A close-up of the Inspiron R keyboard and trackpad.
The new Vostro 3000 series laptops look a lot like the old ones, with a few tweaks: a raised chiclet-style backlit keyboard, and extra chrome lines around the trackpad.
The many interchangeable lids on the new Inspiron R line run the gamut from muted to...well, the opposite.
The back of the Inspiron R--lids attach and look seamless.
The Inspiron R's interior has a slightly more formal look, including what looks like a revamped keyboard design.
Dell killed off its 13-inch Adamo laptop recently, but it’s apparently decided to freshen up its Inspiron R notebook family for the spring. In addition to sporting the latest Intel Sandy Bridge processors, the new Inspiron R portables offer interchangeable lids that can be easily popped on and off.
The Inspiron R comes in 14-inch, 15-inch, and 17-inch flavors. The 14R starts at $599 and features either new Core i3 or i5 processors, up to 6GB of RAM, and up to a 640GB hard drive. The 15R has similar specs, but a slightly lower starting price of $549. Stepping up to the 17.3-inch 17R supposedly gives you the option of a Core i7 CPU, but Dell’s site doesn’t appear to offer that option yet. You can get a discrete Nvidia GeForce GT 525M graphics card, however, instead of relying on integrated graphics.
There’s a virtual rainbow of optional designer lids you can add on (25 in total), running from standard $39.99 colors like blue, pink, and red to $49.99 selections from designers like Deanne Cheuk and Mike Ming. Whether many people will actually pony up money for laptop fashion accessories, as Dell’s promotional copy suggests — “Start the day with a Peacock Blue lid, and switch it out for a design-inspired look at night” — is debatable, but give the company a few props for continuing to promote its conspicuous customization options.
Alienware’s M17x gaming notebook has already been treated to the finer things in life with Intel’s latest Sandy Bridge quad-core processors and now with Klipsch premium speakers too.
Unfortunately, not much else has been specified about the quality of these speakers except that they’ll have MaxxAudio 3 software from Waves as well as THX-certified ProMedia 2.1 technology integrated somewhere.
Otherwise, the 3D gaming laptop will have to rest on its existing laurels, such as NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285M graphics, HDMI-in support and an 8ms response time on the 17-inch widescreen display.
The M17x sporting these high-end speakers will be available this month for $1,499.
Dell has finally pulled the plug on the Adamoultra-portable line. The Adamo was Dell’s answer to Apple’s MacBook Air and featured a number of cutting-edge technologies - ultra-thin, ultra-portable, built-in SSD, built-in 3G. It was a cool bit of kit, but with a starting price of $2,000, it was just too much for a customers to swallow, especially given the less than stellar performance it offered. CNET learned that the Adamo was being discontinued yesterday, but today a search of the Dell website for Adamo confirms that it’s gone.
According to CNET, the Adamo brand may return later this year, falling under one of Dell’s existing consumer brands (such as the Inspiron, XPS, or Alienware). We’ll have to wait and see.
This isn’t a victim of Apple’s MacBook Air, more a victim of its own design and price.
For the first time in a few years, Hewlett-Packard has gone back to the drawing board and redesigned its professional-class laptops inside and out. Let’s take a closer look at the newEliteBook PCs.
The EliteBook 8460p and 8560p are each housed inside HP’s own DuraCase, which has met MIL-STD8710G military-standard testing specifications to combat against wear and tear. Other design notes include aluminum-alloy hinges, cast titanium-alloy display latches and the 360-degree rubber frame that stretches all along the outside of the display panel for added protection.
When it comes to business work, some of the extra handy redesigns include the spill-resistant keyboard with drains, the fingerprint reader has been shifted farther to the right side and there are fewer buttons at the top of the keyboard with more of an emphasis on function and hot keys. Users also have three options for a more secure login: face recognition via webcam, using the fingerprint reader and a good old-fashioned password.
The major differences between the 8460p and 8560p are the 14- and 15.6-inch diagonal lengths for the HD LED-backlit displays, 4.56- and 6.10-pound weights and the 8460p boasts a staggering battery life of up to 32 hours.
Hewlett-Packard is also introducing eight new, budget-friendly laptops under the ProBook umbrella, with display sizes ranging from 12- to 17-inches.
Starting with the B-Series, the 6360b, 6460b and 6560b sport 13.3-, 14- and 15.6-inch diagonal HD LED screens respectively. Each of these B-Series notebooks sport a magnesium-reinforced ABS chassis, a 360-degree rubber frame to protect the display, bead-blast aluminum display enclosures, and a spill-resistant keyboard with bottom-case drain ready to handle minor spills.
The B-Series is focused on productivity and “ultimate configurability,” so here’s a look at some of the specs ready for customization:
Second-generation Intel Core i3/i5/i7 dual-core processors or an Intel Celeron CPU
Windows 7 Professional
Up to 16GB of DDR3 memory
Up to 750GB of hard drive space or a 160GB SSD
Optional 3G
Wi-Fi
Optional HD webcam
SRS Premium Sound
Media card reader
Discrete launch buttons
Touchpad on/off button
Connectivity: Three USB 2.0 ports, eSATA/USB combo port, VGA, DisplayPort, Ethernet, RJ-11
The S-Series consists of five display options: the 12.1-inch4230s, 13.3-inch4330s, 14-inch4430s, 15.6-inch 4530sand 17.3-inch 4730s. Intended for small businesses or even in the home, the S-Series features many of the same protections as the B-Series and the EliteBooks, such as the spill-resistant keyboard, a fingerprint reader, face recognition login, and a durable chassis with a sleek brushed-aluminum finish.
Specs are focused more on multimedia purposes with the option of Power Express Switchable Graphics and HDMI connectivity. Other features include:
Second-generation Intel Core i3/i5/i7 processors or an Intel Celeron CPU
Windows 7 Professional
AMD Radeon HD 6470M with up to 1GB of dedicated GDDR5 video memory
Up to 8GB of DDR3 memory
Up to 750GB of hard drive space
Optional 3G
Integrated HD webcam
SRS Premium Sound
USB 3.0 connectivity
Optional 6-cell and 9-cell batteries
Both ProBook collections are expected to ship on March 15. The S-Series and the B-Series start at $579and $799.
The EliteBook 8460p and 8560p are each housed inside HP's own DuraCase, which has met MIL-STD 8710G military-standard testing specifications to combat against wear and tear.
HP EliteBook
The major differences between the 8460p and 8560p are the 14- and 15.6-inch diagonal lengths for the HD LED-backlit displays, 4.56- and 6.10-pound weights and the 8460p boasts a staggering battery life of up to 32 hours.
HP EliteBook
When it comes to business work, some of the extra handy redesigns include the spill-resistant keyboard with drains, the fingerprint reader has been shifted farther to the right side and there are fewer buttons at the top of the keyboard with more of an emphasis on function and hot keys. Users also have three options for a more secure login: face recognition via webcam, using the fingerprint reader and a good old-fashioned password.
HP EliteBook
Both EliteBook models support the HP 90W Docking Station and the HP 120W Advanced Docking Station. Additional customizable specs include second-generation Intel Core i7 quad-core processors or Core i3/i5/i7 dual-core processors, up to 16GB of DDR3 memory, AMD Radeon HD 6470M discrete graphics and USB 3.0 connectivity.
HP EliteBook
Slated to roll out in the United States on March 15, the HP EliteBook 8460p and 8560p will start at $999 and $1,099 respectively.
HP ProBook (B-Series)
Hewlett-Packard is also introducing eight new, budget-friendly laptops under the ProBook umbrella, with display sizes ranging from 12- to 17-inches.
HP ProBook (B-Series)
The 6360b, 6460b and 6560b sport 13.3-, 14- and 15.6-inch diagonal HD, LED-backlit displays respectively.
HP ProBook (B-Series)
Each of these B-Series notebooks sport a magnesium-reinforced ABS chassis, a 360-degree rubber frame to protect the display, bead-blast aluminum display enclosures, and a spill-resistant keyboard with bottom-case drain ready to handle minor spills.
HP ProBook (B-Series)
The B-Series is focused on productivity and "ultimate configurability."
HP ProBook (B-Series)
Customizable specs include second-generation Intel Core i3/i5/i7 dual-core processors or an Intel Celeron CPU, optional 3G connectivity, and up to 750GB of hard drive space or 160 of solid state drive space.
HP ProBook (S-Series)
Intended for small businesses or even in the home, the S-Series features many of the same protections as the B-Series and the EliteBooks, such as the spill-resistant keyboard, a fingerprint reader, face recognition login, and a durable chassis with a sleek brushed-aluminum finish.
HP ProBook (S-Series)
Specs are focused more on multimedia purposes with the option of Power Express Switchable Graphics and HDMI connectivity.
HP ProBook (S-Series)
Specs for the S-Series include Intel Core processor options, AMD Radeon HD 6470M graphics with up to 1GB of dedicated GDDR5 video memory, and USB 3.0 connectivity.
HP ProBook (S-Series)
The S-Series consists of five display options: the 12.1-inch 4230s, 13.3-inch 4330s, 14-inch 4430s, 15.6-inch 4530s and 17.3-inch 4730s.
HP ProBook (S-Series)
Both ProBook collections are expected to ship on March 15.
HP ProBook (S-Series)
The S-Series and the B-Series start at $579 and $799.
You can’t order it yet, but the HP TouchPad is definitely getting closer to release as it hasappeared on Amazon.The TouchPad is the webOS packing tablet that I had the pleasure of seeing last month at the launch event, and it is an exciting product.
The TouchPad is a 9.7-inch tablet with a dual-core Snapdragon processor inside that runs webOS 3.0, the next version of the HP/Palm OS built for tablets. It has the ability to work with the HP Pre 3 smartphone also announced last month.
There is no pricing on the Amazon listing, so we’ll have to wait to see how HP positions this in relation to the iPad 2. To see the TouchPad in action, check out my videos captured at the launch event. You’ll see why I am so excited about the TouchPad.
Without much of celebration, Hewlett-Packard has quietly churned out another all-in-one desktop for business-minded computer users.
Obviously, the HP Omni Pro 110 trims down the computer set up by combining the tower and the monitor into a single, “uncluttered” unit.
20-inch HD anti-glare, widescreen display (1,600 x 900 resolution)
Intel Pentium or Intel Core 2 Duo processor
Windows 7 Professional (32- or 64-bit)
Intel G41 chipset
Up to 1TB of hard drive space
Up to 4GB of DDR3 SDRAM memory
SuperMulti LightScribe DVD Writer drive
Integrated high-performance speakers
Webcam
Microphone
6-in-1 media card reader
Connectivity: Six USB 2.0 ports, RJ-45, Audio line-out
The efficiency doesn’t stop there. Here’s a look at some of the specs that should contribute to a higher level of productivity:
Not all of these will be in the base model, but at least there is plenty of room for customization. The Omni Pro 110 isn’t available just yet, but when it is, pricing will start at $639.
Introduced at CES 2011, the Dell Venue is the company's second Android smartphone. It's available unlocked from Dell for $499.99.
The Venue's feature set includes Android 2.2 with Dell's Stage user interface, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, a 4.1-inch WVGA AMOLED touch screen, and an 8-megapixel camera.
The Venue's design is quite similar to the Windows Phone-based Dell Venue Pro, except it doesn't have a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. This makes the smartphone more pocket-friendly and more comfortable to hold.
The left side features a silent ringer switch, and there's a volume rocker and a dedicated camera button on the right.
The bottom of the device houses the Micro-USB port and speakers.
The Venue's 8-megapixel camera includes a flash, autofocus, 4x digital zoom, and standard editing options.
Unfortunately, picture quality is pretty poor. Indoor shots came out hazy with washed-out colors. Photos taken outdoors were slightly brighter but still a bit cloudy.
My Dell Venue Pro (see my review) is my favorite and primary Windows Phone 7 device. I still haven’t gotten the pre-NoDo no functionality update, but according to FoneArena the Venue Pros shipping in India may already have the NoDo update installed with cut, copy, and paste capability.
The software version on their Dell Venue Pro is OS:7.0.7355.0 and Firmware:2250.1800.7355.202. For comparison my Dell Venue Pro shows OS:7.0.7004.0 and Firmware:2250.1500.7004.105. As I mentioned I do not yet have the pre-NoDo update that is proving quite problematic for Samsung devices and still hasn’t even come to my T-Mobile HD7. You can check out the NoDo update on the Dell Venue Pro in the video from FoneArena below.
The first device in the US to launch with the NoDo update should be the Sprint HTC Arrive on 20 March. Even though I don’t yet have any updates, it is encouraging to me to see a Dell Venue Pro running the update and hopefully it comes soon to all DVP devices.
My recent research indicated many issues with the Dell Venue Pro may be related to the microSD card and I posted some initial thoughts with the device last thursday. It has now been a full week since I have had my DVPand after handling several WP7devices I have to say the Dell Venue Pro is the BEST Windows Phone 7 device available today. Check out my image gallery and detailed thoughts on this device below.
I think one thing holding back Windows Phone 7 adoption in the US is the limited number of devices and carriers. There are two smartphones that work with T-Mobile’s 3G data network, one sold by the carrier and the other only through Dell’s retail channels. I purchased the HTC HD7 on launch day in November, but skipped the Dell Venue Pro after reading lots of horror stories with WiFi connectivity and regular resets. FYI, my DVP has a build date on the box of 7 January 2011 so this later build date may have an impact on reliability of the device. I understand that many people have had issues with the device, but this article is about MY experiences with it that may be tied to the build date, microSD card I have installed, or just plain luck that seems to follow me with my smartphones.
Image Gallery: Check out photos of the Dell Venue Pro Windows Phone 7 device.
In the box and first impressions
The Dell Venue Pro ships in a rather compact black box decorated with device images and specifications. I purchased the 8GB model knowing that I was upgrading it to 32GB. Inside the box you will find the “Dell Phone”, battery, T-Mobile SIM card, USB charger and cable, stereo headset with microphone, and a few brochures and guides. James captured a short video of me with my Dell Venue Pro earlier this week that you can check out below.
I previously held the DVP for about 10 minutes at a Microsoft meeting and even then thought the hardware felt great. After taking my own DVP from the box, this feeling of quality and solid design was reconfirmed. The DVP reminds me a bit of the Dell Axim X51v in terms of beautiful design and construction. I love the textured back, soft touch top and bottom with soft touch bars on the front above and below the display, the classy silver sides, the solid and fluid slider mechanism, and the well designed keyboard. Unlike my HD7 with the loose volume button and offset kickstand, the DVP has no hardware design flaws that I can find.
Specifications
Specifications for the Dell Venue Pro are pretty typical for Windows Phone 7 and include the following:
Windows Phone 7 operating system
1 GHz Snapdragon processor
Slide-up display with QWERTY portrait keyboard
5 megapixel camera with single LED flash
4.1 inch WVGA (480×800) capacitive touch AMOLED Gorilla Glass display
Dedicated, touch-sensitive Back, Start, and Search areas
Proximity sensor, light sensor and digital compass
Integrated GPS
Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)
Bluetooth 2.1
FM radio
3.5 mm headset jack
1400 mAh battery
Non-accessible microSD card slot with included 8GB card
Dimensions: 4.76 x 2.54 x 0.59 inches and 6.74 ounces
Specifications do not vary much on Windows Phone 7 at this time with most manufacturers just meeting the minimum specs required by Microsoft. The standout features of the Dell Venue Pro are the 4.1 inch AMOLED Gorilla Glass display and QWERTY keyboard.
I took the risk and removed the 8GB microSD card from my DVP and inserted a SanDisk Class 2 32GB card as I described in this post. Keep in mind that you have to remove a black VOID sticker and that you might never be able to get warranty service through Dell if you perform this replacement. However, I now have the highest capacity Windows Phone 7 device available and can load it up with games, movies, and music to my heart’s content.
Walk around the hardware
The front of the DVP is obviously taken up by the 4.1 inch AMOLED display. I compared it to my HTC HD7 with standard 4.3 inch TFT display and the DVP has more vibrant colors with darker blacks. The fonts don’t seem to be as crisp and defined on the DVP, the tiles are smaller (obviously), and the color are much richer and less washed out. Honestly, the display on both are good and it really comes down to a preference in colors and I like the vibrancy and richness of the AMOLED one. I haven’t had any sunny days here in Washington or Alaska to test them side-by-side so I cannot comment on this.
The display is made of Gorilla Glass too so it should not scratch.There is a bit of convex curvature to the display, but I haven’t found that impacts any usage of it while making it a bit unique. The display does get fingerprints pretty easily and I am always wiping it on my shirt or pants to clean it off.
There is a speaker grill centered above the display, but unfortunately there is NO indicator light to be found on the device. This is a bit of an issue since you cannot tell if the DVP is charged or if there is some kind of missed notification when the display is off. Below the display are the three required WP7 touch sensitive areas. I really like the soft touch rubber bar along the top and bottom of the front as it gives it a quality feel.
When you slide up the display with the hinge mechanism that is both solid and smooth you will find the full QWERTY keyboard. There are four rows with the numbers being the alternate key in the top row. There are dedicated keys for FN, one shift, one return, one backspace/delete, comma, period, symbol, emoticon, space bar, and an accent button I cannot seem to get to work. The great thing is that double pressing the space bar enters a period (like RIM) and press and hold of keys enters the alternate symbol/punctuation. New sentences have the first letter capitalized as well. At first I didn’t think pressing the keyboard woke up the device, but sometimes it does and after hitting combinations of keys I still haven’t figured out what a consistent way to do this. You still have to swipe up on the display though to get off the lock screen, but this does save having to hit the power button on the top back.
The keyboard has good sized buttons with great tactile feedback. It is a bit tight, but I am quite fast at using it so like all of these it just takes practice. The nice thing about using the keyboard is that the soft input keyboard auto hides so you get the full view of the display to use. Also, there is one line of prediction going on so you can use this to speed up text entry. It works just like the soft input keyboard where pressing the space bar accepts the bold suggestion or you can tap on the display to select an alternative.
On the right side you will find attractive high gloss silver material with two volume buttons on the top and a dedicated camera activation/capture button on the bottom. There is nothing but glossy silver on the left side.
The bottom is covered in black soft touch material with two metal grilles on either side of the microUSB port. One of these openings is for a mono speaker and the other is for the microphone even though it appears to be stereo speakers. I found the volume to be very loud and more than satisfactory for listening to music without a headset. The microUSB port is inset a bit so you have to make sure to insert your cable carefully.
The top also has this great black soft touch material with the 3.5mm headset jack and power button on either side of the bottom piece (not the slider display top part).
The back is one piece of removable plastic that has an attractive pattern of gold on black. You will find the 5 megapixel camera lens and single LED flash up top with the Dell logo embedded in the upper thired. There is a Windows Phone label down towards the bottom. The flash is pretty useless and I did not find it to be helpful in taking pictures in low light. The camera seems to do OK in good outside lighting, but the cameras on these Windows Phone 7 devices have all been rather disappointing. This is a real shame given that Microsoft has nice camera functionality for launching from a locked condition. Now if Nokia comes onboard WP7 we might get a fantastic camera experience in the future.
The back of the slid up display also has this gold on black design with a soft touch back so there is a lot of classy design elements on the Dell Venue Pro.
Walk through the software
I presented a comprehensive look at the Windows Phone 7 operating system in my Technical Preview guide article last July that covered most all elements of the OS. Since that time, Microsoft rolled out the full Marketplace and Xbox LIVE gaming support as I cover weekly in my Windows Phone 7 Wednesday articles.
The Windows Phone 7 operating system is fun, fluid, intuitive, and fast. I keep going back to using WP7 as my daily driver, even with some of the limitations on copy/paste and multi-tasking.
There are only a couple of apps that I can see are likely put on the DVP by Dell and these are Pageone Finance and Newsroom. Pageone Finance is a financial management software that works on iOS, BB, and Android and since there is no Mint.com app on WP7 I went to this new service for my financial management. Newsroom is a utility like HTC Hub that provides weather, news, and stocks in a single user interface.
There are a few T-Mobile apps/services on the Dell Venue Pro. They are T-Mobile Family Room, T-Mobile My Account, TeleNav GPS Navigator and T-Mobile TV apps. Since Bing Maps does not provide navigation or voice guidance support I like using the TeleNav GPS Navigator service (it is $10/month). T-Mobile TV is their branded MobiTV and some content is available for free while you can pay another $10/month for lots more content. I am just using it for paid content at this time and haven’t subscribed since I have Netflix and SlingPlayer Mobile on my WP7 devices.
Stability, performance, and daily usage
I have been using Windows Phone 7 since last July and honestly it has been the MOST STABLE OS I have ever used on a mobile phone. The only issues I have had with WP7 is the occasional lock up of Marketplace that happens if I leave Marketplace during an active session (download or search). I was very hesitant to purchase the Dell Venue Pro and actually canceled a couple of orders that I place over the last couple of months. After my research indicated the issues may be due to early devices and/or the microSD card I decided to take the plunge since I wanted something more than the HD7.
In one week of heavy usage, my 32GB Dell Venue Pro has been as stable as my HD7 and other WP7 devices I have tested. I have connected it via both WiFi and 3G for Marketplace downloads and upon initial startup I had something over 25 apps in the download queue and the device never stumbled or locked up. I connect it daily to my Bluetooth car speaker for listening to podcasts (thanks to BringCast) and taking/making calls and it has performed without issue. I get a solid 3G signal similar to what I see with other phones and have no concerns with RF reception quality. I generally leave WiFi and Bluetooth on all the time and just let it connect automatically when in range of these networks (just like I do with my HD7) and performance has been flawless.
The battery seems to be a bit better than my HD7, but neither of these WP7 devices will last me a full day of heavy usage. I use my phones a LOT and do require charging during the day to go from 5 am to 10 pm, but that is normal for me so I can live with it. I may look to get an extra battery or an extended battery when Seidio releases one too.
Gaming with Xbox LIVE games rocks and I love that I am earning achievement points on the go since I only get an hour or two of Xbox 360 time each month due to my busy schedule.
Pricing and availability
You can buy the Dell Venue Pro now from Dell directly or through Microsoft stores that have them. I have yet to visit a Microsoft store, but need to swing by the one in Bellevue soon to check it out. You can buy the 8GB model for $99.99 with a T-Mobile contract or $449.99 with no contract (this is what I did) and the 16GB for $149.99 or $499.99. In typical Dell fashion you also get 1 year limited warranty and 1 year advanced exchange service with your Venue Pro purchase.
I understand there are many people voicing issues with the Dell Venue Pro in various forums, but my particular device and setup has honestly been rock solid and awesome. IMHO, the Dell Venue Pro is the BEST piece of Windows Phone 7 hardware and I would buy another in a second if this one was dropped and shattered.
The Adamo was Dell’s answer to Apple’s MacBook Air and featured a number of cutting-edge technologies - ultra-thin, ultra-portable, built-in SSD, built-in 3G. It was a cool bit of kit, but with a starting price of $2,000, it was just too much for a customers to swallow, especially given the less than stellar performance it offered.
