Dell

A lower-priced Adamo 13 has popped up on Dell's Web site. The Adamo page is now showing the price of the aluminum-clad ultrathin laptop at $899--and this discount comes with an unexpected bonus, too.

The Adamo is a slick, well-conceived alternative to Apple's 13-inch MacBook Air, which now starts at $1,299. And at 0.65 inches thick, the Adamo is about as thin as a 13-inch Windows laptop gets.

Dell has not only brought down the price but also upped the configuration from the $999 model it had been selling for a while. Now, for $899, you get a 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo SL9600 Intel processor and 4GB of memory… Read more

The aluminum-clad Dell Adamo 13 isn't a MacBook Air. But it's close enough to warrant another look at the ultraslim laptop and its integrated 3G option.

First, let's get the price comparison out of the way. The 13.4-inch Dell Adamo has come way down in price since it was announced in March 2009. The ultraslim laptop now sells for $999 with a 128GB solid-state drive, 2GB of memory, Intel GS45 integrated graphics, and a 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 ultra-low-voltage (10-watt) processor. It weighs in at just under 4 pounds.

The recently announced 13.… Read more

If the new MacBooks are the "future of notebooks," as Apple CEO Steve Jobs proclaimed, that future is off to a good start. For Apple, that is.

ChangeWave Research said this week that Apple is seeing a surge of interest in its MacBooks, driven by the two MacBook Air lines announced in October. A whopping 36 percent of buyers planning to buy laptops say they'll purchase a MacBook, a jump of 11 points since a previous survey a month ago, ChangeWave said.

"Simply put, it's the highest level of planned laptop buying ever for Apple … Read more

The Dell Inspiron Duo hybrid tablet pricing starts at $549, and will be available for preorder at the Microsoft Store today and directly from Dell starting next week.

As previously reported, the tablet-Netbook crossover is being made available for preorder in conjunction with the grand opening of the Microsoft Store in the Bellevue Square Mall in Washington, according to this Microsoft blog.

The Duo comes with a dual-core Atom N550 processor, a 1366x768 display, 2GB of RAM, and a 320GB hard disk drive.

The tablet's uniqueness is defined by the ability to open up the case, flip the screen, … Read more

Dell is expected to roll out its hybrid tablet-laptop in two phases, with the first phase coming Thursday, as the PC maker takes aim at Apple's iPad with a novel twist on the tablet concept.

Pre-sale order information for the 10-inch Inspiron Duo is expected to be disclosed this week in conjunction with a Microsoft store opening in Bellevue, Wash, said industry sources familiar with the launch plans.

Dell is also expected to make an announcement regarding the Duo early next week, possibly on November 23. At that time, it will be available for order on Dell's Web … Read more

Dell's hybrid Netbook-tablet is "coming soon," according to a Dell promotional video. Will this give prospective iPad buyers pause?

The Inspiron Duo, which debuted at Intel's developer conference in September, converts in a novel way between a Windows 7 Netbook and Windows 7 tablet. To convert to a Netbook, for example, the user opens the tablet, flips the screen, which then converts it to a traditional keyboard-equipped, clamshell Netbook design.

And, for a 10-inch device, it's not underpowered, packing a dual-core Atom processor.

When the Inspiron Duo debuted, a Dell executive, on stage, couldn't … Read more

Neither Dell nor Hewlett-Packard nor Sony have laptops that compete directly with the 2.3-pound, 11.6-inch MacBook Air. Is this a new market segment that those three laptop leaders and others will have to address?

Apple has a knack for creating new markets, the iPad being the most recent example. Though not as groundbreaking or broadly market-defining as the iPad, the smaller Air is clearly unique: wrapped in aluminum, while considerably lighter than a typical 3-pound 11.6-inch laptop. And it packs higher-end silicon--and better performance--than Netbooks. (I spent some time in three different Apple stores in the Los Angeles area right after the new Airs were announced, and from what I saw, the 11.6-inch MBA elicited the most oohs and aahs--hands down.)

I would submit that the Air has wedged itself (pun intended) into an elite sub-2.5-pound laptop segment where little direct competition currently exists. There are hordes of 10-inch class Netbooks out there. But, again, a $350 Windows 7-based Netbook is a very different class of laptop. Then there are products like Dell's 11.6-inch Inspiron M101z. But that is a low-end plastic Netbook-class product.

Lenovo--though not listed up top--warrants an honorable mention with its IdeaPad U160 11.6-inch laptop, which has the screen measurements to match the 11.6-inch Air but is about a pound heavier and for all intents and purposes is a fairly conventional Intel Core i series-based laptop that's been squeezed into a tight form factor. And Acer has the 11.6-inch TimeLineX series, but this is 3 pounds and really not in the same class as the Air.

As pointed out in a previous post, Sony has its Vaio X, Y, and Z series, but the former is a Netbook, and the latter two are 13-inch designs, which are not nearly as sleek and small (at 4 pounds and 3 pounds, respectively) as the 11.6-inch Air, albeit the Vaio is competitively priced and offers faster Core i series processors and higher-end Nvidia GeForce GT 330M graphics. But, again, size is the key metric for comparison. … Read more

Dozens of potentially defective laptop models from Apple, Dell, and HP appear in an Nvidia legal settlement, the first time that defendant Nvidia has publicly recognized a comprehensive list of models potentially affected by a bad graphics chip.

As CNET has reported, the case dates back to 2007, but the recent settlement of a class action suit against Nvidia documents a lengthy list of laptop models from Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Apple. To date, these lists have been issued separately by vendors.

Laptop product lines potentially affected, as listed beginning on page 4 of the settlement (PDF), include the Dell Insprion, Dell Vostro, Dell Latitude, Dell Precision, HP Pavilion, Compaq Presario, 15-inch MacBook Pro, and 17-inch MacBook Pro. The list contains more than 50 models from Dell, HP, and Apple combined. The settlement also states that affected laptops will be repaired "free of charge."

To recap, Nvidia has already taken charges--starting in July 2008--totaling over $450 million to cover the costs associated with the warranty, repair, return, and replacement of laptops affected by a "weak die/packaging material set" in certain graphics processing unit (GPU) products. Weak die and packaging refers to the chip itself and the chip's packaging, respectively.

In July 2008, Dell described the problem as "multiple images, random characters on the screen, lines on the screen, no video," among other symptoms.

In response to the settlement dated August 12, 2010, Nvidia issued this statement today.… Read more

Dell has published a back-to-school chart comparing its Studio laptops with Apple MacBooks--all very favorable to Dell, mind you. So, what's accurate, and what's missing?

First, the chart in all of its stark Dell-Apple price gap glory, which Dell shows as $1,249 per model:

A couple of things need to be pointed out quickly: The 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros are made from metal, and the Dell Studio is mostly plastic. This can translate into a significant aesthetic and durability difference for some consumers.

Also, graphics chips are not specified. The MacBooks come with Nvidia GeForce GT 330M discrete graphics, switchable with Intel Core i series graphics. The Dell Studio is spec'd mostly with Intel graphics (both older Core 2 and new Core i series graphics). At the upper end of the Studio 15 lineup, Dell uses the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 graphics chip and an ATI chip for the high-end Studio 17. It may be the case that these higher-performance ATI chips are used in the Studio 15 and 17 shown in the chart, as they are both pricier configurations shown with 1GB of graphics memory. (Dell did not respond immediately for comment.)

Clarifications aside, the chart says more about Apple than Dell. "This is a classic Apple story," said… Read more