The Studio 14z is indeed the thinnest and lightest 14-inch notebook Dell has ever produced and promises more than 6 hours of battery life, but you might have to make a few sacrifices.
The 14z weighs in at 1.95 kg with the six cell battery option which isn’t bad for a laptop sporting a 14 inch display.

Dell Studio 14z Specs

* Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 (2.4GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 3MB L2 cache)
* OS: Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64 bit)
* Memory: 3GB Shared DDR3 at 1066MHz
* Storage: 320GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
* Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 9400M G

* Screen: 14.0” High Definition (1600 x 900) LED Display with TrueLife
* Software: 15-month McAfee SecurityCenter subscription, Microsoft Works
* Other: Ruby Red lid, LED Backlit keyboard
* Wireless: Dell 1515 Wireless N
* Battery: 8-cell 74Whr Li Ion Battery
* Dimensions: 0.79"-1.2" x 13.2" x 9.0" (H x W x D)
* Weight: 4 lbs, 9 oz
* Price as Reviewed: $749
* Retail Price as configured: $979

Design

Like other laptops in this price range, the 14z has the plastic build of a budget notebook but subtle design flourishes that lend it a higher-end feel.
The notebook chassis is constructed from a combination of plastics and magnesium alloy for a balance of light weight and durability.



Colors cost $40 extra (our unit was Ruby Red; other colors include Midnight Blue, Spring Green, Plum Purple, and Promise Pink). Inside, the chassis mixes a matte silver palm rest with a glossy black strip above the keyboard, which is also black.

The most distinctive element of the 14z's design, however, is that, despite its fairly large screen size, it has no optical drive. For some shoppers, this will be an instant turnoff. But other users, such as students, who are accustomed to downloading software, consuming digital media, and streaming clips on sites such as Hulu and YouTube, won't miss having an optical drive.

Screen

The 14-inch high-definition panel on the Dell Studio 14z easily rates as one of the better screens we've seen with vibrant colors, excellent contrast, and good viewing angles. The LED backlighting in our review unit is pretty even and offers a range of brightness settings. Yes, it is a 16:9 screen ratio, if you buy the 14z through Dell.com, you can configure it with a higher resolution 1600 x 900 screen, which gives you a lot more screen real estate.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The keyboard on our review unit has full-sized keys with good key spacing and an excellent depth to the key throw. Each key has a textured black finish and a relatively flat surface. More importantly, the keyboard is available with optional backlighting for easy typing in a dark classroom or dorm room. The only complaint that I have with the keyboard on the Studio 14z is the surprising amount of flex across the entire width of the board.



The multi-touch, gesture-based touchpad is reasonably large for a thin and light 14-inch notebook and the dual touchpad buttons have deep feedback with quiet clicks. The touchpad itself is an ALPS model that uses Dell proprietary touchpad drivers. I'm not a fan of the Dell touchpad drivers, but the touchpad was reasonably responsive with good sensitivity and very little lag.

Battery

The 14z's 8-cell battery lasted 5 hours and 25 minutes on the LAPTOP battery test, which is 1:10 longer than the typical thin-and-light. Moreover, it beat out similarly sized systems with integrated graphics: the HP Pavilion dv4t (a variation of which is also being sold as part of Best Buy's Next Class line) lasted just 3:08 in our tests.

Source: notebookreview

>