Dell Studio XPS 16 (Review)

By Cisco Cheng

Dell wants you to know that its latest Studio XPS line brings with it a level of prestige—are fined segment for customers who seek luxury and style. The Dell Studio XPS 16 ($1,804 irect) accomplishes just that, succeeding the XPS M1530 as Dell's new bad-boy media center. Seeing how every laptop maker is putting in the same processors and advertising 4GB of memory, home-theater features, and big screens, Dell decided to raise the bar with the XPS 16. Design is its biggest differentiator, as it uses not just one but a number of the hottest techniques in manufacturing. Its display is none too shabby as well. Photographers and professionals can reap the benefits of the RGB LED widescreen and the 1080p resolution without paying outrageous prices for them. For this, the XPS 16 reigns as our new Editors' Choice for the media center category, trumping the HP HDX16t.

The lid is clearly one of the main attractions. It takes its cues from trendsetters like the aluminum Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Dual Graphics), the leather-clad ASUS U2E-A2B, and the HP HDX16t with its polished exterior, mixing a little bit from each of these laptops in a manner reminiscent of an exotic drink: one part black leather trimming, one part aluminum accent, and two parts lacquered top. The lacquered part is defined by a process called In- Mold Decoration, similar to the one perfected in the HDX16t, which allows different designs to be placed between the glossy coating and the magnesium alloy skeleton.Buzz up! on Yahoo!

At 6.9 pounds, the XPS 16 is not an ideal companion for road warriors, although it's more portable than the Gateway MC7803u (7.7 pounds) and the Acer Aspire 6930G-6723 (7.2 pounds). It's a smidge heavier than the HDX16t, and for good reason: The XPS 16 uses a big 85-Wh (nine-cell) battery, as opposed to the HP's 56-Wh (six-cell) option. The XPS 16 has its own six-cell option, which would bring its weight down to 6.5 pounds, thus making it as light as the Sony VAIO VGN-FW198UH (6.4 pounds). I'll get to why the nine-cell battery is the
best option a little later.

The 16:9 aspect ratio, common in HDTVs, is the new trend for laptop screens and will inevitably replace the current 16:10 form factor. As its name implies, the XPS16 has a 16-inch widescreen, mimicking those of the HDX16t, the 6930G, and the MC7803u. Adding to the weight (but enhancing the design) is the edge-to-edge glass screen, which means you don't see an abrupt edge between the screen and the frame, as you do with the Acer 6930G. The HDX16t and the MC7803u use a similar glass enclosure. The 1,920-by-1,080 resolution is as magnificent here as on the HDX16t, ideal for high-definition movies and professional photography. Dell is advertising a slight twist to the XPS 16's screen, though, calling it an RGB LED screen; the company claims that this type of screen delivers 100 percent of the color gamut used in the Adobe RGB space. I will say that images and movies look more vibrant here than on the HDX16t, but photographers might find the screen's glare a bit intrusive. You can check out alternative approaches to improved color reproduction in the Sony VAIO VGN-AW190, with its Adobe RGB screen, and the Lenovo ThinkPad W700, with its internal color calibrator.

The XPS16's keyboard is a departure from that of the XPS M1530. The keys adjoin each other at the surface, raised to the same level, whereas the M1530 has detectable grooves between each key. Either keyboard will accommodate a speedy touch typist or a two-finger hunter-
pecker, but I found both the HDX16t and the XPS M1530 offered a slightly better typing experience. On the other hand, a new keyboard layout enabled Dell to add LEDs. An illuminated keyboard is a lifesaver when you're taking notes in a dimly lit room, say during a PowerPoint presentation or on a red-eye flight. Even the mouse buttons, which were a joy to use, receive the LED treatment. If you're not fond of the lights, you can disable them through the combination of an arrow and the Fn key. Though not as fluid as the MacBook Pro's, the XPS16 has a gesture touchpad, albeit a limited one, that lets you pinch (as you would on an iPhone) to enlarge text and photos.

The XPS 16's feature set is arguably the best I've seen in a media center laptop. Whereas the HDX16t gives you a TV tuner and an HDMI port, the XPS 16 opts to go with both HDMI and DisplayPort technologies. That way, you can stream content to two digital displays at the same time. Blu-ray drives aren't new to laptops and can in fact be found in the Acer 6930G and the HDX16t. However, Dell has one designed as a slot-loading drive, which is more in line with the luxury theme. The Blu-ray drive (which is available as either read or read/write) also doubles as a DVD and CD burner. The standard ports are there as well, including three USB ports, a FireWire port, and VGA-out. One of the USB ports doubles as an eSATA port, for storage expansion. The XPS 16 and the HDX16t are the only media center laptops that offer a wide range of wireless options, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular modems (via multiple carriers).

Even though Dell elected not to put in the fastest processor, the XPS 16 performed admirably on many of my performance tests. Its 2.4-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 processor is obviously no match in raw power for the HDX16t's T9600 one, but Intel's P-Series processors have advantages even for performance enthusiasts: They are more energy efficient, and when
they're surrounded by good supporting parts (as the P8600 is in the XPS16) can perform almost as well as the T Series. The XPS 16 runs 4GB of DDR3 memory and has a very good ATI graphics card. As expected, its SYSmark 2007 Preview Overall score didn't surpass those of the HDX16t and the Sony FW198UH, but it did beat out the 6930G's score. The XPS16's video-
encoding score trailed that of the HDX16t by 12 percent, and both the CineBench R10 and the Photoshop scores fell behind as well. Gaming tests were solid, but the graphics card is made for casual gamers, not hard-core ones.

Battery life is typically a media center's Achilles heel. The advantage of making performance concessions (for example, using a P8600 processor) is that it alleviates the power draw. Of course, battery life also depends on the size of the battery. In the HDX16t's case, the combination of a fast processor and a small battery life yielded a MobileMark 2007 score of 1 hour 56 minutes. The XPS 16's score of 3:0 6 is more than 30 percent better, and that's with the 56-Wh battery. With the 85-Wh battery, the XPS16 delivered a score of 4:20. The HDX16t doesn't have a higher-capacity battery, which is a big knock against it. Since there isn't a huge weight difference between the two batteries on the XPS 16, you're better off going with the bigger one.

There is no shortage of media centers with 16-inch widescreens, fast parts, and robust features, so it's even more impressive that the Dell Studio XPS 16 was able to run away with the Editors' Choice. The XPS 16 uses more than one technique in industrial design, and its fit and finish are further enhanced by the illuminated keyboard and the slot-loading Blu-ray drive. It's one of the few media centers to use both DisplayPort and HDMI technologies, as well as having a rich wireless feature set. And remember, even though it makes certain performance concessions, faster parts are available through Dell's Web site. But if battery life is as important as performance, this configuration is undoubtedly a winner.

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