Dell Studio 15-inch notebook

Part of Best Buy’s exclusive Blue Label lineup of notebooks, the dell vostro 1510 battery and Dell Studio 15z pairs strong performance with the convenience of Intel’s Wireless Display technology for streaming video to your home theater. The notebook’s bright 15.6-inch screen, comfortable backlit keyboard, and high-quality speakers combine to make this a strong mainstream system for both families and students. However, this ins’t our favorite WiDi laptop.

Design

At 5.4 pounds and 15 x 9.9 x 1 inches, the Dell Studio 15z is hardly an ultraportable but is light enough for lugging around the house or the dorm. And, in comparison to the 6.2-pound Acer Aspire 5740, the Dell seems rather svelte.

If you’re familiar with Dell’s Studio and dell vostro 1310 battery line (like the Studio 14z), you’ll find few surprises in the Studio 15z’s aesthetic. Its soft-plastic lid, available only in Cappuccino brown, has a rubberized texture that resists fingerprints. The bezel, sides, and bottom are made from glossy black plastic, while the deck is adorned in glossy, light gold plastic that features a subtle square parquet pattern. You’ll either love it or hate it.

The keyboard features matte black keys, ringed in glossy black bezel. Like those of other notebooks Sony VGP-BPS13/B Battery in Best Buy’s exclusive Blue Label program, the keys are backlit. Unlike an Apple laptop, the backlighting cannot adjust according to ambient light, and only has three settings: high, low, and off.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The black keys on the Studio 15z have a very pleasant matte surface; combine that with great key spacing and solid feedback and you have a really good typing experience. We were able to achieve a very strong 86 words per minute score on the Ten Thumbs Typing tutor test, when we typically score 80 words per minute on an average notebook.

We also enjoyed navigating around the desktop with the generously-sized 3.3 x 2-inch touchpad. Its matte surface offered just the right amount of friction, and it smoothly supported multitouch gestures such as pinch to zoom. The discrete touchpad buttons and Sony VGP-BPS13/Q Battery were responsive but felt a little mushy.

Heat

The surface of the Dell Studio 15z and dell 1310 batterycan get warm. After streaming a Hulu video at full screen for 15 minutes, the touchpad remained cool at 89 degrees Fahrenheit, but the keyboard reached 99 degrees. Meanwhile, the underside measured a sweltering 119 degrees. We consider temperatures over 100 degrees to be uncomfortable and those over 105 degrees to be unacceptable. However, if you keep this large notebook on a flat surface and not on your lap, it will stay fairly comfortable to the touch.