usage. I'm condering buying one of these used for sale, just because I know how reliable they are, and with a few upgrades will make us another killer little laptop. I have a friend who runs a Q9550 in his, and it gets about 1.5 Hours on battery, plus needs a dedicated notebook cooling pad, however he crunches Divx HD encodes almost 32% faster then mine with 2 cores at 2.93Ghz, but then I don't need a notebook cooler on mine ;) I also like 8 hours of mobile computing!
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