[Fwd: My new music laptop: Dell Studio 1747]

[Rainer Straschill <moinsound@googlemail.com>]

People following this list and my posts closely will remember that I've 
been on the lookout for a new music-making computer for about a year, 
and had already gotten a Dell Studio 17, but was forced to return it 
because it wouldn't allow you to use it for audio with a latency setting 
below 64ms...which is not something I am able to work with.
In the meantime, Dell had fixed the problem, and also added variants 
with Clarksfield/Arrandale processors from Intel's Nehalem family (aka 
Core i7 and Core i5). So when again carefully looking for a computer 
(and it's a beautiful thing that websites like notebookcheck.de have 
recently discovered the importance of the so-called "DPC latency" and 
measure it for their tests), the Studio 17 came up again - more 
specifically the Studio 1747. And with Dell offering a rebate for direct 
orders, I got one, for ¤910 (including all the options I decided on, and 
shipping).

Note that there has been (and probably still is) an issue with an 
underpowered PSU delievered with the laptop by Dell. This will result in 
the computer being clocked down when accessing both the processor and 
the GPU fiercly - more on how I dealt with that below.

THE BASIC SPECS:
With computers, it's the same as with people: the inner values are 
primarily of importance. In the case of the Studio 1747, it's an Intel 
Clarksfield CPU (meaning Core I7-720QM as the basic variant, and the 
faster 820QM and 920XM available as options). Now if you take the 
processor benchmark results vs. processor prices, the 720QM currently is 
the mobile processor with the best price/performance ratio, so that was 
the choice for me. These processors work with a 1066MHz memory bus and 
DDR3 RAM. Dell fits the computer with 4GB (2 2 GB modules), with 6 or 8 
GB available as options. It's safe to say that you rather should not get 
those options; buying a new pair of 4 GB memory modules and just 
throwing the factory-installed pair into the trashcan is still 
considerably cheaper than getting the optional upgrade from dell.
The next most important component would be the graphics adaptor: it's an 
ATI Radeon HD 4650 (768MB graphics memory), and with that should be 
sufficient even for advanced gaming (not that I care that much).

Other components include HD (standard is a 500GB 5400rpm HD, with 
2x300GB and 2x500GB pairs as options, but the same that was said about 
memory goes here - but you have 2 HDD slots, e.g. to use one SSD for 
low-noise applications), a DVD+-RW drive (Blu-Ray is not available), 
1GBit LAN, g WLAN (draft n as an option, as well as bluetooth), lots of 
graphics connectors, IEE1394 (aka Firewire: 4-pin connector), a simple 
webcam, JBL 2.1 speakers (which, by laptop standards, are very good) and 
an eSATA port.

Software-wise, the thing comes with Windows 7 64-bit Home premium as 
standard, with the more advanced OS versions as options (I opted for 
Professional for the seamlessly integrated Windows XP virtual machine). 
While the 64bit variants were a bit of an issue with XP for lack of some 
drivers, this has changed with Windows 7: all the drivers I know of are 
available as 64bit variants. And obviously, with a minimum RAM of 4GB, 
64bit makes a lot of sense). There's also a bunch of stuff like a 
two-year subscription to McAffee included - a lot of these programs 
should be deactivated (first booting it up, all those services took up 
more than 1GB of RAM).

The battery pack is according to spec good for 3 hours of operation. 
While this is not exactly huge, it's sufficient for my personal 
application (where I only need to gap the bridge between starting the 
computer and connecting the cable of my rig to the mains), and by making 
use of the lots of power management options of the Nehalem CPU (and the 
very bright display), you can extend that if required (and still 
outperform most Penryn-type computers).

HOW IT LOOKS:
The thing got a 17'' screen /17,3 to be precise) with a max. resolution 
of 1600x900. This is the current standard for advanced 17'' laptops, and 
the display worked fine for me so far under different lighting 
conditions. There are no connectors on the rear of the case (which I 
think is outright stupid - with the exception of an USB stick, I can't 
think of anything which you would prefer to connect on the side to get 
into your way while working - it's not a problem as my computer sits on 
top of a Gator G2XU case - btw, it just fits into the computer 
compartment in this).
Things on the left side are (front to back): IEEE1394, memory-card 
reader (most formats, including xD - I personally use SD/SDHC and xD and 
it does them all), USB, DVD-drive (slot-in), USB, power and power button.
Things on the right side: headphones (2x), microphone, ExpressCard, an 
odd RF/antenna connector I can't identify, a shared eSATA/USB port, 
HDMI, D-connector, VGA, LAN and Kensington lock.
Apart from the "no connectors on the back" topic mentioned before, I do 
disapprove of the huge lot of graphics connectors, at the same time only 
offering 3 USBs (one of them shared with the eSATA): one more connector 
would've made sense imo (but then, a small hub is both cheap and simple 
to integrate).

Apropos looks: while you have a choice of different case coulors (I went 
with the standard black one), the area around they keyboard is light 
grey and there's a Dell logo on the back of the screen - need to put 
some black gaffa over it.

Btw, there's a pic on twitpic: http://twitpic.com/13mtu9

HOW IT WORKS:
The aforementioned DPC latency is really low: while the old Studio 17 
had spikes in the 5us range occuring frequently, thise 1747 stays below 
200ns even without optimizing the system. With a typical value of 500ns 
as a rule-of-thumb "go/nogo" boundary, this works well.

Performance-wise, it's heaven obviously: running the same setup I used 
to run on my old (Yonah T2300-based) computer where I would hit the 80% 
CPU load quite often only sees me running in the 20% region - and that 
with a buffer size of 128 (which corresponds to roughly 3ms latency). A 
big screen can be an advantage, too (and I say that even though I intend 
to move away from even opening the thing completely, but for e.g. doing 
mobile recordings this will help a lot), and this one works fine for me.

One item I'd like to mention is the touchpad. While I always have seen 
touchpads as an annoying and weak attempt to provide a mouse replacement 
for those laptop users, this one (by Synaptics or something) really 
works well. This has to do with its lowlevel driver, which not only 
allows you to adjust response curves for pressure sensitivity and 
movement speed, but also implements those touchpad gestures on 
low-level, so the two-finger (scroll, zoom) and three-finger (rotate, 
drag) options do - to my surprise - work really well.


SUMMARY:
So far, I'm really content with the thing: even though there's some 
small details you could argue about, the price/performance ratio is 
outstanding when comparing it to the competing devices (for some 
comparable offers, see here http://bit.ly/9ikPhF): comparable offers are 
at least ¤1000, most of the time above ¤1200. It seems to work well in 
the music department, and would also make a nice companion for mobile 
gaming (or video editing, if you're into that). Even though Dell has a 
bad rep (and see the annex for another story about how they always 
manage to go wrong), for me this works fine and gives me some potential 
even for future more complex applications I'm planning on.

         Rainer

ANNEX: The Story of the Power Supply.
Following their tradition, Dell had some BIOS and hardware issues with 
the Studio 1747 (http://bit.ly/bQBOVg for a German-language summary). 
While most of them have been fixed with a BIOS update, the PSU topic 
hasn't:
The computer is shipped with a 90W PSU, which is underpowered for some 
peak current surges of the computer. These do only happen when both 
hitting the CPU and the GPU hard and at the same time having the battery 
in the device. While in the old BIOS version this could fry the PSU (and 
Dell would send out a 130W PSU upon request), the new BIOS version 
clocks down the CPU in those cases - not something you want to happen.
I had talked to the sales clerk when ordering the thing and got a 
confirmation that I could receive the 130W PSU upon request when it 
showed that the problem surfaced in my application. It still took me two 
phone calls (being forwarded about 10 times each, but at least it was on 
their bill) and clever use of the words "violation of competition 
regulation", "breach of contract", "legal representation" and "that 
international project", and an escalation to senior mgt. on their side 
to get me the free 130W PSU. With that, I'm a happy customer - I got two 
PSUs for my laptop - but on the other hand, last time I checked they 
don't offer that computer anymore on their website. Go figure...

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