Dell to transition all laptops to LED displays by 2010

We've already heard about a certain other computer manufacturer's supposed plans to go all LED with its laptops in the not too distant future, and it looks like Dell is now set to take the energy-saving leap as well. According to PC Magazine, Dell says that two-thirds of its Latitude E-series laptops will ship with mercury-free LED backlighting as standard by December 15th of this year, and that by the end of 2009, fully 80 percent of all its laptops will be equipped with LED-backlit displays, which also have the added benefit of looking better and being thinner. The remaining laptops will then apparently make the switch sometime in 2010. In case you're wondering, Dell also says that it is "absolutely committed" to transitioning its desktop displays to LED, although it doesn't seem to be quite ready to make any firm commitments.

[Evan @ Sep 24th 2008 4:50PM]

I'm more interested in then they'll transition to OLED displays on laptops.

[j @ Sep 24th 2008 5:03PM]

i agree

[GadgetTamer @ Sep 24th 2008 4:57PM]

Yeah, OLED would be better. It's even thinner, uses less power, and it can be made in a way that it won't crack, it'll just bend.

[phanbouy @ Sep 24th 2008 4:58PM]

yeah right on.. hey can i bum 5 grand off ya for the eventual OLED model

[Michael Scrip @ Sep 24th 2008 5:03PM]

Baby steps, my friend.

Switching to LED displays is just a backlighting change. Switching to OLED is a complete overhaul.

[bob sakamano @ Sep 24th 2008 5:08PM]

what about that stupid base that all the OLEDs seem to carry around... they gotta get rid of that too

[phanbouy @ Sep 24th 2008 6:19PM]

all your stupid base are belong to us

[bob sakamano @ Sep 24th 2008 4:56PM]

the humans are dead! the humans are dead! we used poisonous gasses! and we poisoned their asses!

[sjdurfey @ Sep 24th 2008 6:11PM]

love the flight of the conchords reference, albeit out of place.

[z @ Sep 24th 2008 5:19PM]

2010, wow, how brave of Dell.

[MadMike @ Sep 24th 2008 5:19PM]

In other news, Dell announced a 40% bump in laptop prices to offset the LED displays - even on laptops without LED displays.

[Samboini @ Sep 24th 2008 5:32PM]

You're just jealous because Michael Dell is earning millions.

[MadMike @ Sep 24th 2008 5:38PM]

Michael Dell has been earning millions since I was in High School. He's one of the top 100 richest Americans. Doesn't bother me really, I don't buy dells. I buy Mac, Lenovo or I custom build it myself.

[Samboini @ Sep 24th 2008 6:01PM]

So if you don't buy Dells why are you even complaining? I buy Dells and I think it is a wise move, albeit a no-brainer really if they want to keep up wth competition.

[BadMike @ Sep 24th 2008 6:09PM]

Michael Dell has only been earning millions since this year?

[John @ Sep 24th 2008 6:10PM]

So, you buy Mac, but now you insinuate that Dell will rip everyone off because of this?

The cheapest Mac laptop you can buy is still a quarter thousand more than a Dell laptop that - get this - is faster, with a bigger harddrive, 3 times the RAM, and a minutely larger screen. Go ahead, check the default configuration of the Inspiron 13. You want the 3 gigs of RAM for you Mac? Ironically, Apple will not let you buy a laptop with 3 gigs of RAM. You'd have to shell out 300 for 4 gigs. You can't get a hard drive as large as the one the Inspiron has, even for $110 more you're still 110 gigs short.

I hate Dell because the crap software they flood you with, but I'm never going to say that they aren't cheap.

[MadMike @ Sep 24th 2008 6:17PM]

Okay, fanboy - go somewhere else. Do you not understand sarcasm you insipid ignoramus?

Of course dell is cheap. And uhh, it is faster? Really? Even with Windows Vista and the 1038283748^938274828 crapwarez loaded on it? I didn't know Dell made a 17" laptop that was only 1" thick. Oh wait, thats right - they don't.

[Samboini @ Sep 24th 2008 6:19PM]

MadMike, the fanboy scraping the bottom of the barrel for arguably the weakest point ever. Burn in flames baby, burn in flames.

[MadMike @ Sep 24th 2008 6:35PM]

Burn? Its a blog comment system you dolt. Get rid of the black trenchcoat, the D&D gameboard and GET A LIFE!

[John @ Sep 24th 2008 6:41PM]

"Faster" as in more clock cycles. What the fuck did you think I was talking about?

[ethana2 @ Sep 24th 2008 7:08PM]

I bought a Dell because it was the only vendor that met my main criteria:
1. Real OS
2. No significant hardware markup
3. Sure to stick around a while

[ethana2 @ Sep 24th 2008 7:10PM]

Wait, holy crap--

John McCain DOES use the internets!

[ethana2 @ Sep 24th 2008 7:13PM]

"or I custom build it myself."

Oh, nevermind. Gahh, still no post edits. /me shakes fist

[PeterF @ Sep 24th 2008 7:17PM]

Actually, the Inspiron 13 I bought a couple weeks ago came with almost no crapware! Just Roxio which isn't really crapware (Vista can do all the stuff this stripped down version can do) and Google Desktop was kind of annoying.

[PeterF @ Sep 24th 2008 7:17PM]

And has anyone noticed that Apple's cheapest laptop ($1100) doesn't even have a DVD burner!? Talk about overpriced.

[Michael Scrip @ Sep 24th 2008 9:18PM]

> "Apple's cheapest laptop ($1100) doesn't even have a DVD burner!? Talk about overpriced."

Yeah, talk about it. While Apple counts it's billions in cash... and enjoys a high stock price.

[m @ Sep 24th 2008 5:20PM]

this is good news. i'm already wary of eating too much tuna because of all the mercury we've released into the environment. if it prevents dell's craptastic laptop screens from burning out after 2 years, that's good, too.

[YpoCaramel @ Sep 24th 2008 8:08PM]

Those numbers look pretty firm to me.

[bandigolo @ Sep 24th 2008 5:29PM]

I imagine this will greatly improve battery life, yes? My laptop on the lowest brightness setting runs hours longer than when it's cranked up, so obviously screen illumination pulls tons of juice from the battery. That and my LED-flashlight has "a battery that never needs changing"... or so says the package.

[John @ Sep 24th 2008 6:10PM]

No, see, the battery gets replaced, not charged.

[Knives_Out @ Sep 24th 2008 5:45PM]

how about some matte screens as well dell ...

[ethana2 @ Sep 24th 2008 7:15PM]

Yeah really. This glossy thing is a pain.

[msoori @ Sep 24th 2008 5:50PM]

Since when did Fully and 80% became synonyms? Is this Dell's new strategy of giving us "Full" PCs?

[phanbouy @ Sep 24th 2008 6:04PM]

baseball is 90% half-mental

-Yogi Berra

[ethana2 @ Sep 24th 2008 7:18PM]

I feel sorry for Yogi Berra's corpus callosum.

[Salsa Shark @ Sep 24th 2008 7:45PM]

"Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical."

Jesus Christ, yer so busy with yer bullshit posts that ya can't take an extra five seconds to get the quote right?

[phanbouy @ Sep 24th 2008 8:27PM]

pump that fist in righteousness, shark patrol

[El Taco @ Sep 24th 2008 6:33PM]

wow.

I have not seen anyone mention apple yet.

(ctrl + f, types in apple)

never mind. Thanks, John

[John @ Sep 24th 2008 9:02PM]

Actually, MadMike beat me to it, as I would hope would have been rather clear from the first sentence of my post....

[Wiizer @ Sep 24th 2008 9:26PM]

How about they work on transitioning those NVIDIA cards out of all their laptops first.

http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2008/09/12/nvidia-gpu-update-limited-warranty-enhancement-details.aspx

Man, I am still so pissed that they haven't answered if they are still shipping out units with defective cards...

[Ian @ Sep 24th 2008 11:51PM]

Isn't this guaranteed anyway? EVERYONE is making this transition. It's an inevitability more than it is an "effort".

[scott @ Sep 25th 2008 2:50AM]

I'm more interested in a non-defective nVidia graphics card...

[The_WB @ Sep 25th 2008 7:15AM]

It only makes sense!

[Jason Litka @ Sep 25th 2008 11:20AM]

I've got my hands on two Dell laptops with LED screens and, thus far, I'm not impressed. The Latitude E6400 and Inspiron 910 both look horribly washed out. On the CCFL side, the two year old D820 (UXGA, CCFL Backlight) I've got is crystal clear. I like the lower power consumption, the thinner screens, and the instant-on from not having to wait for the backlight to warm up, but the contrast and viewing angle sucks on all of the Dell LED screens I've seen.

I've ordered a Latitude E4200 and am expecting it in three weeks. Hopefully it will look a lot better than the other two. If it doesn't, it's going right back and I'll switch to a different vendor for notebooks.