Although it looks suave, this laptop is certainly not designed for the small-framed person. With its gigantic 17.3-inch screen in front of you, as a small person (which I am), you’ll be left wondering why it’s bigger than you are. Having said that, it does have its uses. Despite its hefty appearance and weight (they start at 3.2 kg), the screen offers a lot more than most laptops can. It boasts a wondrous Multi-Touch High Definition screen that allows you the power to interact so much more with your laptop than you ever thought would be possible.
There are no lags and there are no pixilated glitches that get in the way of you playing with the screen with your finger(s). You can do all the same functions on this laptop that you can do with your iPhone – pinch, flick, grab and zoom. In fact, it’s so quirky it allows you to use up to four fingers at once. This is especially useful when you’re playing around in the games section in the Dell Touch Zone, as they call it. You’re able to play games with your friends on the screen, at the same time, and happily annoy and battle each other. I personally quite like this feature as it takes an interactive feature and allows you to become even more interactive with those around you.
Dell Studio 17 Multi-Touch Laptop
Great audio and visuals accompany the laptop also. Sitting back to enjoy a DVD takes on a completely new meaning as you’re taken aback by the spectacle before you. Owing to the large screen, you’re able to sit much further away than usual to watch the magnificent Multi-Touch HD+ at 1600×900 TrueLife WLED display at work. Remarkably clear image accompanied by the integrated palmrest speakers of 1.5W each, plus a 3W subwoofer definitely make for a pleasurable viewing experience.
The Multi-Touch function is a great little addition to the laptop, it has to be said. Although it doesn’t really serve too much of a function other than being a gimmick (for now) it really is a pleasant change to using the mouse pad. It’s a lot quicker to close browsers and open folders, but it does leave you open to leaving gunk on the screen as you slide your fingers across it. If you’re a clean freak, this will surely wind you up.
Quite a sweet little feature of the touch screen laptop, however, is the fact that you can play instruments on it. It comes with its very own drum kit and piano, with the added extras of the cowbell, the xylophone and a few other noisemakers. Although the keys are quite small on the piano, the actual idea behind being able to play the piano on your screen is mind-blowing. The keys are just as responsive and the sound is impeccable. The drum kit isn’t as fun to play as you’re using your fingers as opposed to drumsticks, but nonetheless it definitely racks up high for novelty factor.
With up to 8GB Dual Channel 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM and at least an Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo Processor you can be sure that this machine is going to give as good as it gets. It’s fast, very powerful and definitely worth the money. My only concern is its size – with everyone wanting their gadgets to be smaller nowadays, I’m not entirely sure this will be as popular as Dell may have hoped.
For more on the specifications or any extras you can add, please visit the Dell website.
