The Dell Studio 17 is one of two flagship models in the company’s new Studio line, a mid-range line positioned between the entry-level Inspiron and high-end XPS series. Studio is for people who want something more powerful than an Inspiron, but don’t want to pay the XPS price tag. We have mixed feelings about the new Studio’s design, but for $1,599, you’ll get plenty of multimedia muscle. (See our video below.)

All New Design

We’re not sure what to make of the Studio design: it borrows aesthetic elements from both the Inspiron and XPS lines, and although it looks the part of a mid-range machine, it doesn’t represent the best of either series. The satin, solid-colored lid with the metal-stamped Dell logo looks just like the lids on the current Inspiron and XPS lines. Ours came in Midnight Blue, but it’s available in six other solid colors and four with trim. 

Inside, you’ll find a redesigned Dell. Although the keyboard is matte black, the deck is glossy silver with an abstract, swirling line pattern on the palm rest. At first glance, this looked like water spill to more than one person wo saw the Studio 17. Morever, the effect of the plain-looking matte keyboard against the futuristic palm rest is a bit jarring.

Although the Studio 17 borrows the XPS’ wedge shape, it’s hard to appreciate given the thickness of this notebook, at 1.2–1.7 inches. At 8.4 pounds, the Studio 17 is heavy, but it’s still a fifth of a pound lighter than the 17-inch Gateway P-171X.

The keyboard is comfortable to type on and we like its glowing white backlight when in use. Above the keyboard is a thick black panel with a speaker strip and touch-sensitive controls, which also glows white. The thickness of the panel, combined with the color-blocked scheme, makes the notebook look larger than it is. While most of the controls were responsive, we had to be more deliberate when raising and lowering the volume by using the whole pad of our finger to get the controls to respond.