HP's New Ultrabook: Specs and Features

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HP (Hewlett-Packard) has not enjoyed that much success in the market due to the fact competition in the technology market is very tight and rigid. There is a chance that this could all change as HP unveiled their new Ultrabook dubbed as Envy 14 Spectre during the 2012 CES (Consumer Electronics Show).

HP described the Envy 14 Spectre as "the premium consumer Ultrabook" and based on its design and performance, it is indeed in the "premium" level. One of the most notable features of the HP Spectre is the "glass design" in the body and touchpad of the Ultrabook. The glass is hardened Gorilla glass and it is shatter resistant. This type of glass is also found in other gadgets particularly in iPhone and other high end smartphones. The Envy 14 Spectre has a 14-inch, 1600×900 pixels Radiance display which users could find extremely useful. It also has a width of 13 inches, depth of 8.7 inches, and thickness of 0.8 inch (closed position). The glass design in Envy 14 Spectre makes this model much heavier (1.71 Kg) as compared to other Ultrabooks.

The word "premium" could also be applicable on the specifications that could be found inside HP's new Ultrabook. This model utilizes Intel Core i5-2467M processor which is already suitable for the normal tasks done by a person. If this is not enough, users could opt to get a Core i7 version. It also has 4GB of RAM for the standard model and this can be upgraded to 8GB of DDR3 RAM. The Envy 14 Spectre also has 128GB SSD module that users could choose over the usual HDD storage found in other notebook. The SSD can also be upgraded to 256GB. In terms of OS, the Spectre would be utilizing Windows 8 once it is already released in the market. The demo unit shown at CES 2012 utilized Windows 7 Premium 64bit. In terms of battery such as Hp F4098A battery, Hp F4809A battery, Hp F4812A battery, compaq 319411-001 battery, Compaq Presario 2100 battery(compaq 2100 battery), Compaq Presario 2500 battery(compaq 2500 battery), Compaq Presario NX9010 battery, Compaq Presario NX9000 battery life, HP assured that this model can last up to 9 hours but no actual test has been performed in order to test this claim by HP. Other features of the Spectre includes backlit keyboard c/o individual LED, USB 3.0 port, a mini DisplayPort, 3.5mm microphone/stereo combo jack, HDMI, gigabit Ethernet, and NFC reader.

The Envy 14 Spectre was officially revealed in the public at CES 2012 and many people attending the event responded positively to the Ultrabook's glass design. Many people assumed that since it was a glass design, it would be more vulnerable in terms of durability but since it made up of Corning's Gorilla class, this concern is easily addressed. HP labels this Ultrabook as a "no compromise" machine when it was unveiled in the public. This is due to the features and specifications included in the Envy 14 Spectre. Despite the positive reception of this Ultrabook, many people were not that welcoming when they learned that they have to pay at least US$1,400 to purchase this device.

HP's Envy 14 Spectre will be available in the US market on Feb. 8 for US$1,399 for the base configuration. HP has yet to release any official announcement about the availability of Envy 14 Spectre in Australia.

Fine Dining for Now, But Cheap Eats Later

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If its niche crowd, the managers and professionals, ate a BlackBerry Bold or Torch for lunch and have a BlackBerry PlayBook for dinner, Research In Motion Ltd.'s diner would be giving away free beers to everyone. But fewer business users are ordering BlackBerries nowadays, and the existing users are picking an iPad or an Android tablet.

After its delicious slates (they run Adobe Flash) were nearing their expiration dates, Hewlett-Packard, the world's largest seller of personal computers, announced it's ending its mobile devices business, and slashed prices of the TouchPad to $99 in order to get rid of all the stock crowding the pantry. RIM is not cooking any better than HP. According to some disgruntled shareholders, two chefs (the two co-CEOs) are spoiling the broth, noting that its fine-dinning restaurants are quickly losing patrons as fast as Nokia.

A report last week, although sourced from a reporter with battery like Dell HP297 battery, dell GW240 battery, dell RN873 battery, dell XR693 battery, dell 0XR693 battery, dell 312-0625 battery, Dell Latitude X200 battery, Dell 8U443 battery, Dell Latitude X200 battery, Dell 312-0058 battery citing an analyst, who cited an anonymous source, is adding fuel to the fire. Boy Genius Report wrote that Collins Stewart analyst John Vinh, citing anonymous sources at RIM's manufacturing partner Quanta, said in a note to investors that RIM is no longer grilling tablets. "While Quanta last week acknowledged that it had laid off a significant number of production workers from a factory focused on producing the PlayBook, our research indicates that the ODM has essentially halted production of the tablet, Vinh wrote. "Additionally, our due diligence indicates that RIMM has canceled development of additional tablet projects."

If RIM decides to stop baking PlayBooks because everyone is craving for an iPad (it has 70% market share), then we'll likely find the PlayBook in a $99 fire-sale.

But execs at RIM quickly refuted the BGR report. "RIM doesn't typically comment on rumors, but any suggestion that the BlackBerry PlayBook is being discontinued is pure fiction," a RIM spokesperson told BGR in an email. "RIM remains highly committed to the tablet market."

RIM shipped to retailers 500,000 PlayBook tablets in the slate's launch quarter and then 200,000 more during its first full quarter. But Quanta had delivered 1.5 million PlayBooks to RIM, according to The Guardian, citing an analyst at Fubon Securities. Apple on the other hand has not just shipped but already SOLD 30 million iPads since launching in April 2010.

Although the PlayBook's steak was amazing (its platform was superb for multi-tasking), it forgot to add salt to the soup (the product was launched without its own access to e-mail, contacts and calendar). What's more, it couldn't get enough toppings for the salad bar because suppliers haven't been convinced that they would be paid. With many customers ordering iPads, Apple has been able to woo developers to plant more veggies for the salad bar (100,000 apps are now available at the apps store).

Although the PlayBook was at least rich in flavor (1 GHz dual-core processor, 1080p HD front and back cameras, etc.), RIM couldn't get any "compliments to the chef" because nobody was eating the PlayBook, prompting price cuts from retailers. Priced at launching at $499, Best Buy Web site's indicates that the entry level 16 GB PlayBook is now only $299.

But with cheaper slabs looming on the horizon, RIM could be forced to further cut prices to sell all the steaks before they rot.

Amazon is start to opening the buffet tablet for the Kindle Fire at only $199 -- less than half $499 entry-level iPad 2. While the Kindle Fire wouldn't get a five-star ratings (it's just an Android tablet with a slower processor and lower memory), it is supported by Amazon's cloud infrastructure and Amazon's wide array of digital content.

Six months ago, the Blackberry PlayBook would have been an exceptional entrée given that it only had the pricey iPad to contend with. But RIM priced the PlayBook also at $499 notwithstanding that Apple has a doctorate in presentation (the aesthetics, marketing) and already had a wide menu (apps) for everyone.

So, a PlayBook for just $99? Not for now. Remember that HP's spontaneous decision to shut its pizza parlor after just one bad pizza cost CEO Leo Apotheker his job. HP is focusing on the high margin enterprise and software business and will spin-off its PC business. So it doesn't make sense anymore if it continues selling pizzas when it makes more money just distributing dough to everyone.

But for RIM, it needs to continue roasting tablets. Tablets are no longer a fad -- they're legitimate second computing devices. Even PC software giant Microsoft is cooking a platform designed to also work for smartphones and tablets. If RIM sends its PlayBook to $99 fire sales, it would be one step backwards for the Canadian device-maker.

Remember that the PlayBook is the first RIM device based on QNX Neutrino. And it is hopeful that "superphones" based on QNX would make RIM back as top chef. RIM believes that the PlayBook is just the appetizer and hopes the dishes being prepared in the kitchen -- the next generation PlayBook and the superphones -- would be everyone's dinner.

Dell’s Latitude XT2 Tablet Promises Longer Battery Life

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When Dell’s Latitude XT tablet hit the market last spring, it became the first notebook with a capacitive touch screen (thanks to a firmware update, it later became the first with multitouch). We raved about the tablet performance, but it lost big points in our review due to its short battery life. The XT2 (starting at $2,399) promises longer battery life, in part thanks to Intel’s Centrino 2 platform. Specifically, Dell claims it can last 11 hours and 28 minutes with a six-cell battery and six-cell battery slice (in our tests, the XT lasted about 7 hours with a six-cell battery and nine-cell slice). It will also be offered with a four or six-cell battery such as dell W0465 battery, dell Inspiron 2000 battery, dell Latitude LS battery, dell 2834T battery, dell 4834T battery, dell Inspiron 1520 battery, dell Inspiron 1521 battery, Dell Inspiron 1720 battery, dell Inspiron 1525 battery, dell Inspiron 1526 battery. Moreover, it has DDR3 memory, which promises improved performance, and can support up to 5GB RAM. Like the original XT, the XT2 has a 12.1-inch display. The multi-touch technology, again powered by N-trig, means that users can make gestures using multiple fingers, such as zooming, pinching, scrolling, double tapping, and rotating. And, of course, since multitouch is a form of capacitive touch, the display will register gestures without the user having to put much pressure on the screen. While the screen size and multitouch gestures remain the same, Dell promises the XT2′s display will be brighter, having doubled the nits. Other changes include the addition of Intel’s vPro platform, which is designed to make remote management easier for IT workers. Dell also redesigned the hinge to make this convertible more stable. The XT2 starts at $2,399 and is available today here. Below, a list of key specs:

Security-conscious businesses will appreciate some additional E4300 features. In addition to optional fingerprint and Smart Card readers, the system is bundled with Embassy Security Center, an application that includes password management for Windows and preboot logins, security management, and the ability to manage TPM chips. Our unit also came with an Intel Active Management Technology application that allows a business’ IT department to remotely manage the E4300 online.

Dell covers the E4300 with a standard three-year limited warranty that includes mail-in service. For a $99 upgrade, onsite service is available. For a $178 upgrade, small businesses can purchase three years of ProSupport, which is designed for offices with limited or no IT staff.

We can’t help but compare the Dell Latitude E4300 to another business-oriented, 13-inch ultraportable, the Lenovo ThinkPad X300, as well as its update, the ThinkPad X301. Like the Latitude E4300, the X300 and X301 are both ultra-thin, use SSDs, and come with a combination of a TrackPoint and a touchpad. The E4300 offers a much faster processor (2.4 GHz vs. 1.4 GHz) and slightly better graphics performance than even the fastest configuration of the X301. The E4300 also lasts significantly longer, even without its extended battery slice, besting the X301 by more than 2 hours (5:39 to 3:29). However, when it comes to size, weight, ease of typing, and screen resolution, the ThinkPads are just a bit more pleasing to use. If you can deal with its extra heft and somewhat mushy keyboard, the E4300 offers an industry-leading combination of endurance and processing power.

Dell Latitude E4300 Review

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The E4300 is one of the most stylish business notebooks we’ve tested. The polycarbonate and aluminum chassis features a tastefully minimalist design with squared edges, with a handful of blue status lights dotting the top of the keyboard. Our review unit was black, but unlike most business notebooks, the E4300 is available in blue and red. The standard six-cell battery is a blemish on the uniform design, as it not only bulges out uncomfortably from the back, but also is painted in a mismatching silver.



With its lid closed, the E4300 measures 1 inch at its thinnest and 1.3 inches at its thickest points. With the optional battery slice attached to the bottom, the thickness increases dramatically to 2 inches at its thickest. The E4300 weighs a full 5.2 pounds with the slice attached, and 3.8 pounds without it. The Lenovo ThinkPad X300 and X301, by comparison, weigh only 3.3 and 3.4 pounds, respectively, when equipped with their six-cell batteries like dell KD476 battery, dell TD347 battery, dell Inspiron 1000 battery, dell Inspiron 2200 battery, dell 312-0292 battery, dell INSPIRON 2600 battery, dell INSPIRON 2650 battery, dell 1G222 battery, dell BAT3151L8 battery, dell Latitude X300 battery.

The E4300’s full-size keyboard has its keys in all the standard positions. Touch typists who like a highly tactile feel will prefer the Lenovo X300’s springy keys, but can still thrive with the E4300’s decent, if unremarkable, feedback.



Like its main competitor, the E4300 offers both a pointing stick and a touchpad. The tiny touchpad offers little surface area for movement, though tweaking its driver settings made it easy enough to navigate. The pointing stick affords greater accuracy, but its rubber nub is indented in a way that makes it both coarse and slippery at the same time. We found our finger slipping frequently as we tried to move around the desktop.

The 13.3-inch, LED-backlit display offers impressively bright, vibrant images and strong viewing angles. Watching a DVD of Star Wars: A New Hope, we were pleasantly surprised by the trueness of the blacks in outer space scenes and the brilliant fidelity of other colors like the blue sky over Tatooine or the gold metal on C-3PO’s chassis. At half-brightness, the screen was well illuminated; at 100 percent, it was overkill.

Like many 13.3-inch displays with 16:10 aspect ratios, the E4300’s screen has a native resolution of 1280 x 800. However, we would have preferred the larger workspace provided by a 1440 x 900-pixel resolution, something the E4300’s main competitors, the Lenovo ThinkPad X300 and X301, both offer.

The E4300 is equipped with an ambient light sensor, which is supposed to make subtle adjustments based on available light, raising the brightness in well-lit rooms to compete effectively with other light sources, while dimming the screen in darker locations to save battery life. Unfortunately, in several well-lit rooms, the hyperactive light sensor annoyed us by continuously raising and lowering the screen’s brightness every few seconds, even though we were sitting still and the overhead lights remained constant. In a darker room, the sensor calmed down and adjusted itself only once, but was still less useful than simply changing the brightness manually. Fortunately, deselecting a box in Dell’s control panel software disables the sensor, a choice we recommend.

Though marketed as a business system, the E4300 had better sound and video quality than many consumer notebooks we’ve tested. As stated above, DVD playback was incredibly smooth, with truly vibrant colors and sharp images and true blacks. Watching streaming high-def video on Fox.com produced similar results. When watching movies or listening to streaming music via Napster, the sound coming from the speakers was loud, clear, and free from distortion. We would most certainly recommend the E4300 for giving presentations to smaller groups.

The E4300 accommodates a couple of advanced interfaces, but as a trade-off, offers only two USB ports. The right side of the system features an optical drive, mic and headphone jacks, an ExpressCard/34 slot, a FireWire port, and the lone USB port. The left side has a Smart Card reader, a VGA-out port, and an eSATA port, which doubles as one of the USB ports. The front lip contains a memory card reader, while the back houses the Ethernet port. We appreciate the ability to connect to high-speed storage devices offered by the eSATA and FireWire ports, but we wish there was one additional USB connector.

Though the E4300 comes standard with Windows Vista, you can configure it with Windows XP, which is how our review unit arrived. Therefore, we were not able to run PCMark Vantage, our standard benchmark for today’s business systems. However, in the older PCMark05 benchmark, the E4300 and its 2.4-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU scored a strong 5,787, well above our average of 3,714 for XP-powered notebooks.

For this kind of price, we would hope for a discrete graphics or switchable graphics option. However, the Latitude E4300 is available only with an integrated Intel GMA 4500HD graphics chip. The GMA 4500HD offered mixed performance results, returning a strong score of 2,210 in 3DMark03—600 points above our category average for ultraportable notebooks—while scoring a slightly below-average 775 on the more-demanding 3DMark06 test.

Not surprisingly, the E4300 did not fare well on our gaming test. On F.E.A.R., the system garnered a measly 24 fps at 800 x 600 and an unplayable 14 fps at its 1280 x 800 native resolution.

Dell Streak 7 (T-Mobile)

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The Streak 7 is a pretty straightforward slab. The glossy black front panel slopes downward on the left and right sides to improve gripability. The sides and back are made of a dark charcoal plastic, with the back carrying a subtle diamond pattern emblazoned with a silver Dell logo.

At 7.9 x 4.7 x 0.5 inches and weighing 1 pound, the Streak 7 is a little larger and heavier than the Samsung Galaxy Tab ( 7.5 x 4.7 x 0.5 inches, 13.4 ounces) and the Viewsonic ViewPad 7 (7.1 x 4.3 x 0.45 inches, 13.2 ounces). The slate felt light but solid in our hands and didn't creak when we pressed on it, as some cheaper tablets do.

Like the original 5-inch Dell Streak, the chassis was designed with battery such as dell 312-0393 battery, dell Latitude D800 battery, dell Inspiron 8500 battery, dell 8N544 battery, dell Inspiron 8600 battery, Dell Precision M60 battery, dell Inspiron 6400 battery, dell Inspiron E1505 battery, dell Inspiron 1501 battery, dell GD761 battery landscape-oriented use in mind. Unlike the Galaxy Tab, the front-facing webcam is on top when the tablet is in landscape mode. A volume rocker and the power button sit at the top of the chassis. On the left side are a speaker and 3.5-inch headphone jack. A full-size SD Card slot and a SIM card slot sit underneath a flip-out door on the right of the unit.

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Like many tablets today--including the Samsung Galaxy Tab--the Dell Streak 7 uses a proprietary docking port to charge or connect to your PC. The device comes with a single docking-port-to-USB wire and a USB AC adapter for charging. Unfortunately, though you can copy files to or from its internal memory, you cannot charge the Streak by connecting it via USB; it can only get power from the wall.

The 7-inch 800 x 480 glossy screen has strong viewing angles both from extreme left-right and titled positions. However, the glossy surface, which is made of durable Corning Gorilla Glass, is a fingerprint magnet and shows lots of imprints when held up to a light source. Colors look true, but are not nearly as vivid as those produced by the Galaxy Tab.

Unfortunately, the 800 x 480-pixel screen resolution is a huge disadvantage for the Streak 7, particularly when compared to the Galaxy Tab's 1024 x 600 display. When you consider that most Android phones have the same resolution, the Streak 7 lacks one of the most important benefits slates have over handsets. This paltry amount of screen real estate effectively prevents the Streak 7 from having dual-paneled apps such as the Galaxy Tab's Calendar, or from showing most web pages at full width without zooming out.

Also, because it fits fewer pixels into its 7-inch panel, each dot is larger. Graphics in games such as Angry Birds and Asphalt looked much less sharp than they did on the Galaxy Tab.

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Like all but the cheapest tablets, the Dell Streak 7 uses a capacitive digitizer that supports multitouch gestures. In our testing, the device was responsive to our taps and pinch-to-zoom was extremely smooth in all applications, particularly the browser.

The Streak 7's 1-GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 CPU insures that it can play any kind of video you throw at it. In our tests, downloaded videos, including a 1080p Quicktime trailer of Iron Man 2 and a 1080p WMV file of Coral Reef Adventure, were completely smooth and sharp. However, the Streak 7 does not come with a pre-loaded video app, so in order to play Quicktime and WMV files, we had to install third-party applications such as Act 1 or Vplayer. However, the Streak was able to natively play 720p videos we recorded with its built-in camera.

We were particularly impressed with the Streak 7's ability to play online Flash videos. When we were connected to T-Mobile's 4G network, we streamed both a 720p clip of Glee from Fox.com and a Flash Green Hornet trailer from Sony.com. Amazingly, both videos started almost immediately and streamed smoothly, though we noticed a little blockiness in the picture.

For a 7-inch slate, the Streak offers really strong audio playback. When we tried playing both the bass-heavy R&B tune "Forget Me Nots" and the guitar-dominated "Back in Black," sound was clear if not overly rich. At maximum volume, the music was quieter than most netbooks we've tested, though loud enough to fill our small living room.

Like the Samsung Galaxy Tab and many other devices, the Dell Streak 7 comes with the Swype keyboard pre-installed; this lets you draw a continuous line between letters to form a word. If you don't like drawing lines or find it difficult to pick up, you can just tap the individual letters as normal. However, if you start tapping too quickly, Swype will think you are drawing a line and start connecting the keys.On most tablets and phones, users who don't like Swype can disable the software in the settings menu and get a standard Android keyboard instead. Unfortunately, we were unable to turn Swype off until we installed Better Keyboard (a third-party app).

Overall, we were able to type effectively with one or two fingers. Because the keys are so large in landscape mode, we only rarely hit the wrong letter. A blue glow appears around each key as you hit it, which lets you know your tap was registered. The Dell Streak 7 also has haptic feedback, which gives you a small vibration when you hit each key. You can turn this feature off in the settings menu, but we found that having it on made it even easier to tell that we'd hit the right key.

Dell XPS 15z Review

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If it weren't for the hinge and the raised Dell logo on the lid, the XPS 15z might be confused for the 15-inch MacBook Pro at a quick glance. Its aluminum lid, magnesium-alloy chassis, and chrome trim around the edges exude more style than the regular XPS line. The deck is a slightly darker metallic color than the lid, and the two speaker grilles on either side of the keyboard have a diagonal pattern that continues on the vents on the bottom and back. Some might find this pattern to be a bit much.

The one design feature that seems out of place is the ribbed barrel hinge. We think it clashes with the grille pattern, and the section connected to the lid doesn't quite line up with the sections that are connected to the deck. We wouldn't raise a fuss if this were a budget notebook, but it's a borderline eyesore on a system in this price range.

At 15.2 x 10.3 inches, the XPS 15z's footprint is slightly larger than the MacBook Pro's (14.4 x 9.8 inches), but at just 0.97 inches thick, it's marginally thinner than Apple's notebook (1 inch). It's enough for Dell wich battery like dell Y9943 battery, dell RC107 battery, dell Latitude D620 battery, dell 312-0386 battery, dell PC764 battery, dell TD175 battery, dell Latitude D820 battery, dell Latitude D830 battery, dell MM165 battery, dell YD626 battery to boast that the XPS 15z is the thinnest 15-inch notebook on the planet, but you're not likely to notice the difference. Still, the regular XPS 15 (1.5 inches thick) looks positively chunky by comparison.

The XPS 15z's 5.6-pound weight is equal to that of the 15-inch MacBook Pro (and a full pound less than the XPS 15), which didn't make it all that uncomfortable to carry around. However, the smaller MBP is easier to fit into a messenger bag.

After playing a Hulu video for 15 minutes at full screen, the XPS remained fairly cool. The touchpad registered just 82 degrees Fahrenheit, the space between the G and H keys was 89, and the middle of the underside was 85 degrees. However, after we played World of Warcraft for about 10 minutes, the XPS 15 became noticeably hotter: The bottom near the vents reached 104 degrees, and we could also feel the left side of the keyboard heat up, too.

The XPS 15z's island-style keyboard is one of the more stylish we've seen. However, we wish form followed function more. The rounded keys don't have as much travel as we'd like. When we were typing it just felt too shallow. We like the fact that the keyboard is backlit, but when the backlighting is turned off, it's hard to read the letters and numbers.

We also like that there's a dedicated eject button for the DVD drive, but wish the Function row had been reversed, so we didn't have to press Fn in order to, say, adjust the volume.

The 3.9 x 2.3-inch touchpad is not only spacious, but friction-free and highly responsive as well. We were able to execute multitouch functions such as pinch-to-zoom, rotate, and scroll with ease. The two mouse buttons below feel a tad mushy, but are plenty large.

The XPS 15z's 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080-pixel glossy display was wonderfully crisp and bright. At 300 nits, it's brighter than a typical notebook display (usually around 200 nits), and it showed. During the bleak and moody scenes in the trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two, we could make out the smallest details, and darker areas showed little, if any, pixelation. The XPS 15z's panel also has a higher resolution than the 15-inch MacBook Pro, which sports 1440 x 900 pixels.

While not the JBL speakers on the original XPS line, the two large speakers on either side of the XPS 15z's keyboard pumped out a good amount of high-quality sound. Everything from Lady Gaga's "Lovegame" to Jay-Z's "Takeover" sounded crisp and clear, but the lack of a subwoofer, as on the XPS 15, was evident.

On the left side of the XPS 15z are two USB 3.0 ports, one USB/eSATA with PowerShare, HDMI 1.4, Mini DisplayPort, and a 9-in-1 card reader. The right side has a slot-loading DVD drive and headphone and mic jacks. The rear has an Ethernet port.

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While it's not Skype HD-certified, a caller during a video chat said that the XPS 15z's 1.3-megapixel webcam was able to render finer details in our face and clothes, and the dual embedded microphones picked up our voice clearly and cleanly. However, it should be noted that the XPS 15 has a 2-MP HD webcam.

The 2.7-GHz Intel Core i7-2620M processor and 8GB of RAM in our XPS 15z powered the system to a score of 8,094 in PCMark Vantage. That's about 2,500 points higher than the category average and 400 points higher than the 15-inch MacBook Pro, but about 500 points shy of the XPS 15 we tested, which had a 2-GHz Intel Core i7-2630QM quad-core processor.

The 750GB, 7,200-rpm hard drive booted into Windows 7 Home Premium in 1 minute and 7 seconds, which is even with the category average, but 14 seconds slower than the XPS 15. However, it duplicated a 4.97GB folder of multimedia in 2 minutes and 38 seconds, a rate of 32.3 MBps. This showing was slower than the XPS 15 (33.3 MBps) and the MacBook Pro (36.4 MBps), but all were in the same ballpark, and comfortably above the 26.3 MBps average.

Transcoding a 114MB MPEG-4 video to AVI using Oxelon Media Encoder took 40 seconds on the XPS 15z, placing it between the XPS 15 (42 seconds) and the MacBook Pro (37).

Dell Releases Its Lightest Laptop Ever

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updated its lineup of business notebooks today with a 2.5-pound laptop designed for executives who want to make last-minute changes to presentations while airborne.

Dell updated its lineup of business notebooks today with a 2.5-pound laptop designed for executives who want to make last-minute changes to presentations while airborne.

The Latitude X1 was designed with business travelers in mind, from its reinforced casing (which wards off shifting airline baggage in the overhead compartment) to a sealed keyboard that limits the damage caused by coffee spills. Dell reduced the size of this model's power adapter and battery such as dell D5561 battery, dell G5345 battery, dell Inspiron 500m battery, dell Inspiron 510m battery, dell Inspiron 600m battery, dell Latitude D500 battery, dell Latitude D505 battery, dell Latitude D510 battery, dell Latitude D520 battery, dell Latitude D600 battery to reduce the system weight to 2.5 pounds, making this system the lightest laptop in the company's arsenal.

Business customers can purchase the notebook with service plans that promise next-day repairs within the United States, as well as with international plans that cover travel elsewhere in the world, Dell said.

Small Notebook Popularity

Ultraportable notebooks have remained a niche product category in the United States, despite their popularity in many other parts of the world. This has shown signs of changing in the past six months, however, as Intel has introduced newer versions of its Centrino mobile technology, lowering the cost of the older versions.

Rival PC vendor Hewlett-Packard's lightest business notebook weighs 3.5 pounds, but comes with the regular version of Intel's Pentium M processor, which outperforms Ultra Low Voltage versions. The HP Compaq Business Notebook Nc4010 comes with a six-cell battery.

Dell Gives Businesses Options in Battery Recall

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Dell has come up with several ways to help corporate customers replace defective laptop batteries that may have thousands of the dangerous batteries deployed all over their enterprises.

"We are working with customers to develop a plan that best suits their specific circumstances," said Anne Camden, a spokeswoman for Dell, in Round Rock, Texas. "But we are constantly tweaking the plan."

Dell has been scrambling since last week to implement a worldwide recall of 4.1 million batteries, included on laptops made between July 1, 2004 and July 18, 2006, because of the risk that the batteries may overheat and cause a fire. The computer maker announced the recall in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The batteries were made for Dell by Sony, which is shouldering some of the costs of the recall.

Dell is pursuing any one of three strategies to help corporate customers get replacement batteries, Camden said. For companies with a large dedicated IT staff, that staff will track down the affected laptops within the company, order the replacements, and install them when they arrive from Dell. In other instances, Dell may set up and staff kiosks on the campus of a corporate customer to handle the recall.

But the third option may be the most likely: "In some cases, some larger corporate customers may just leave it to the end user," Camden said.

That is the approach being taken by Electronic Data Systems in Plano, Texas. The global enterprise technology service provider sells and maintains Dell computers for military, civilian government agencies and corporate customers, said spokesman Travis Jacobsen. EDS also uses Dell computers in its own organization.

If an enterprise has people in offices scattered around the country or the world, the simplest thing for them to do is have each employee go to Dell's Web site, determine if their battery kile dell Latitude D610 battery, dell 312-0068 battery, dell 6Y270 battery, dell 1X793 battery, dell C1295 battery, dell Inspiron 1100 battery, dell Inspiron 5100 battery, dell 6T473 battery, dell Inspiron 630m battery, dell Inspiron 640m battery is subject to the recall and apply online for a replacement to be sent to that field office, Jacobsen said.

For example, one of its military customers, a joint Navy Marine Corps Intranet contract, uses 45,000 Dell laptops subject to the recall, Jacobsen said. Shipment of new batteries will be expedited for military users "in forward command units where they really need their system to keep running," he said, while others may have to wait a couple of weeks.

EDS has service level agreements with enterprise customers defining the level of service EDS must provide for their Dell computers, or other brands for that matter. "We are not seeing any loss of productivity from our customers or violation of service-level agreements" due to the recall, Jacobsen said.

Dell punts germ-free netbook for school kids

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Dell is now flogging a series of colorful netbooks aimed at the clumsy, snot-nosed germ-factories affectionately known as school children.

The new Dell Latitude 2100 netbook line for the educational sector can be loaded with custom kid-intended kit like an antimicrobial keyboard, rubberized kickball-like exterior, and a special "network activity light" on the back of the lid designed to tattle to teacher when the kids are trading Pokemons online rather than paying attention to lessons.

The guts of the machine are common netbook fare. The Latitude 2100 is equipped with an Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz processor partnered and the Intel 945GSE chipset. It starts at 512MB of RAM (up to 2GB) and 16GB solid state hard drive (max is a 250GB standard HDD), and it can sport either Windows or Ubuntu Linux.

Latitude 2100 netbooks have a 10.1-inch LED display with 1024x576 pixel resolution. There's also an optional touch screen upgrade for the screen. The chassis is covered in a thick, rubberized cover that hearkens to the bouncy projectiles every kid worth their salt has been assaulted with in a spirited game of dodgeball. The bottom is vent-free to avoid a spilled juicebox compromising the tot's education.

A basic system weighs about 2.9 pounds with a 3-cell battery such as dell Inspiron 8100 battery, dell Inspiron 4000 battery, dell Inspiron 4100 battery, dell Inspiron 2500 battery, dell Latitude CPX battery, dell Latitude C600 battery, dell Latitude C610 battery, dell Latitude C640 battery, dell 1691P battery, dell 75UYF battery and sized 10.43 inches by 0.89 inches.

The Latitude 2100 begins at $369 loaded with the Ubuntu Linux 8.10 operating system or with Windows XP Home Edition for $30 more. There's also an option for Windows Vista Home Basic (which for netbooks may be considered a form of child abuse. Please consult your local goverment before purchasing). UK pricing begins at £259.

To appeal specifically to the education market, Dell's includes a handful of extras tho make the system cool for school, but collectively makes it far more costly. For example, the germ-slaying keyboard is an additional $20 (and only available in the US for some reason. So much for Germ Free Adolescents). Adding a camera is $15, and the 10.1inch Touchscreen LED display is $30. Getting any color beyond "Chalkboard Black" runs up another $30. Not huge sums by themselves, but the total price exceeds $500 apiece quite easily. The computer also doesn't appear to come with any educational software to speak of.

Dell is also presently rolling out a "Mobile Computing Station" for the Latitude 2100 – which is a sort of cart/docking station that holds 24 of the netbooks. Students can slide their Latitude 2100's into the station - sort of like a blade server - to recharge the machines and even remotely update the netbooks.