Dell Studio One 19 Desktop Computer Video

Dell Studio One 19 Desktop Computer Video Transcript

[ Music ] ^M00:00:03

>> Hi, I'm Rich Brown, senior editor for CNET.com. Today we're gonna take a look at the Dell Studio One 19. Now, this computer is Dell's new lower-end all in one. Now, there's actually quite a lot going on with this system, but before we get into the nitty-gritty, we'll go over just the basic hardware elements. So, as you can see, this is a 19-inch widescreen display. It's big enough for everyday use, but it does feel a little small for a home entertainment device, which is sort of how Dell positions this system. You can see the fabric lining here. We have the blue option. Dell sells red, pink, and charcoal as well. So down the side here, you can see a collection of ports. You get a media card reader, two USBs, as well as a headphone and microphone. Around back you get a similar cluster. You have four USBs, networking as well as audio out. On the right side, you see a slot-loading optimal drive. Our model has a DVD burner. Dell also sells a Blu-ray option for an extra 150 bucks. There's no FireWire or DVI or any other fancy ports like you might find on an iMac. So one of the highlights for this system is it has multitouch support, which means you can touch on the screen with one finger or two fingers and get it to perform various commands. You can scroll along these icons here to get it to various touch apps. Some are designed to be used with touch, some less so, Internet Explorer, for example. What we like, though, is if you click on the text box, you get an icon for the keyboard. That's a feature Windows for tablet PCs, but it makes it very simple to type in non-touch applications. Now, the programs that do support touch are kind of lightweight. Now, there's drum app, which is kind of interesting. You get programs for playing music and setting playlists, as well as for setting up photo slideshows. You get a little note-taking app. And there's also kind of this gaudy painting program, among others. Now, as with most touch-based systems we've seen, we can't say we're overly impressed with the software behind it yet. You know, the apps are useful, but there's nothing that's really kind of a game-changing thing that makes us really want to go out and buy a touch-based computer. Now, we do appreciate the fact that you can set this system up on, say, a countertop or in your kitchen and, you know, walk right up to it. You can adjust the tilt how you want. And, you know, it's sort of an easy way to an interactivist computer. The problem is we don't really want to spend $1,000.00 just for [inaudible] lightweight touch apps, especially when the hardware around it isn't that great. Now, this system is fun, and its performance is about where we expect it to be, but the display is pretty small, and other all-in-ones in this price range have Blu-ray, 20-inch monitors at least. Now, this is not to say that the Studio 119 is a total wash. Even though our review config comes in over $1,000.00, the system starts at $699.00. Compared to other all-in-ones at that price range, this is actually very fast. It has a full-fledged Intel Dual Core CPU in it. And it blows away any of the so-called "nettops" on the market right now. You get a webcam up here, as well as Wi-Fi. And while we think Dell might be onto something with the lower-end models of the Studio 119, this higher-end config is outclassed by other all-in-ones that have better features for the money. So I'm Rich Brown. This is the Dell Studio One 19. ^M00:02:58 [ Music ]