On the surface it seems a little risky. The Dell Studio 14Z is the first consumer notebook we’ve seen, with a 14-inch display that does not have an optical drive. Then again, who cares? You can download the software you need straight from the Internet, and you and or stream movies and music online. The DVD-drive is the manner of the disk, and Dell is just a bit before the curve. So assuming you do not need a visual, how good is the $ 749-machine?

If you look at full review, you will see that the studio 14Z combines a sleek design with good graphics performance and powerful batteries. We have our hands on the Best Buy version of this laptop for students who are 15 months of anti-virus and Office Home and Student 2007. Actually, when you think about it, the studio 14Z stacks up very well against the $ 999 MacBook.

For $ 250 less than Apple’s lowest cost machine, you get the same Nvidia 9400M graphics and a bigger screen and almost 5.5 hours of battery life. And the studio 14Z weighs less than the MacBook (4.4 pounds compared to 5 pounds). How do you see in our review, the studio 14Z has some shortcomings, but overall it’s a winner.