Dell has announced the launch of its Vostro 3000 series. The range of thin, lightweight laptops contain the latest processors from Intel. Dell says its Vistro 3000 series is designed for small businesses that require robust mobile computing solutions. All of the Vostro 3000 laptops have an embedded webcam, embedded microphone, 802.11g/n wireless LAN, Bluetooth and Windows 7. The best model in the line, the Vostro 3700, includes the Intel Core i7 Quad Core processor and the option of up to 1GB of NVIDIA GeForce discrete graphics. Pricing starts at $679. You can find the specs for the Vostro 3700 17.3-inch laptop here. Specs for the Vistro 3400 and Vistro 3500 can be found here and here.
Best Buy Carries Three Samsung Laptops Exclusively
Best Buy started carrying three Samsung laptop models exclusive today. The three models include the 14 inch R480 ($729.99), 15.6 inch R580 ($829.99) and the 17.3 inch R780 ($929.99).
The R480 model has an Intel Core i3 processor, 500GB storage, 4GB RAM, 14 inch LED backlit LCD, Intel GMA 4500MHD, Blue-ray drive, HDMI out, WiFi
The R580 model has an Intel Core i5 processor, 500GB storage, 4GB RAM, 15.6 inch LED backlit HD screen, NVIDIA GeForce 310M, Blu-ray, WiFi
The R780 model has an Intel Core i5 processor, 500GB storage, 4GB RAM, 17.3 inch LED backlit HD screen, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M, DVD drive, WiFi, Bluetooth
Windows 7 Home Premium runs on each of the laptops. You can find more information about these three laptop models here.
Vice Principal Defends Herself in School District's Laptop Webcam Spying Case
The vice principal at a Philadelphia school district is denying allegations she spied on a student using a webcam on the student's laptop that was loaned by the school district. Parents are understandbly very disturbed that the school district had the ability to remotely access webcams contain on laptops loaned out by the school district. One parent said it is like Big Brother, from George Orwell's novel, 1984. Take a look:
School District Could Remotely Activate Webcams on Loaned Laptops
A Philadelphia school district was reportedly installed software on loaned computer that allowed it to activate webcams on the laptops remotely. The school district claims it only ever activated the webcams to find missing or stolen laptops.
The Lower Merion School District, in response to a suit filed by a student, has acknowledged that webcams were remotely activated 42 times in the past 14 months, but only to find missing, lost or stolen laptops – which the district noted would include "a loaner computer that, against regulations, might be taken off campus."
"Despite some reports to the contrary, be assured that the security-tracking software has been completely disabled," Superintendent Christopher W. McGinley said in a statement on the district's Web site late Friday.
The students were probably surprised to find out the school had the ability to spy on them remotely even if it was not using the technology as it claimed. The school has posted some updates about the webcams on its website. If one school district is doing this then are probably others around the country that have the ability to remotely view webcams on loaned laptops.
Dell Announces the Dell Alienware M11x Gaming Laptop
Dell announced its Alienware M11x at CES. Dell says its new PC is the "most powerful 11-inch gaming laptop in the universe" as well as one of the easiest to carry. The small red machine runs on Intel Core i7 processors. Gamers can switch between the NVIDIA GT335M graphics card and integrated graphics. In gaming mode the machine has 2 hours of battery life. In regular mode it gets 6.5 hours. Endgadget says it is expected cost under $1,000 and will ship this Spring.
Acer America has announced the new Ferrari One notebook PC. The Ferrari One is style after the Ferrari brand and features the brand's red color and logo. The Ferrari One features an 11.6-inch HD widescreen display. It weighs 3.31 pounds. Specs include an AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor, ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics, 4GB of DDR2 667MHz system memory, 250GB hard drive and a uilt-in optical drive. The Ferrari One runs on Windows 7 Home Premium. The retail price is $599.99.
Rainn Wilson, Omar Epps, Hines Ward, Joe Perry Design Laptops for Toshiba
Toshiba teamed up GQ Magazine and four male celebrities to create a customized, limited-edition laptops for charity. The laptops are being auctioned off on eBay. The celebrities that designed laptops for Toshiba include Hines Ward, Rainn Wilson, Joe Perry and Omar Epps. You can find the laptops and auction listings here. The auctions end on December 11th.
Lily Allen Says She Threw Her Laptops Away When She Quit Twitter
Lily Allen's last tweet on Twitter was posted on September 28th, 2009. It read, "I am a neo-luddite, goodbye."
It sounds like Lily Allen went to pretty extreme measures to keep herself from typing in a tweet. In this brief interview with ITN, Lily says "I've thrown away my laptops. I haven't got a BlackBerry." She must have felt she couldn't resist the urge to tweet if she kept her laptops around. Take a look:
Dell Launching Laptops Featuring OPI Nail Polish Colors
Dell has partnered with OPI for new laptops with colors based on OPI's nail polish colors. Pictured above is a Dell laptop in OPI's "I'm Not Really a Waitress" color. Some of the other nail polish colors include "Big Apple Red," "Strawberry Margarita," "Rosy Future" and "Kyoto Pearl." Dell says laptops will eventually be available in 26 OPI shades including six Holiday Collection colors including "Dear Santa," "Merry Midnight" and "Smitten with Mittens."
You can see some of the OPI colored Dells here on the company's Flickr. The OPI color options for Dell Mini, Inspiron and Studio laptops will be available in the Dell Design Studio at Dell.com first in the U.S. and later in other countries. Select OPI colors also will also be available at many retailers.
Gadgetwise reports that Sony unveiled its ultrathin Sony Vaio Series X laptop at the IFA 2009 tech trade show. Gadgetwise says the 1.5 pound laptop is expected to sell for $1,299 and be available late October. Slashgear says thin Vaio X squeezes in "two USB ports, an ethernet port, SD/Memory Stick slot, and a VGA output." Slashgear puts the price tag at "under $2,000." We won't know the price and release date for sure until Sony releases the details.
We hope Sony will have models posing as mannequins while holding the new Sony laptops at New York Fashion Week like they did in February with the previous Vaio model.
Here is a video from the display of the new Vaio. Take a look:
The WSJ Digit's reports that Dell announced its new Adamo XPS today but gave very little details about it. There is a side-view of the Adamo XPS on the website but that's about it. What we do know the Adamo XPS is that it is very thin - just 9.99 millimeters thick.
Dell offered "a glimpse," to use its language, of a new model of its style-conscious Adamo laptop that is less than a centimeter thick. The computer, called the Adamo XPS, is 9.99 millimeters thick, to be precise. That measurement is the reason the company chose to announce its existence on Wednesday (Get it? It’s 9/9/09). The current model is 16.5 millimeters thick.
We'd love to know more details but we will have to wait. Dell refused to give more details about the laptop to the WSJ Digit's blog.
Rafe Needleman reports for CNET that Starbucks has responded to the recent news that some cafes in New York City are banning laptops. Starbucks says they have no limits in place.
Starbucks' official response to this movement: "We strive to create a welcoming environment for all of our customers. We do not have any time limits for being in our stores, and continue to focus on making the Third Place experience for every Starbucks customer."
Starbucks' Wi-Fi is even free--although not infinitely. Customers (with Starbucks cash cards) get two hours for nothing, after which they have to pay. But if you have free access to Starbucks' AT&T Wi-Fi via another avenue, such as your DSL account, they won't eject you.
It sounds like it is the independent cafes more than the chains that don't want tables blocked by non-paying customers who sit around for hours using the free wi-fi.
Dell has updated its Design Studio to include more than 120 additional choices based on inspirations and themes drawn from a variety of cultures. Dell says content and artwork will be refreshed regularly and arranged into themes. Each theme will have a "curator" who selects contributing artists from around the world. The inaugural theme is titled "Today" and includes a collection of modern-day artistic expressions hand-picked and curated by Ed Boyd, Dell vice president of consumer experience design.
"Dell Design Studio is the purest form of self-expression for a wide variety of tastes and styles," said Boyd. "I loved creating this first themed volume, and am really excited about the opportunities to bring in new curators, artists and points of view to the Design Studio."
Here's a clever idea. Laptop sweaters to keep your laptop scratch free and warm. They retail for $20 and can purchased here from the Post Family.
Because of our need to look for new ways to reuse and put back unwanted materials into the product cycle, and as a way to remember what our relatives were wearing during the holidays in the 90's, I made these laptop sweaters.
The sweater pictured above fits a 15" MacBook Pro. There going to need some Christmas laptop sweaters for the holidays.
Dell has finally released details of the Dell Adamo. The Adamo is the luxury laptop Dell has been teasing us with for the past several months. The Dell Adamo is an ultra-thin laptop that is as thin as or thinner than the MacBook Air. Here are some of the Adamo's features.
A frame of just .65 inches
A tough, machined-aluminum chassis
A 13.4-inch 16:9 HD display with edge-to-edge glass offers an integrated 1.3 megapixel web camera.
Battery is an advanced lithium polymer technology that promises more than 5 hours of battery life on a full charge.
Wireless N, Bluetooth, one RJ-45 port and optional mobile broadband
There are two version of the Adamo. The Admire retails for $1,999 and the higher powered Desire retails for $2,699. The Admire has a 1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor and 2GB of memory. The Desire has a 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor and 4GB of memory.
Plans for the Dell Adamo began in 2004, which was well before the recession hit. Apple has had sales troubles as of late with some of its pricier machines.
Even so the Adamo could sell well, especially if it proves to be a reliable machine. CNET's Natali Del Conte showed CBS's Chris Wragge just how think the Dell Adamo is. Take a look:
