Dell Studio 1557 review

When we first caught sight of Intel’s mobile Core i7 we were unashamedly excited. Finally, the prospect of serious quad-core power lay within tantalising reach of the mobile market, and without the heinously bad battery life of the previous Core 2 Quad generation. The one thing we didn’t expect, was for it to find a home in a laptop costing just £653 exc VAT.

Indeed, it wasn’t so very long ago that we took a close look at Dell’s previous model, the Studio 1555. A decidedly mid-range desktop replacement, the 1555 employed a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 graphics, 4GB of DDR2 memory and a 320GB hard disk, and all for a total cost of £609. Very reasonable, you might think. Now, however, Dell has gone one step further. Everything else stays much as it was, including the price, but that Core 2 Duo now finds itself brushed aside by the entry-level model in the Core i7 range, the Core i7-720QM.

Performance

Describing the i7-720QM as entry-level, though, is akin to calling Lewis Hamilton a trumped up go-kart racer. Its four processing cores may all operate at a modest-sounding 1.6GHz, but it’s capable of ramping up its clockspeed as far as 2.8GHz when the occasion demands it.

And it’s entirely thanks to the presence of Intel’s Core i7 that, despite weighing a reasonable 2.65kg, the Studio 15 finds itself transformed into a true performance heavyweight. That 4GB of memory is now of the faster DDR3 variety, and allied with a fast 7,200rpm hard disk the Studio demolished our benchmarks with a staggeringly quick overall score of 1.59.

And while the relatively compact chassis precludes the inclusion of a really powerful graphics chipset, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 finds a supremely able partner in the Core i7. Our least-demanding Crysis test cruised to a result of 56fps, and while upping the ante to medium detail saw it struggle to an average of 15fps, it’s worth restating that Crysis is as demanding as games get. For a mid-range laptop, the Studio is preternaturally able.

Ergonomics

It’s not a bad looking laptop either. The chunky wedge design looks smart and presentable in its combination of black and graphite grey, and only the overly pliant lid gave us any real cause for concern. And should the black chainlink finish prove too plain for your tastes, a premium of £89 will buy you one of several “arty” designs.

Meanwhile, the glossy 15.6in display has a standard 1,366 x 768 resolution, but to make full use of the power at the Studio 15’s disposal, we’d be tempted to pay the extra £70 to upgrade to the optional Full HD panel. Even if you don’t, though, image quality is excellent, with vibrant, accurate colours, strong contrast and believable skintones.

The Studio 15 makes a strong showing when it comes to sheer usability, too. The deficiencies of its predecessor are but a distant memory, with a keyboard that provides a lovely feel and a sensible, spacious layout. The keys have plenty of travel and a positive action, a combination that makes for comfortable typing over long periods. Even the speakers are excellent, with the tiny bass driver on the Dell’s underside imparting full-bodied clarity to music and movies alike.

The Studio 15 stops some way short of perfection though. While it’s first out of the blocks, it’s no long-distance contender. With the standard six-cell battery at its rear, the Studio 15 managed just 3hrs 25mins of light usage, and just short of an hour while working flat out. If you don’t mind suffering the additional weight, we’d be tempted to opt for the larger nine-cell battery available for an extra £60.

Hot under the collar

The glaring issue with the Studio 15’s scorching performance is that it pushes the limits of the chassis’ cooling abilities. While 2D applications rattled along without causing the Studio to get anything more than warm to the touch, our Crysis benchmarking revealed a worrying tendency for the 3D action to stutter at regular intervals. A copy of GPU-Z and a little detective work later, we discovered that the ATI graphics chipset was throttling its clockspeeds in an attempt to keep itself from overheating.

After firing off a concerned email to our Dell contact, Dell’s Asia-based testing facilities stepped into the fray, and it soon became clear that the Studio 15’s throttling temperatures were simply set far too low. To its credit, Dell swiftly provided us with a beta BIOS update which fixed most of our issues.

Despite the new BIOS, however, extended sessions of Crysis were enough to see the throttling issue briefly rearing its head once more. In the end, the solution was a rather basic one. Raise the rear of the Studio 15 with a book, or the £60 nine-cell battery for that matter, and the cooling issues all but vanish. Admittedly, the trackpad and the area around the exhaust vent do get noticeably toasty after long gaming sessions, but it’s no deal-breaker.

In the Studio 1557 Dell has produced a laptop whose sheer talent belies its £653 exc VAT price tag. It’s not often that a laptop manages to be good looking, comfortable to use and outperform rivals at twice its price, but this is one laptop that manages just that.

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