Hasta La Gadget!

It’s baaack. Okay, to be fair Dell’s XPS brand never really went away — there’s been the Studio XPS and Adamo XPS — but as of today, the company’s refocusing its efforts and bringing back the tried and true multimedia laptop brand. Just like we’d heard, the new 14-,15.6-, and 17-inch machines will be available across the board with NVIDIA GeForce 400M GPUs (with Optimus / 3D Play support) and Core i5 / i7 processor options, but there’s more to these than just internal oomph — it’ll be one of the first laptops to ship with a Skype-certified HD webcam and they’re also equipped with high-fidelity JBL speakers. In terms of aesthetics, the machines pull in some styling from the new Inspirons with the wider battery base, however, instead of plastic, the lids are coated in anodized aluminum. (Of course, Dell wouldn’t be Dell without making the models available with Design Studio customization options — aka with crazy pattern options.) So, what’s the deal with pricing? The entry level systems — the $899 XPS 14, $849 XPS 15, and $949 XPS 17 — are all configured with Intel Core i5 460M processors, 1GB NVIDIA 420M graphics, 500GB 7,200rpm hard drives, 4GB of RAM and pack Intel WiDi. That’s not too shabby, but, of course, you’ll be able to configure ’em all with Blu-ray drives, more storage, memory, etc. Our review unit just arrived so expect a full work-up of the 14-inch system soon, but until then we leave you with the images and press release below.

Continue reading Dell XPS resurrected with NVIDIA graphics, HD webcams and JBL audio

Dell XPS resurrected with NVIDIA graphics, HD webcams and JBL audio originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Oct 2010 01:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We just spent some quality time with the new 13-inch MacBook Air, and it certainly seems like a worthy upgrade. It definitely feels significantly bigger than the 11-incher, and we noticed the function keys are standard MacBook size, as opposed to the shrunken ones on the 11. We also noticed that it was seriously instant-on — we popped the lid open and closed several times while taking photos, and it was ready to go the second we opened it. We’ll have more impressions and pics in a few, stay tuned!

Update: Video after the break!

Continue reading MacBook Air (13-inch) first hands-on! (update: video!)

MacBook Air (13-inch) first hands-on! (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Oct 2010 16:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has rolled out major upgrades for its puny MacBook Air — the machine that Steve Jobs believes is the “future of notebooks.”

“We think all notebooks are going to be like this one day,” says Jobs. The new notebooks will be available in stores right away.

Wired.com had some hands-on time with the Air, which now comes in 13.3-inch and 11.6-inch models. Follow along for our impressions and photos of the devices.

The Airs are mighty light: The 13.3-inch model weighs only 2.9 pounds, and its smaller sibling weighs 2.1 pounds. Both notebooks measure 0.68 inches at their thickest point and 0.11 inches at their thinnest point. The experience of holding one of these notes isn’t much different from the previous Air, however.

Immediately you’ll notice that launching an app is extremely fast on both of these notebooks, thanks to the use of flash storage.

Safari launched in a fraction of a second. Other apps were noticeably zippy with loading as well. The 11-inch model comes with either 64-GB or 128-GB flash storage, while its bigger sibling comes with 128 GB or 256 GB.

Other than size, a major difference is that the 13.3-inch model includes an SD card reader, while the 11-incher doesn’t.

Also, the 13.3-inch Air has a higher-resolution screen: 1440 by 900 pixels on the 13.3-inch model versus the 11-incher’s 1366 by 768 inches. For these reasons, I personally preferred the 13-inch model.

The MacBook Air costs between $1,000 and $1,600, depending on screen size and storage capacity.

See Also:

• New MacBook Air Will Come in 11 and 13-Inch Flavors
• Chinese MacBook Air Knockoffs Actually Look Awesome
• Rumor: Apple to Introduce 11.6-Inch MacBook Next Week

Apple asked itself what would happen if an iPad and a MacBook Air “hooked up.” Benefits from the iPad? “Instant on… great battery life, amazing standby time… solid state storage… and it’s thinner and lighter.” It’s 0.68-inches thick at its thickest, 0.11-inches at its thinnest, and weighs 2.9 pounds (the old MacBook Air was 0.76-inches thick and weighed 3 pounds). Naturally, Apple is going unibody construction here, with one of those big new glass trackpads. They’re also sticking with a 13.3-inch screen, running at a 1440 x 900 resolution (with an 11.6-inch “little brother” to boot). There’s SSD storage, a 1.86GHz or 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo processor (the same ones available on existing MacBook Airs, apparently), GeForce 320m graphics, and 2GB of RAM standard. Apple says its new “more stringent” battery life tests offer 7 hours of “wireless web” and 30 days of “standby.” Prices start at $1,299 for 128GB and $1,599 for 256GB of storage; they’re available today.

Be sure to check out our complete live coverage right here!

Continue reading Apple’s new MacBook Air (update: video)

Apple’s new MacBook Air (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Oct 2010 14:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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June was a lifetime ago, we’ll give you that, but surely you can’t forget those 16 Optimus-based laptops that NVIDIA teased us with at Computex, right? Right. At any rate, MSI has just come clean with a delightful pair of them, the FX700 and FR700. Both of these beasts boast 17.3-inch widescreen displays, the company’s own anti-scratch, anti-smudge coating and a design that actually looks fairly attractive given the hugeness. The former also includes up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, a Core i5 processor, NVIDIA’s GeForce GT 425M (1GB), HDMI / VGA outputs, 320/500/640GB hard drives, a DVD SuperMulti drive, four USB ports (two of the SuperSpeed variety), a 5-in-1 card reader, inbuilt webcam, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, gigabit Ethernet and a 6-cell Li-ion that’ll probably exhaust itself long before you’d like it to. The FR700 includes most of the same specifications, but opts for integrated Intel graphics for those who aren’t planning to dabble too long in Crysis. Per usual, MSI’s keeping quiet when it comes to pricing and release details, but we’d be shocked if they didn’t find their way onto retail shelves pre-Christmas.

MSI gets official with 17.3-inch FX700 and FR700 multimedia laptops originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Oct 2010 18:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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