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All posts tagged "dell"


Thursday, January 13, 2011

CES 2011: Dell's Press Conference Announcing the Dell Streak 7, Venue Phone, and Other New Hardware

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Events" @ 04:00 PM

For full-screen viewing, click click on the video above and watch it on YouTube.

This is a video shot in Las Vegas at CES 2011, the Consumer Electronics Show. This is the first time the Dell Streak 7 has been officially unveiled, along with the Dell Venue, and the un-named 10 inch tablet. Other announced hardware includes a 3D version of the XPS 17 laptop, a new Alienware Aurora desktop PC, a new XPS 8300 desktop PC, and a few other odds and ends. The press conference was almost an hour long, so I tried to include only the interesting parts. Enjoy!


Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Which Shift Key Do You Primarily Use?

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Laptop Thoughts Talk" @ 12:00 PM

After reading Chris' post about what makes a perfect keyboard, it got me thinking about Shift keys. In Canada, many laptop brands ship their laptops with a French/English keyboard, and when they do, the left shift key is cut in half to make room for an extra French-language key. The net result is that any touch typist trying to use that keyboard, if they're not accustomed to it, will constantly be missing the left shift key. I'm one of those people, and I flat-out refuse to purchase any laptop that doesn't have a full-sized shift key. That means no HP laptops for me - every single one of their consumer laptops sold in Canada have the shrunken left keyboard; it's one of the main reasons I tend to go for Dell laptops. I'm pleased that Apple allows you to choose what kind of keyboard you want on your laptop and wished more companies offered users that choice. If I primarily used the right shift key, however, I wouldn't have my choices curtailed.

What about you? Which shift key do you primarily use? I use the left shift key 100% of the time - never even touching the right-hand shift key.


Thursday, November 11, 2010

What Happened to Dell's Customization?

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Talk" @ 12:00 PM

I don't know about you, but I feel like Dell's customization options have become dramatically restricted over the past year or so - it's like they're trying to get out of the custom, built-to-order computer business and into the "Buy Model A or Model B" business. I can't tell you how many times over the past year I've tried to spec out a computer or laptop and found that I'm locked into a "template" where the CPU, screen resolution, and GPU are locked down - allowing customization of the RAM and hard drive, and that's about it.

Case in point: the above computer is the Dell Inspiron All-in-One desktop computer. My wife's aunt is looking for a new computer, and an all-in-one would have several advantages for her. Dell Canada's email promo talked up the touch-screen aspect, so I assumed that the touch screen was an integral part of the product and included in all versions - it's not. When you go to the product page, there are three configurations you can chose from: Read more...


Thursday, October 21, 2010

Dell Simplifies Consumer Product Line-up

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home News" @ 06:00 PM

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/21/...ff-adamo-altog/

"We knew something was going on with Dell's branding with the resurrection of the XPS laptop line, and this morning we caught up with a few of the company's executives to learn all about the entire restructuring. As you can see above, there will now be three core brands -- Inspiron, XPS and Alienware -- all focusing on different "performance seekers."

Dell's product line up has grown bloated and out of control over the years, and this is a much-needed effort to streamline it. Will it help change the perception that people have as being Dell as a "budget" provider of computers? Maybe - but I think Dell also needs to focus more on releasing fewer, but better, products. Releasing a new laptop every month means less engineering and design effort put into each product - and Dell needs to do better in both.


Friday, August 27, 2010

Dell's XPS Studio XPS 7100: Big Bang for the Buck

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 07:00 AM

Above is my review video of the Dell Studio XPS 7100, a desktop PC from Dell - be sure to check out the unboxing and first impressions video if you haven't already watched it. This particular model I ordered runs Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, and is powered by an AMD Phenom II X6 1055T. This is AMD's six-core CPU, running at 2.8 Ghz with a turbo boost up to 3.3 Ghz. This particular configuration of the XPS 7100 also includes an ATI Radeon HD 5450 with 1 GB of RAM. It has a 750 GB 7200 RPM hard drive, a Blu-ray reader/CD/DVD burner, 6 GB of DDR3 RAM, memory card slots, and gigabit Ethernet. Read more...


Monday, July 26, 2010

The Dell Studio XPS 7100 Unboxing & First Impressions

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 07:00 AM

Above is part one of an unboxing and first impressions video of the Dell Studio XPS 7100, a desktop PC from Dell. This particular model I ordered runs Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, and is powered by an AMD Phenom II X6 1055T. This is AMD's six-core CPU, running at 2.8 Ghz with a turbo boost up to 3.3 Ghz. This particular configuration of the XPS 7100 also includes an ATI Radeon HD 5450 with 1 GB of RAM. It has a 750 GB 7200 RPM hard drive, a Blu-ray reader/CD/DVD burner, 6 GB of DDR3 RAM, memory card slots, and gigabit Ethernet. Part two after the break. Read more...


Thursday, May 13, 2010

Dell Studio XPS 7100 Features AMD Vision Technology

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 03:49 PM

http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/desk...hs&cs=19&~ck=mn

"Announced today, the Dell Studio XPS 7100 is one of the first desktops available to support the powerful AMD Phenom II X6 six-core processor with AMD Turbo Core technology, as well as available quad-core Athlon II processors, for incredibly fast HD media creation, advanced multimedia capabilities, multi-tasking and immersive 3D gaming experiences. With six-core processor power starting at US$699, the Studio XPS 7100 offers exceptional multitasking performance and features a cutting edge, tilt-back design in premium Carbide Silver color."

Dell has traditionally been a mostly Intel-focused OEM, with only a few minor products using AMD chips on the consumer side. I've always felt that was a shame, because while I tend to prefer Intel CPUs for performance reasons, there are plenty of products that aren't so performance-focused and using AMD CPUs would allow Dell to sell the products at a slightly lower price. Oh, and because Dell is so Intel-focused, they've tended to offer craptastic Intel integrated graphics when a similarly-priced system from another OEM using AMD chips would typically offer a decent integrated ATI GPU.

This XPS 7100 is a prime example of that lower price model in action; a six-core CPU system starting at $699 US? Wowzers - that's some great pricing! They've added a power supply with some extra headroom (460 watts) so customers can upgrade their graphics down the road, and with up to 16 GB of RAM, and up to 4 TB of storage, this system has some decent headroom. I wonder though, will it sound like a tornado under heavy load? I purchased an XPS system last year and ended up returning it to Dell because whenever I did anything even slightly CPU intensive, it became quite loud. Oh, and I couldn't overclock it at all. How does the Dell Studio XPS 7100 look to you?


Wednesday, April 21, 2010

More Flavors for the Dell Streak

Posted by Chris Gohlke in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 03:00 AM

http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/16/...tablets-leaked/

"It looks as if a 7-inch and 10-inch Streak tablet is on the horizon. But that's not all -- we learned that the "coming soon" we heard earlier regarding the Aero's release date on AT&T really means "June." Later this "summer," said phone will be joined by the Streak 5 (yeah, that's the Mini 5 we've had for months now) for those who prefer a more capable mobile."

Looks like Dell isn't taking any chances with the screen size for the Streak. With 5, 7, and 10 inch offerings there is a size to fit your needs. I'm really interested in seeing some pricing on these (and even more interested in getting my hands on one). Hint, hint - Dell, if you send me one to play with, I promise to not leave it lying around on a barstool. ;)


Saturday, April 3, 2010

The Life of a Netbook; Short and Sweet

Posted by Hooch Tan in "Digital Home News" @ 07:00 AM

http://www.windowsfordevices.com/c/...-netbook-plans/

"Quoting unnamed sources from netbook manufacturers, DigiTimes reported yesterday that HP and Dell -- the world's number one and number three PC manufacturers -- are scaling back production due to disappointing sales of new netbooks powered by Intel’s new Atom N450 "Pineview" processor. (The story was posted on April 1 report, but the pretty-much-all-business DigiTimes has never been known for its practical jokes.)"

It seems like only yesterday that I heard about the original ASUS eee netbook. A liliputian 7" micro-laptop that was designed for light duty, portability and a really low price point. Since then, the netbook has changed dramatically as manufacturers tried hard to figure out what consumers wanted. Now, there is news that HP and Dell are not selling them as well as one would like. There could be a lot of reasons for this; saturation of the market, nothing exciting about the new netbooks, other alternatives such as smart phones and slate tablets. I honestly think that even if the netbook disappears, it has done a fair bit to invigorate the market. Since the netbook, we have seen much more experimentation and as much as I hate change, I consider this to be a good thing. Hopefully, the momentum will keep up and we will see more changes.

Tags: hardware, hp, dell, netbook

Friday, April 2, 2010

HP and Dell Shifting Focus Away from 10 Inch Netbooks

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home News" @ 11:00 AM

http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/02/...netbooks-looki/

"Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Dell have both significantly reduced their investments in the 10-inch netbook segment, with HP reportedly even considering quitting the 10-inch netbook market and turning its focus to AMD-based 11.6-inch notebooks because profits from Intel Pine Trail-based netbooks have been lower than expected, according to sources from notebook makers."

I think 11.6 inch screens are more usable - 10 inch displays can be a little squinty for some, especially once you move beyond 1024 x 600 resolutions - but I do have to question the use of AMD CPUs. Based on my tests using Proshow Gold, the AMD Neo CPU at 1.6 Ghz renders 1080p video twice as fast as the 1.6 Ghz Intel Atom CPU...but the AMD Neo has two cores! That means the performance is in the same ballpark on a per-core basis. The real problem with the AMD Neo CPU is the power consumption; it uses 15 watts at full load, while the Intel Atom N450 shipping as part of the Pinetrail chipset today on netbooks consumes 5.5 watts. Even if you factor in the fact that the AMD CPU has two cores, it's still more power-hungry than the Intel Atom CPU. I have an HP dv2 and it has pretty bad battery life; the fan also never stops loudly spewing hot air. I just don't think AMD has the whole "low power CPU" thing figured out.

As a side note, does anyone have an answer for why the N450 CPU shipping on notebooks uses 5.5 watts while the Z530 in netbooks prior to 2010 used only 2 watts? I thought Pinetrail was all about power consumption savings...Intel more than doubled the power consumption of the Atom CPU, yet it benchmarks no faster. I wonder why the added power consumption was necessary?

UPDATE: This is one of the main reasons I like Twitter; people smarter than me teaching me things. The wise sbrown23 pointed out the following to me when I asked the above question about power consumption: "Pinetrail moved additional functions on-chip, so you may have increased CPU power usage, but lower total system power consumption...Big power killer in 1st gen Atom was the chipset & graphics, much of which is on chip now and much more efficient." And there you have it! That ends up making the AMD Neo chip look even worse though, because I believe the 15 watts is CPU-only, not any other parts of the chipset.


Friday, March 26, 2010

The Slim and Gorgeous Dell Vostro V13 Reviewed

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 07:00 AM

This is my review video of the Dell Vostro V13, a shockingly thin (0.65 inches) and light (3.5 pounds) laptop from Dell. If you missed my unboxing and first impressions video of the V13, you can check it out here. This particular model I'm looking at features an Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 CPU at 1.3 Ghz, Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit), 2 GB of RAM, a 320 GB 7200 RPM hard drive, 802.11n WiFi, a 1.3 megapixel Web cam, a 13.3 inch LED-backlit display (1366 x 768), gigabit Ethernet, a VGA-out port, a USB port and a combo USB/eSATA port. It also has a 34mm ExpressCard slot, a microphone jack, a headphone jack, and a 5 in 1 memory card reader. It has no optical drive. The V13 uses the Intel GS45 chipset, and the Intel GMA4500 GPU. Read more...


Thursday, March 25, 2010

The New Dell Mini 10: Great Battery Life

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 07:00 AM

This is a review video of the new (as of February 2010) Dell Mini 10, a netbook. If you missed my two-part first impressions video, you can find it here. The New Dell Mini 10 is powered by an Atom N450, part of the Pinetrail chipset, running at 1.66 Ghz. It has 1 GB of RAM, and this model I purchased from Dell has a 5400 RPM, 250 GB hard drive. It features 802.11b/g WiFi, but this model I have doesn't have Bluetooth. Check your local Dell Web site to see if they're offering Bluetooth. It has a 56WHr Lithium-Ion Battery (6-cell), a 10.1" wide screen display (1024 x 600 pixels), and an integrated 1.3 megapixel Webcam. It's using Windows 7 Starter Edition for the operating system. Read more...


Thursday, March 11, 2010

Dell's Vostro V13: A Surprisingly Great Laptop

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 07:00 AM

When I hear the words "Dell Vostro", I think big, bulky, corporate laptops devoid of anything resembling nice design. A Dell Vostro I ordered in 2008 bore that out; it was cheap-feeling, heavy, and ugly. When I saw the Vostro V13, my jaw dropped: it had an Adamo-like design, and even more surprising, a Vostro-like price. This is a very compelling product that's worth a serious look by anyone seeking a thin and light general productivity laptop. Read more...


Monday, March 8, 2010

Dell Offers "Fighting" Optical Drives

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Talk" @ 11:30 AM

http://configure.dell.com/dellstore...studio-xps-8100

I was checking Dell Canada's Web site today (they have a great deal on an XPS system), and got a chuckle out of the fact that they used the wrong word for the secondary optical drive. It should be "dual" not "duel" - unless of course this is some sort of Blu-ray drive that fights on your behalf! Dell, you might want to have someone who can pay attention to detail check things over when you update your Web site. ;-)


Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Dell's New Mini 10: Unboxing & First Impressions

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 07:00 AM

Above is part one of an unboxing and first impressions video of the new (as of February 2010) Dell Mini 10, a netbook that represents Dell's second generation product. The New Dell Mini 10 is powered by an Atom N450, part of the Pinetrail chipset, running at 1.66 Ghz. It has 1 GB of RAM, and this model I purchased from Dell Canada has a 5400 RPM, 250 GB hard drive. It features 802.11b/g WiFi, but this model I have doesn't have Bluetooth (nor was it an option at the time I purchased it). Check your local Dell Web site to see if they're offering Bluetooth. It has a 56WHr Lithium-Ion Battery (6-cell), a 10.1" wide screen display (1024 x 600 pixels), and an integrated 1.3 megapixel Webcam. It's using Windows 7 Starter Edition for the operating system. After the break is part two of the video. Read more...


Friday, January 29, 2010

A Dell Mini5 Demo. Quick and Casual.

Posted by Hooch Tan in "Digital Home News" @ 03:00 PM

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/28/...-shenzhen-blac/

"Hot on the heels of us thinking maybe the Dell Streak / Mini 5 was possibly due for a name change to the "M01M," a roving heckler from TechCrunch managed to catch the man himself, Michael Dell, on the street and get a quick demonstration of the thing -- which he with no uncertain terms referred to as the "Mini 5.""

Have you heard? Tablets are in! And Dell is not one to be left out in the cold, business wise at least. The quick demo of the Mini 5 does not give much information, but it looks like a nice portable device. Much more portable, and thus, more usable than larger tablets. Mini 5 information has been popping up all over the net including a price of $1,095 if a "copy" price is any gauge. I do find it interesting that the small tablets coming out are using the whole "tablet" name, instead of the age old PDA which really are what the smaller tablets are. Sure, they have 3G for persistent connectivity, but it is only recently that prices for wireless connectivity have gone down. The Mini 5 definitely looks more usable than their old Axim line though.


Thursday, January 14, 2010

Q4 2009 Windows PC Sales Explode

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home News" @ 03:00 PM

http://www.infoworld.com/d/mac/mac-...-slips-no-5-873

"While Mac sales in the U.S. were up 31 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, Apple was unable to keep pace with exploding sales of cheap Windows PCs, and fell to the No. 5 spot, research firm IDC said Wednesday. Rival analysts at Gartner, meanwhile, pegged Apple's year-over-year growth at 23 percent, and also put it in fifth place, behind Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Acer and Toshiba. Apple's new position is down one from the same quarter in 2008."

Unit sales for HP were up 45%, and unit sales for Toshiba were up 71%. Driving all the growth? Low-cost netbook and notebooks - a realm where Apple doesn't exist today. A big factor was certainly Windows 7 - many people I knew were waiting for Windows 7 computers to ship because they "heard Vista was bad". True or not, the perception was there, and Windows 7 couldn't come soon enough. Now that it's here, people are snapping up affordable computers.

Tags: hp, dell, laptops, netbooks

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Dell Launching Small Android Slate Device

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home News" @ 10:12 AM

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/07/...west&refresh=15

I'm watching the Engadget liveblog of the Dell keynote, and just for a moment, the speaker took out a small slate-type device, looks like a five inch screen to me, and then quickly put it away. The new "tease 'em" style of press conference that Dell started last year with the first Adamo. It's running "Dell Andriod", version of Andriod that Dell is customizing for their devices. Sounds like different screen sizes are in the works, with different OS' as well.

UPDATE: Engadget and Pocket-lint were given a closer look, so check out the photos. Looks like it has a SIM slot, so expect a carrier partnership...

Tags: dell, ces 2010, slate

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Dell Unleashing New Netbooks in January 2010

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 12:30 PM

http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/21/...ures-atom-n450/

"Dell's hot-selling Inspiron Mini 10 netbook is getting better with a fresh new look and longer battery life to go along with technology enhancements and easy connectivity capabilities that make it a fashionable and functional must-have for on-the-go people. Updates to the Mini 10 include optional high definition entertainment bundles that deliver rich, smooth playback of streaming HD video in addition to Web surfing, email, listening to music and sharing user-generated content in real time. Dell expects the redesigned Inspiron Mini 10 to be available the first part of January 2010."

My first thought? I sure hope those aren't the only colours - I'd pick white over any of those neon colours. Bleh. Are neon colours really mass-market appealing? Beyond that though, this is lookin' pretty good! The Inspiron Mini 10 will feature the new Intel "Pinetrail" Atom CPU, still chugging along at 1.6Ghz but now with reduced power consumption, the Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator, an optional 1366 x 768 display, Windows 7 Starter, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB or 250 GB hard drive, optional WWAN, optional GPS, optional TV Tuner, and best of all, the new case can apparently accommodate a 6-cell battery without it humping out the back. Does 9.5 hours of battery life sound good to you? Hell yeah it does! Prices will start at $299. I'll be the first in line to order one...if only to find out if Dell improved that nasty trackpad from the last generation. I sure hope they did. The full press release is after the break. Read more...


Thursday, December 17, 2009

Dell Upgrades IdeaStorm

Posted by Chris Gohlke in "Digital Home News" @ 03:00 AM

http://www.ideastorm.com/

"IdeaStorm relaunches with improved design and features. Nearly three years ago, Dell created IdeaStorm to help it more effectively listen to customers and implement their direct feedback into the company’s products. Today, IdeaStorm is a vibrant, 60,000-strong community that has generated tens of thousands of conversations and ideas about Dell products and how the company can make them even better. The new IdeaStorm has a new look feel along with “Storm Sessions” which are Dell-initiated, topic-specific and time-bound idea-generating sessions for users to participate in. On the heels of Dell’s smartphone announcement, the first Storm Session will be around mobility."

Customers are a wealth of information, most of which they will happily give away, if approached properly. Problem is most companies take the simple route of just sending out surveys or something similar. Problem is this doesn't engage the customer or make them really feel like a stakeholder in the process. So kudos to Dell for implementing and improving this method of involving the customer.

Tags: dell, ideastorm

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