Dell :: Studio 15 Special Edition

I just wanted to see if anyone has gotten the chance to check out the new SE Studio 15 from Dell.

Link is here!
[url]

My mom wanted to get me a Dell Mini for my b-day and I was like mom, let me configure one and you can tell me I can or can't have it. I just about tapped it out and came in a little over $1,700 with all the goodies, a travel ac/dc charger, and blue tooth wireless remote.

The laptop itself is not found on the site when you go to setup a Studio 15/17 but it is in the gray drop down menu towards the top it says special edition.

I really like the Studio 15/17 line but it has always looked plain to me even with the top and side accent colors... I was looking for something different but my mom did not approve the $2,400 configuration of the Studio XPS 16.

Spec's are as follows... (From the Dell Order Status Page)

Studio 1537, Intel Core 2 Duo P8600, 2.4GHz, 1066Mhz, 3M L2 Cache
Back-lit Keyboard
15.4 inch ETE Panel with WXGA+TL (WLED), W/ CAMERA
256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450
320GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with Free Fall Sensor, Seagate Casey
Microsoft Windows Vista SP1 Home Premium Edition, English
Integrated High Definition Audio 2.0
Intel WiFi Link 5100 802.11AGNHalf Mini Card
Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam
85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOnsite Service, 3 Year Limited Warranty
Blue tooth
Fingerprint reader

All of the software to go along that comes standard, no MS Office package. I have a 07 version that will be used when I get this, and I opted to get the microtrend internet security over the norton/macafee counterparts.

The thing that sucks is it will not be here until 04-14-09, so I will have to wait. But with every laptop I customized on Dell's site it was maybe 6-8 days sooner but it was not "everything" that I wanted. And it was the "blah" colors and the configuration was not as good as I wanted. I wanted a XPS 15 but the hard drive choices where meager, a 500gb 5400rpm drive, a 128gb SSD, and a 256gb SSD, "COMMON DELL WHATS UP WITH THAT?". I had to have a eSata port and this one has it, the top usb port on the left side is a usb port but it doubles as a eSata port, sweet! I have a 1tb WD triple interface usb/firewire400/eSata drive and I wanted the speed of internal sata drive with an external use.

The only thing I may have problems with later down the line or in the days/years to come is getting newer games to play on it. Before my old desktop's videocard crashed I was playing TF2:Source, DOD:Source, CS:Source, and a sweet racing game called ToCa Race Driver 3... best racing SIM I have played, I love it. From what I have read this laptop should blaze through all of these games without a hitch but if I wanted to installed like COD4, Fear2 or something newer alone those lines I would have to run far lower settings than standard/default.

I spent three days during my spare time trying to get the right configuration and stay below $1,800. I kept going back to the SE Studio 15 and I think I will enjoy it. It's got about everything I need other than maybe a better video card I could want or ask for, and from what I hear the nine cell battery not only helps it run cooler because it is raised up higher in the back for air flow, but it gives you at least a 1/3rd longer battery life over the standard six cell.