Dell Studio 15 or Asus or other <£500 laptop

[cotswoldcs]

I'm looking at spending less than £500 for a new 15.4" laptop for general use. I've currently found these:

ASUS X50SL-AP124C
15.4IN T5550 3072MB 320GB DVD, VistaHP
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/144182
£470

or

Dell Studio 15
Dell UK
15.4IN T5550 3072MB 250GB DVD, VistaHP
£500

The price is fairly similar especiall if I add Office 2007 Home & Student which is cheaper if bought from Dell.

The Dell has had reasonable review from PC Pro/ Computer Shopper (can't remember which) but I've also been impressed with Asus recently.

Any comments on which would be better or perhaps suggest an alternative.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Asus has a larger hard disk and a slightly better graphics card than the Dell.

[Lanky123]

I got the Studio recently and I've been impressed by it. I got it with the 1440x900 WLED screen which is very nice but that would take it way out of your budget.

The free 9-cell battery upgrade is worth considering if you wan't good battery life (I get 4.5 - 5 hours with wifi on browsing etc). It does weigh a little more and sticks out of the bottom of the laptop however. This keeps it tilted up at quite a nice angle for typing i find, though it can get a little uncomfortable if on your lap. It helps a bit with the cooling since it keeps the fan vent at the back off the surface you have the laptop on. I guess it depends on whether you will actually use the extra battery time.

For what its worth since the Asus has similar (higher clock, same GPU I believe) graphics anyway, I was actually quite impressed by the Mobility HD 3450. HL2 and Portal all played excellently at 1440x900 with quite a few settings turned up (no AA though). I got 40 odd FPS on the Lost Coast benchmark. Even crysis was playable at low res and everything on low.

The only thing I didn't necessarily like is the optical drive. Slot loading is a nice touch but it's a tad noisy and I don't get the feeling it'll read scratched disks all that well. Then again this may be par for the course for laptop drives, this is my first.

I was impressed by the delivery time from Dell - I got mine in less than a week with the 9-cell battery (Dell stated a shortage of the 6-cell ones was the cause of delays).

Hope this helps.

[sleepyhead]

<snip>
I was impressed by the delivery time from Dell - I got mine in less than a week with the 9-cell battery (Dell stated a shortage of the 6-cell ones was the cause of delays).
<snip>

...it has been 8 calender days since I ordered my Studio 15 and it's STILL in pre-production stage. Quite fustrating.

Back to the OP, either Laptop look good and I doubt you can go wrong with either. You could settle with an even cheaper laptop if you could define general use. IE if you just want it for web browsing and no gaming for example.

[DDY]

It's been 12 days (8 working) since I ordered a Dell Studio 15 and that's still in pre-production too. Today was the first estimated delivery date, it's now been extended to the 22nd.

[Lanky123]

...it has been 8 calender days since I ordered my Studio 15 and it's STILL in pre-production stage. Quite fustrating.

It's been 12 days (8 working) since I ordered a Dell Studio 15 and that's still in pre-production too. Today was the first estimated delivery date, it's now been extended to the 22nd.

Hmm...guess maybe I was lucky then - is this with the 9-cell battey? I ordered mine on the 29th July and it arrived on the 4th August.

Edit for Sleepyhead: I don't want to hijack this thread any more so I'll just edit this post. It looks unlikely that you can change your order but there is a customer service email on that page - no harm in asking.

The price is fairly similar especiall if I add Office 2007 Home & Student which is cheaper if bought from Dell.

Don't forget that you get 3 licences with the retail pack of Office Home & Student. This way you could install it on a desktop and another pc as well if you wanted. I don't know what you get from Dell but it might jut be a single OEM copy. Only £10 more expensive than Dell at amazon.

[sleepyhead]

Sorry for hijack.

It was with the 6-cell battery.

If there is a delay with it, you think I could get it changed to the 9-cell batt?

[this_is_gav]

The other advantage of the 9-cell battery sticking out of the bottom is that it lifts the base of the laptop off you lap, which as Lanky said probably helps with cooling, but also makes it more comfortable to use on your lap, as the XPS can get quite hot, to the point of being uncomfortable for long periods, and I'd imagine the Studio would be the same (and any similar laptop, the ASUS included presumably).

I find my slot-loading DVD drive is only noisy when loading or unloading. It's fine when in use.

I love my XPS, but wish I'd waited for the Studio.

[Boon72]

i got my Dell studio 15 from PCworld altough it was £699 with the bluray drive it comes with a HDMI if you want to connect up a tv.


Processor Type Intel Core 2 Duo T5750
Processor speed 2ghz
Memory Size 4 GB MB
Hard Drive Capacity 320 GB
Optical Drives BLU RAY DISC COMBO DRIVE
Screen Size/Type 15.4" TrueLife Widescreen
Graphics Card Type ATI Radeon 3450 256 MB

[barbaratu]

yes,the price is fairly,and my has cost me £750.