Dell Studio XPS 16 All-Purpose Laptop

The Dell Studio XPS line emphasizes style without sacrificing functionality. These multimedia laptops have a bit of leather trim here, a backlit keyboard there--and a whole lot of plugs, ports, and features packed in.

The Studio XPS 16 is in a prime position to outmuscle one competitor, the slick but slightly flawed Gateway MC7803u. The Dell's advantage speaks to the idea that you can get a little luxury in your laptop without having to shell out a fortune. The polished looks and edge-to-edge glass of the MC7803u make Gateway's US$999 all-purpose box seem a little more premium than its guts actually are. In contrast, Dell's classy Studio XPS 16 starts at $1199 (as of 1/8/09), $200 higher than Gateway's offering, and that shows in its build quality and construction (which I'll get to in a bit).

But it has more substantial possibilities, too: The blingy, premium version of the Studio XPS 16 that we received for testing offers significantly more than the Gateway machine does--at a significantly higher price (our review unit sells for roughly $1804 as of 1/8/09, according to spokespeople). In truth, it would probably be fairer to compare Dell's beefed-up box with the HP HDX 16, which tips the scales on price, but offers comparable features.

Inside our Studio XPS 16, a 2.4-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 CPU, a 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3670 graphics processor, and 4GB of RAM run the 64-bit flavor of Windows Vista. We're awaiting performance results from the PC World Test Center, and will update this review with numbers and a rating as soon as they're available. What I can tell you in the meantime is that I had no problem playing Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead at the screen's native resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels. That unusually strong performance for an all-purpose laptop may be due to the capable mobile graphics processor, or to the laptop's speedy, 7200-rpm, 320GB hard drive (whose fast rotational speed enables better read/write performance during game play).

Images looked sharp on the laptop's RGB LED screen. Provided that you don't have bright daylight bouncing off the colorful and glossy display, you're in for a treat. Inky blacks, such as in the creepy corners of Left 4 Dead's zombiethon, look deep and rich. And the sand-blasted landscapes of Fallout 3 pop off the screen.

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