Hasta La Gadget!

After a rocky, if not comical launch, Dell’s Inspiron Mini 10 is now shuffling out in full force to legions of soon-to-be netbook owners. For those of you who already bought in — via QVC or the more traditional street corner vendor model — we’re wondering what you’d do differently if magically given a mythical Do Over token. Would you simply offer up the options (TV tuner, for one) promised during the machine’s announcement? Would you tweak that trackpad at all? Add a little bulk in exchange for a beefier battery? Paint the whole thing fuschia and make it reek of week-old bananas? Feel free to get as crazy as you’d like in comments below; who knows, maybe Round Rock’s tuning in to just see what you have to say.

Filed under: Laptops

How would you change Dell’s Inspiron Mini 10? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Apr 2009 23:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been awhile since this family saw any updates, but we must say, Dell did a pretty laudable job with the redesign here. Make no mistake — these guys are still aimed squarely at the gamboling suits in attendance, but we could certainly see a consumer or two pulling the trigger. The freshened line includes the 13.3-inch Vostro 1320, the 15.4-inch Vostro 1520, and the 17-inch Vostro 1720, all of which come with pre-installed videoconferencing and webcam software (so long as you purchase the integrated webcam and microphone). Furthermore, users can now opt for an SSD in place of the traditional hard drive, a fingerprint reader for added security or an encrypted HDD with Wave Systems software. The whole trio is available today in North America and select South American countries starting at $569 (Vostro 1520), $629 (Vostro 1320), and $649 (Vostro 1720).

Filed under: Laptops

Dell launches freshened Vostro 1320, 1520 and 1720 laptops originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, we’ve already seen Android pop up on the HP 2133 Mini-Note thanks to some intrepid DIYers, but now comes word from The Wall Street Journal that HP’s got programmers looking into using the Google OS officially for an upcoming netbook. VP of the PC division Satjiv Chahil’s quoted as saying they’re in the process of assessing its capabilities, so don’t get your hopes up anytime soon. Also mentioned is Asus, which we already knew about from back in February. Interestingly, the report states that Dell’s been tweaking the software for use in multiple devices due out this year, including a MID and one of those long-rumored smartphones — that is, assuming they make one that can tickle the carrier’s fancy.

Update: HP confirms that it is testing Android but “has made no decision yet whether to offer Android in products.”

[Via Unwired View]

Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops

WSJ: Android being considered for HP netbook, Dell MID and smartphone originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We finally managed to wrestle one of the sleek Studio XPSs from Dell’s mitts, and we’ve got the pics to prove it. At first glance, the 13-inch laptop is striking, with its leather wrapped back and high gloss finish. However, we have a few minor quibbles that make the laptop a little less exciting than we’d hoped. Firstly, the leather is a bit rippled across the top — not a huge deal, but it skews the “design” aspect here. In a similar fashion, the super-glare display is just as distracting as it is on other screens of this type, and there seems to be another slight ripple — or wave — in the plastic (though this isn’t wholly uncommon). Once you open the box, you’re greeted to a matte, low-profile keyboard that feels terrific to the touch, though unfortunately the trackpad is not only minuscule in size, but located to the left of center, which makes no sense to us (especially on something of this size). For hands like ours, we found the experience to be a bit cramped. On the software side, the boot into Vista was certainly speedy, and though we had typical issues (crapware, pop-ups, general bugginess), the system still felt pretty snappy. We’re going to be taking a more in-depth look — especially at the capabilities of that NVIDIA GeForce 9400M G 9500M GPU — but for now, feast your eyes on the gallery below!

Update: Our mistake! We actually have the model with the 9500M GPU. Even better!

Filed under: Laptops

Dell Studio XPS 13 unboxing and hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell’s putting on the neon lights for its new line of Inspiron desktops, and as usual, customization’s the key here. In addition to two body types — slim (pictured) and mini tower — there’s eight different colors to choose from: Piano Black, Pure White, True Blue, Formula Red, Tangerine Orange, Spring Green, Plum Purple and Promise Pink. That last one’s tied to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure program, which the company currently donates to for every Promise Pink laptop it sells. Processor options include Intel Celeron, Core 2 Duo, and Core 2 Quad, and AMD Sempron, Athlon X2 and Phenom X4. Other specs include six USB ports (two in front, four in back), up to 8GB RAM on select systems, integrated Intel graphics or ATI Radeon GPUs, and up to 750GB HDD for slims and 1TB for mini-towers. If you’re currently in the market for a new PC, you might want to hold off just a tad longer. These new Inspirons are due out this Spring for US and China and start at $299 for the lowest of the low-end models.

Filed under: Desktops

Dell revises Inspiron lineup, adds octuplet of color options originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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