Dell Vostro V13 review

What if we told you there was a way to have the svelteness and power of Dell’s $1,500 Adamo for less than half the price? You’d be interested, right? That’s exactly why we’ve been trying to get a Dell Vostro V13 in-hand since its launch a few months ago. Besides starting at $449 – our unit’s configuration rings up at a higher $844 — the less-than-an-inch-thick, aluminum clad Vostro V13 promises five hours of battery life and good-enough everyday performance. Sure, it was created for small business types, but its blend of style, performance and price had us convinced that it could be the best ULV laptop out there. Ah, but is it? We’ll tell you everything you want to know after the jump in our full review.

Continue reading Dell Vostro V13 review

Dell Vostro V13 review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS T101MT gets the quick and dirty video review treatment

We’ve already witnessed ASUS’ netvertible undergo some hands-on testing, but the units inspected up until now have all been pre-production devices. Well, finally a retail T101MT has made its way out to online scribes and we’ve got the first video review for your delectation. We’re told that the machine is still pretty thick and a tiny bit too heavy to comfortably hold in one hand for long periods of time, but also that the previous touchscreen issues have been rectified — it is now “responsive and precise.” The general theme is that you shouldn’t expect too much out of it, particularly since a 480p YouTube clip gobbled up 95% of the T101MT’s CPU cycles and still provided only a choppy picture, but if your ambitions are sufficiently moderate, ASUS’ latest could prove a versatile little machine. Video awaits after the break and a summary review can be found at the source.

Update: The YouTube video played was a stop-motion animation running at 5fps and therefore shouldn’t be considered representative of the T101MT’s video performance. What should be taken as representative is the fact that it maxed out the CPU.

Continue reading ASUS T101MT gets the quick and dirty video review treatment

ASUS T101MT gets the quick and dirty video review treatment originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alienware M11x gets torn down, earthly components found inside

Having filled our business laptop lust with a T410 undressing yesterday, today we’ve come across a comprehensive teardown of Alienware’s gamer-friendly M11x ultraportable. Touted as the world’s most powerful 11-inch notebook, this is certainly one of the most tightly packed, with the battery and CPU cooling solution taking up more than half of the real estate, while the hard drive, memory, and wireless modules leave just enough room for an asymmetric speaker arrangement. From this strategic view, the examination moves into a very finely detailed investigation of the onboard components, including the particulars of the heatpipe-equipped heatsink, the SU7300 CULV processor, and the GT 335M GPU from NVIDIA. The whole thing culminates with the weighing of all the important parts, leaving us with pretty much no mysteries about this decidedly manmade machine.

Alienware M11x gets torn down, earthly components found inside originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MSI serves up Core i5 within 13-inch X-Slim X360 ultraportable

Those lowly Core 2 Duo chips already feel like a long forgotten memory, and frankly, that’s a-okay with us. MSI is helping its seductive X-Slim line get a taste of Intel’s Core 2010 lineup with a Core i5-520UM processor, which sits alongside up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a 250GB / 320GB / 500GB hard drive, integrated graphics, a 13-inch (1,366 x 768 resolution) panel, HDMI / VGA outputs, a pair of USB 2.0 sockets, 4- or 8-cell battery and an SD / MMC card reader. There’s also built-in WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, twin speakers and a chassis that measures under 1-inch thick. Per usual, MSI is in no hurry to out pricing and release details, but we’ll be sure to keep an eye (or two) out for both.

MSI serves up Core i5 within 13-inch X-Slim X360 ultraportable originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG’s ultraslim X300 launching in Asia, Middle East and South America this month (updated)

An 11.6-inch display fit within a thickness of 17.5mm. Sure, we’re mixing up our measurement systems, but whichever way you slice it, the X300 is one extremely thin device. LG has now announced that availability in the Asian, Middle Eastern and South American markets will be forthcoming this month, though all we know on the topic of price is that it’ll “vary country-by-country.” With up to 2GB of RAM, integrated 3G, and a 128GB SSD option on tap, we’ll even forgive the inclusion of a 2GHz Menlow CPU (Atom Z550) that places the X300 closer to Sony’s VAIO X than the Core 2 Duo-driven MacBook Air that it aspires to be associated with. Check out our hands-on pics over here while we wait, hope and pray for a release on more familiar shores.

Update: We’ve now come across LG’s Korean pricing, which is set at 1,590,000 Won ($1,424).

[Thanks, Sascha and juanvaldez]

LG’s ultraslim X300 launching in Asia, Middle East and South America this month (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG’s ultraslim X300 launching in Asia, Middle East and South America this month

An 11.6-inch display fit within a thickness of 17.5mm. Sure, we’re mixing up our measurement systems, but whichever way you slice it, the X300 is one extremely thin device. LG has now announced that availability in the Asian, Middle Eastern and South American markets will be forthcoming this month, though all we know on the topic of price is that it’ll “vary country-by-country.” With up to 2GB of RAM, integrated 3G, and a 128GB SSD option on tap, we’ll even forgive the inclusion of a 2GHz Menlow CPU that places the X300 closer to Sony’s VAIO X than the Core 2 Duo-driven MacBook Air that it aspires to be associated with. Check out our hands-on pics over here while we wait, hope and pray for a release on more familiar shores.

[Thanks, Sascha]

LG’s ultraslim X300 launching in Asia, Middle East and South America this month originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Keepin’ it real fake, part CCLIX: X-Slim X340 KIRFed, MacBook Air empathizes

The secret to a great KIRF is that it represents not just a knock-off but an homage to a beloved product (at least, that’s what we tell ourselves when we sit in our workshop, trying to build the first ever shanzhai Grippity). Recently spotted in the stalls of Shenzhen, the above device is reminiscent of the MacBook Air, yes, but more tellingly, the MSI X-Slim X340. This 13-inch (1366 x 768) bad boy features a 1.2GHz Intel ULV processor, 1GB of RAM, up to 250GB of HDD, WiFi and Bluetooth, an SD card slot, three (count ’em!) USB ports, and HDMI out. You can expect to spend about $350 if you ever manage to track ‘er down — or you can just say the hell with it and go back to reading Garfield Minus Garfield. Either way, we support you. Get a closer look after the break.

Continue reading Keepin’ it real fake, part CCLIX: X-Slim X340 KIRFed, MacBook Air empathizes

Keepin’ it real fake, part CCLIX: X-Slim X340 KIRFed, MacBook Air empathizes originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Panasonic slips Core i5 into ‘world’s lightest’ 12.1-inch Toughbook C1 convertible tablet

We tell ya — all this tablet talk sure has us feeling like it’s 2003. You know, minus all that Y2K hangover stuff. Anywho, Panasonic has today outed what it’s calling the planet’s lightest 12.1-inch convertible tablet PC, with the Toughbook C1 offering the line’s iconic rigidity while boasting 10 hours of battery life, an optional Gobi 2000 mobile broadband module and Intel’s decidedly potent 2.4GHz Core i5-520 processor. All told, the device weighs just 3.2 pounds with a single battery (3.7 pounds with twins), and there’s full support for digitizers and multitouch. Other specs include a shock-mounted, flex-connect 250GB hard drive, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, a WXGA (1,280 x 800) LED-backlit panel, a triple hinge design and the ability to survive a 30-inch plummet. It’s available to (quite literally) smash iPads starting this June, though that $2,499 starting price may be somewhat off-putting to those without copious amounts of disposable income.

Continue reading Panasonic slips Core i5 into ‘world’s lightest’ 12.1-inch Toughbook C1 convertible tablet

Panasonic slips Core i5 into ‘world’s lightest’ 12.1-inch Toughbook C1 convertible tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ThinkPad X201, X201s and X201 Tablet join G455 and G555 in Lenovo shipping party

When Lenovo said the new X series would be ready in early March, it meant early March. It’s only the second of the month, but the company’s online retail site is already prepared to ship you any one of its Core i7-refreshed ultraportables — whether it be the standard X201, the svelte X201s, or the multitouch-enabled X201t — while also adding availability of the G455 and G555 machines for the budget-conscious crowd. The X201t is notable for being the first 12-inch X series unit with a touchpad, though its price is no less eyebrow-raising, with the cheapest configuration costing a cool $2,134. If you don’t strictly need a swiveling touchscreen, the far saner $1,349 and $1,099 stickers are attached to the base X201s and X201 models while the new G series asks for a meager $699 investment.

[Thanks, Shedd]

ThinkPad X201, X201s and X201 Tablet join G455 and G555 in Lenovo shipping party originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 07:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba Portege M780 marries Core i7 with tablet ergonomics, goes official

What would we ever do without our eagle-eyed readers? Bob has spotted the above M780 tablet PC from Toshiba (which we first heard of a couple of weeks ago) on the company’s official site, though its product page has yet to be linked to from any of the home pages. So it’s official, but sort of prematurely so. Browsing through the spec sheet, this update to the M750 seems to lack for nothing, as its maxed out variant (priced at $1,799) offers a 2.66GHz Core i7-620M, 4GB of DDR3 RAM and a 7200RPM 320GB hard drive. Okay, you could stand to upgrade those integrated graphics perhaps, but it’s a potent package nonetheless. It’s also interesting to see these 12-inch convertible tablets maturing to the point of offering viable workstation performance, as the M780 is joined by Lenovo’s ThinkPad X201T and Fujitsu’s upcoming tablet in offering Intel’s finest and fastest dual-core processor inside.

[Thanks, Bob]

Update: Toshiba has completed the ceremonies of officialdom now, with a full press release, which also notes the addition of a multitouch panel to the Satellite Pro U500.

Toshiba Portege M780 marries Core i7 with tablet ergonomics, goes official originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 06:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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