Dell Studio 15 and 17: Digital nomads will be delighted

It certainly is hard to keep a secret in this industry. After leaks, leaks and more leaks, Dell has officially announced the new Studio line of laptops, sitting somewhere between the budget Inspiron line and high-end XPS line.

The two new models are the Studio 15 and Studio 17, which as you might expect, have 15- and 17-inch screens. They have a tapered design and large side hinge that's similar to the XPS M1530, although the Studio models curve the screen down at a sharper angle, while the XPS has a more rounded look (see pic below).

You do give up the brushed metal look of the XPS M1530 for plastic, but, according to Dell, personalisation is an important part of the Studio experience, and these systems are available with a variety of colours and lid imprint patterns, including trim colours for the sides of the lid.

Dell's vice president of consumer sales and marketing, Michael Tatelman, said in a news release, "These products are built for today's digital nomad based on the millions of conversations we have every year on dell.com, Ideastorm and community forums. With Dell Studio we're answering the call for personalisation, connectivity and simplicity." Part of that simplicity includes a software application, the Dell Dock, which, much like Apple's software dock, places commonly used applications on a bar on the desktop.

The Dell Studio 15 and 17 are available now direct from Dell, from £429 and £469 respectively. Look out for full reviews very soon. -Dan Ackerman

Update: Read our full Dell Studio 15 review and our full Dell Studio 17 review here.