Dell XPS laptop range: 3D, HD and Skype enabled machines

“The industry’s first Skype-certified laptops with HD video streaming webcams so you can stay close to friends and family”, Dell excitedly enthuses. Skype, what an ingenious invention that was, and one, which in my opinion, has not had enough publicity and praise written about it. Savvy Skype users have now kissed goodbye to hefty phone bills by making internet calls for free. Skype’s wiser gains were pushed even further when webcams became a regular feature on modern-day desks, enabling the visual to be interconnected with, what was for years, a solely aural experience, and all, for Skype-to-Skype users, for free!

Although this is a review about Dell’s new XPS laptops and not about Skype, but the point I am making is that by being the first Skype-certified laptops and by incorporating HD video streaming webcams, being able to speak and watch friends and family with a higher quality, HD experience, in an extremely economic way, Dell may have come up with a winner.

Although redefining the whole Skype experience is far from the only quality of Dell’s new XPS laptops worthy of a mention.

Aurally, Dell claims these laptops produce the loudest and clearest sound the company has ever produced, and with built-in JBL designed and certified speakers with integrated MaxxAudio 3 processing technology, it is easy to understand the laptops will not fail to live up to these impressive audio claims.

Visually, the laptops sound equally as capable of producing a ‘cinema-like’ experience. Being available in both 15 and 17 inch size screens, all of these stylish laptops include NVIDIA’s 3DTV Play software, enabling users to connect their Dell XPS laptops to 3D HDTVs and enjoy watching Blu-ray 3D films, browsing through 3D photos and videos and playing games in immerse stereoscopic 3D.

We may have come somewhat complacent about valuing an immersive entertainment experience that is seemingly provided in all forms of technology, but Dell’s new family of XPS laptops really is “pushing the limits” on high-definition, 3D multimedia entertainment.

Via : latestgadgets

The First Laptop Build To Survive A War

The most important feature is the portability of a laptop and that’s why manufacturers are working on devices that increasingly weigh less. Things change, but when talking about U.S. military laptops, designed to withstand the forefront of the battlefield.

VT Miltope company specialized in military hardware, has launched a new line of computers that will be presented this week at AUSA conference (Association of the United States Army), which will be held in Washington.

And it turns out, these devices appear ready to resist any enemy attack came from.

RLC-3 laptop was built for the tests of sustainability of the U.S. Army, so it can survive at 26 drops from about 1 meter, while being protected against factors like water, dust, rain, electromagnetic pulse capable of destroying computers, lightning and explosive impact.

If you are interested in technical details of this laptop, you can find here. In our opinion RLC-3 is not just a laptop, is a super-laptop, a tank-laptop, so to speak.

Acer’s, Dell’s and Panasonic’s your Toughbook you can do all this? We doubt!

Unfortunatly, these laptops are not available for us.

Via : timesoftheinternet

Laptop nightmares: Scary systems with fatal flaws

The Halloween season my be winding down, but that doesn't mean there aren't still plenty of scary laptops out there. Of course, the vast majority of laptops we review are pretty decent examples of technology. After all, there are only a handful of common components used in most systems, and things such as speed and battery life are, if not standardized, at least largely predictable based on the list of what's inside the box.

That said, we occasionally run into a laptop that just rubs us the wrong way. Maybe it's a key missing feature, or terrible design, or an unusable touch pad--or sometimes products simply don't work as advertised. We've compiled our own list of the scariest laptops of 2010, the models that either had one or more frightening flaws, or else were just dogs.

Some of these are bargain basement budget systems, but don't think we're just picking on laptops that are cheap. We love inexpensive laptops, but not ones that cut so many corners that they're not a bargain at any price. Peruse our list below, and feel free to weigh in via the comments section with your own picks.


Via : news.cnet

Toshiba Satellite A665 3D Laptop Announced: Upconverts 2D to 3D

Toshiba announced an update to the Satellite A665 3D notebook this week with new 3D playback options thanks to NVIDIA 3D Vision technology that allows the A665 to deliver 2D content in 3D including games, movies and pictures as well as carrying that experience over to 3D capable HDTVs.

The 15.6″ Toshiba Satellite A665 3D is powered by the latest Intel Core i processors including either a Core i5-460M or Core i7-740QM with TurboBoost, up to 6GB DDR3 RAM, a 640GB hard drive, Blu-Ray Drive and a NVIDIA GeForce GTS 350M with 1GB DDR3 discrete graphics memory that supports the NVIDIA 3D Vision kit with active shutter 3D glasses. The Toshiba A665 3D also has a backlit keyboard.

For 3D the A665 contains the emitter so there’s no need for an external attachment and it comes with everything you need to enjoy 3D content and to upconvert your 2D content into 3D.

The Toshiba Satellite A665 also has the following multimedia features built-in:

* Built-in harman/kardon® speakers deliver impressive sound while Dolby Advanced Audio™ further optimizes audio quality so games, movies and music sound more vivid and true to life.
* Toshiba’s unique Sleep-and-Music technology is also included, enabling users to play music from their MP3 players through the laptop’s speakers – even while the laptop is powered down.
* Toshiba’s Resolution+™ DVD upconversion technology improves the quality of standard definition DVD content by boosting contrast, sharpness and saturation to near high-definition quality.

The Toshiba Satellite A6653D will be available starting in October at Best Buy, select retailers and direct from Toshiba for a starting price of $1,299.

More @ notebooks

Dell Inspiron Duo hybrid netbook / laptop

We'll freely admit how smitten we are with Dell's concept, the Inspiron Duo. While it's supposedly coming to retail by the end of the year, it's so special that every time we spy new photos or video footage of it, we watch joyfully. Of course, Intel doesn't need to watch from afar, as demonstrated in a new video -- they simply asked Dell's Inspiron Product Marketer, Dave Zavelson to show it off on film.

The Duo, in case you've been hiding under a rock since before IDF, is a 10-inch netbook with a swivel screen which enables you to use it as a sort of tablet... you know, those things that everybody's cranking out these days. It also boasts a dual-core Atom N550 CPU and Windows 7 Home Premium. Regardless, we still haven't heard any pricing or definite availability info yet, but the video is below.

Via : engadget, channelintel (YouTube), Pocket-Lint