Dell Releases 14-Inch Studio 14z, Sans Optical Drive

Today, Dell announced the Studio 14z, a 14-inch thin-and-light starting at a student-friendly price of $649. Curiously, despite its screen size it has no optical drive. That’s a design move we’ve grown accustomed to with netbooks, but don’t expect with larger screen systems. In any case, in part thanks to the lack of an optical drive, its starting weight is a very reasonable 4.3 pounds and it’s just .79 inches thick at its thinnest point. The notebook also boasts FailSafe protection, a feature similar to LoJack for Laptops, which uses IP addresses to track a computer if it’s been reported stolen. Additionally, its USB ports can charge gadgets even when the notebook is powered down. Finally, it comes with Dell Remote Access software. Consumers can choose from Intel Pentium, and Core 2 Duo processors, and hard drives with capacities as large as 500GB. A six-cell battery, Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics, and 1.3-megapixel webcam are standard. Upgrade options include Bluetooth and a Blu-ray drive. The Studio 14z comes in six colors: Black Chain Link, Midnight Blue, Spring Green, Plum Purple, Ruby Red, and Promise Pink (if you buy the latter, Dell will donate $5 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a charity that raises funds for breast cancer research). It starts at $649, and is available today online for U.S. and Canadian customers.