Archive for May, 2008

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Dell Vostro 1710 available

Wednesday, May 14th, 2008

Almost one month ago Dell started refreshing its Vostro line with models 1310 and 1510. The biggest brother in the Vostro family, Vostro 1710, is available today. Current configuration options (in the US) are as follows:

  • Processor: up to Intel Core 2 Duo T9300.
  • Operating System: Windows Vista or XP.
  • Monitor: 1440×900 anti-glare or 1920×1200 TrueLife (glossy)
  • Memory: up to 4 GB.
  • Hard disk: up to 640 GB (2×320 GB).
  • Graphics card: Intel GMA X3100 or Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT (256 MB).
  • Pricing: from 799 USD.

As it’s already available in other european countries, we can expect it in the UK and Ireland very soon.

Direct link: Vostro 1710.

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New Inspiron models by the end of May (Inspiron 1435, 1535, 1735)

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

Interesting information has been leaked about the new Inspiron models from Dell: the 15.4″ model, Inspiron 1535, is going to be released on May 26th, while the 17″ model, Inspiron 1735, is going to be released on June 9th (both dates are for the US, there is no info about other countries). The 14.1″ model, Inspiron 1435, will be released later, probably in October.

Dell Inspiron 1535

New Inspiron laptops show a new attractive design and offer features not available in current models, such as fingerprint reader, optional backlit keyboard, 3G modem… There is not much info about specs: for example, current Inspiron 1525 lacks dedicated graphics, and it would be a very interesting option for the new models.

The refreshment of the Inspiron line complements the ones of the Vostro and Latitude series, but at the moment there is no info about any refreshment of the XPS line.

Source: Engadget; found at Gizmologia.

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Good laptop reviews of the week: Lenovo Ideapad U110 and others

Monday, May 12th, 2008

Here you have a selection of the best laptop reviews of last week:

As you can see, this week the star is the Lenovo Ideapad U110, an 11.1″ ultraportable that competes directly with the Sony Vaio TZ series and Asus U1. You can use the subscription service to get the compilation every week.

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Good laptop reviews of the week: new Toshiba Satellites, Alienware Area-51 m15x and Macbook Air vs Thinkpad X300

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

Here you have a selection of the best laptop reviews of last week:

  • Toshiba Satellite A305 (15.4″, it’s A300 in some countries): Notebook Review, Laptop Magazine. Both reviewed models sport an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650.
  • Toshiba Satellite U405 (13.3″, it’s U400 in some countries): CNET.
  • Alienware Area-51 m15x (15.4″, at the moment the only laptop this size using a GeForce 8800M GTX): Notebookcheck. If you are interested on it, go for a good laptop cooler.
  • Toshiba Portégé R500 (12.1″, SSD version): PC Magazine.
  • Macbook Air vs Lenovo Thinkpad X300 (13.3″ ultraportables): Tom’s Hardware.

New Satellites look very promising, the first review of the Satellite U405 was already published so it’s not in this list, but if you are after a 13.3″ laptop it’s worth reading. This week some reviews of the Lenovo Ideapad U110 have been published, but that’s a matter of next selection!

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Powerful portable speakers: X-Mini MAX Capsule Speakers

Monday, May 5th, 2008

Most laptops suffer from weak, low-quality speakers. One of our users (thanks Piero) has a suggestion to solve the problem: the powerful X-Mini MAX Stereo Capsule portable speakers. He just uploaded two videos to Youtube to give you an idea of the power of this tiny devices:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxRz_slZImQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXV1uB1CD9g

The videos were recorded using a cell phone, so the real sound quality is difficult to grasp, but they look impressive!

In spite of being designed for mp3 players, this speakers seem a big improvement over most laptop speakers. According to the review at Hardwarezone, the sound is deep and clear, while according to the review at CNET it’s a bit strident. You can find more info at x-mini.com.

Maybe they are not perfect, but for the price (less than 30 € at shoxx.com), it’s difficult to find more powerful portable speakers.

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