Aug 12

First Look at Dell Inspiron Zino HD

Posted in: Today's Chili

Dell_Desktop_Colors.jpg

Behold the small-form-factor Dell Inspiron Zino HD. It looks like an oversized external hard drive, and it boasts plenty of ports, and comes in lots of pretty colors. That’s all, folks!

Dell let us get up close and personal with its yet-to-be-released ultracompact desktop, and we have some photos to show for it, but you’ll have to stay tuned for more on what this little PC can do in the near future–for now, we’re sworn to secrecy. To tide you over, more images after the jump!

No Comments | Tags: ,
Aug 12

Dell to Ship Nickelodeon-Branded Mini

Posted in: Mini, netbook, Tech Toys, Today's Chili

dell_nickelodeon.jpg
Dell will ship a Nickelodeon-branded version of its Inspiron Mini 10v netbook, preloaded with some kid-friendly technologies and Nickelodeon’s trademark slime motif, or an optional SpongeBob SquarePants or iCarly logo.

The Inspiron Mini Nickelodeon Edition will be available online in the United States at Dell.com and on Walmart store shelves and Walmart.com in October. Prices have not been announced, although the standard Mini 10v costs about $299.

Each Dell Inspiron Mini Nickelodeon Edition features an easily personalized user interface, and links to WhyVille.com, an educational resource, and Nick.com, where kids can select their own video content. The netbook also comes with a 15-month subscription to McAfee Family Security as well as LoJack for Laptops.

Asus has announced a similar netbook, but that one will be co-branded with Disney.

No Comments | Tags: ,
Aug 08

The Dell Mini 12 is Dead; Long Live the Dell Mini 9

Posted in: netbook, Today's Chili

Dell Mini 9.jpgDell has decided that 12-inch netbooks are too… well, too something, and has decided to retire the Dell Mini 12, Dell said in a blog post on Saturday. Good news, however, as the Mini 9 is back, after Dell originally retired it in early June.

“So, should you read anything into this as far as Dell’s commitment to
the netbook space?” Dell blogger Lionel Menchaca wrote in a blog post. “Nope. It really boils down to this: for a lot of
customers, 10-inch displays are the sweet spot for netbooks.”

Dell is offering the Mini 9 for $299, and the Dell Mini 12 is still being offered at Dell’s factory outlet for what appears to be $569 or less.

So, we can draw one interesting conclusion from all this: at Dell, at least, the netbook stops and the notebook starts at 12-inch screens.

No Comments | Tags: ,
Aug 05

Windows 7 On The Toshiba mini NB205-N210 Netbook

Posted in: netbook, Today's Chili, Toshiba, windows 7

toshiba mini nb205.jpg

One of the first things we did when our copy of Windows 7 RTM arrived at PCMag Labs was to bring our array of netbooks out of the dark ages of Windows XP and into the next generation of Microsoft’s OS. The new Toshiba mini NB205-N210 was one of the first to receive the upgrade, and it handled the transition perfectly. Installing the OS was a breeze; drivers were automatically found for all of the hardware, giving it the same functionality coming out of the install as it had in Windows XP.
As our laptop expert Cisco Cheng noted in his review, the NB205-N210 is the vanilla ice-cream of netbooks: unexciting, but still pretty sweet. The generic netbook hardware isn’t a problem for Windows 7. It runs with the beautiful Aero interface looking almost as nice as it does on a desktop. Even features like Flip 3D work without many hiccups.
Like most netbooks, the Toshiba mini NB205-N210 can’t handle high-definition Flash video without making it look like a slideshow. Windows 7 does nothing to change that. But standard-def YouTube and Hulu videos ran well, with only the occasional stutter to detract from ultraportable viral videos. There seems to be very little performance overhead with the new OS; everything runs just as well as it did in XP.
Though Windows 7 doesn’t improve the netbook’s middle-of-the-road keyboard and lack of outstanding hardware, it manages to bring the dated interface and feature set of XP into the Aero-infused present, even with those constraints. The Toshiba mini NB205-N210 isn’t just a respectable netbook. Consider it Windows 7-ready as well. For an in depth look at the netbook, check out our full review and benchmarks here.
No Comments | Tags:
Aug 04

Newegg and CyberPower Release Back-To-School Gaming PCs

Posted in: Today's Chili

cyberpower.jpg

August and September usually herald the return of classes and homework to kids across the nation. CyberPower and Newegg want to sweeten that deal by adding a back-to-school gaming machine to the piles of textbooks and mechanical pencils.
The series comes in three flavors for young gamers with different needs (and budgets). The entry-level CyberPower PC Gamer Ultra 7209 is equipped with a 2.8-GHz AMD Athlon II X2 240 processor, 4GB of RAM, 500 GB of hard drive space and an ATI Radeon HD 4550 graphics card. Not too shabby, especially for $490. 
The Gamer Infinity 6314 sits in the mid-range of desktops, with a 3 GHz Core 2 Duo E8400 processor, 4GB of RAM, a 1-terabyte hard drive and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 graphics card for $1009.
At the upper-end of the spectrum is the Gamer Xtreme 1019, running an Intel Core i7 processor at over 3 GHz, 12GB of RAM, two terabytes of hard drive space, a Blu-ray drive and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 graphics card. This epic gaming rig will set you back $2,149, a small price to pay for all that, ahem, class work you’ll be using it for.
All of the systems are available now from Newegg.com.
No Comments | Tags:
Jul 29

Alienware M17x Sighting Caught On Video

Posted in: Today's Chili, video

PCMag’s lead analyst for laptops Cisco Cheng takes a look at the uber-powerful-yet-stylish Alienware M17x.

This behemoth of a gaming laptop is toting three graphics cards, as well as an Intel quad-core CPU. Unlike other high-powered laptops, it also offers a uniquely cool style in place of the typical bare-bones chassis. For more, check out our full review.

No Comments | Tags:
Jul 22

Dell Drops Adamo Price to MacBook Air Levels

Posted in: macbook air, Today's Chili, ultraportable

Dell’s ultra-light Adamo is getting a price drop, which should make a bit more competitive with Apples’s entry into the space, the MacBook Air. The low-end Adamo now costs $1,500–the same as the low-end Air.

The company has dropped the price of its high-end Adamo down to $2,230, which is still a bit pricier than the top-of-the-line Macbook Air, which runs $1,800–though for the record, that configuration of the Dell has 3G built-in and twice the RAM of the Apple at 4GB.

No Comments | Tags: ,
Jul 17

Averatec Intros $799 All in One PC

Posted in: Today's Chili

Averatec_D1005.jpgAveratec released a new 22-inch All in One PC today, throwing down a challenge to the other AIO makers like Apple, HP, Dell, eMachines, and Gateway. The Averatec D1005 will slot in between the 25.5-inch D1205 and the 18-inch D1133 all in one PCs Averatec already has on the market.

Having similar proportions to an all-black iMac, the D1005 comes with a Pentium Dual Core E5200 processor, 22-inch (1,680 x 1,050) widescreen LCD display, 320GB hard drive, 3GB of RAM, Windows Vista Home Premium and a DVD burner. With its Pentium Dual Core processor, more memory, and full version of Vista, the D1005 is likely to be more capable than AIO nettop systems running the Intel Atom platform in the $599-699 price range.

The D1005 is available for purchase at Best Buy.com, TigerDirect.com, Newegg.com and Onsale.com.

Will Averatec become the Vizio of all in one PCs? Time will tell.

No Comments | Tags:
Jul 15

HP Pavilion dv6-1253cl: A Multimedia Powerhouse

Posted in: HP, laptop, Today's Chili
HP_Pavilion_dv6_1253cl.jpgMultimedia desktops better watch their backs; the HP Pavilion dv6-1253cl is a powerful, portable desktop replacement. I took the machine for a spin to test how well it handles photo editing and Blu-ray discs, and the results were pretty impressive. In testing, the dv6 racked up impressive numbers, almost on par with the Dell Studio XPS 16, which costs nearly twice the HP’s $950 price tag. For your money, the dv6 comes with a 500GB hard drive, 4GB of RAM, a 2.26-Ghz Intel dual-core processor, an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 chipset with a whopping 1GB of dedicated graphics memory, and a 16-inch, 1366 x 768 display.
The display’s resolution wasn’t quite enough to handle the full 1080p Blu-ray format, but the scaled down version looked pretty nice. Playing HD video seemed no more taxing than opening a Word document, thanks to the dv6’s processing and graphics prowess. Frame skip? Not even remotely likely. This machine is built for HD, and it shows.
For more on how the dv6 performed, keep reading after the jump.
No Comments | Tags:
Jul 15

Samsung Releases N310, Newegg Shows It Off

Posted in: netbook, Today's Chili

samsung N310.jpg

Samsung’s new N310 netbook may not be too different from the rest of the field spec-wise, but it sure is pretty. The computer, which is available starting today from Newegg.com, comes in a choice of three colors–blue, red and black–with finish that extends over the entire body of the machine. Expect the typical netbook assortment of hardware. The N310 runs the Intel Atom N270 at 1.6Ghz, 1GB of RAM, integrated Intel graphics, a built in SD reader and a 10.1-inch, 1024 x 600 screen.
Newegg has recorded a video demoing the computer via YouTube, the first in their series of video product reviews.
No Comments | Tags: