Dell to transition all laptops to LED displays by 2010
By Donald Melanson 
posted Sep 24th 2008 4:45PM
posted Sep 24th 2008 4:45PM
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.
I'm more interested in then they'll transition to OLED displays on laptops.
i agree
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.
yeah right on.. hey can i bum 5 grand off ya for the eventual OLED model
Baby steps, my friend.
Switching to LED displays is just a backlighting change. Switching to OLED is a complete overhaul.
what about that stupid base that all the OLEDs seem to carry around... they gotta get rid of that too
all your stupid base are belong to us
the humans are dead! the humans are dead! we used poisonous gasses! and we poisoned their asses!
love the flight of the conchords reference, albeit out of place.
2010, wow, how brave of Dell.
In other news, Dell announced a 40% bump in laptop prices to offset the LED displays - even on laptops without LED displays.
You're just jealous because Michael Dell is earning millions.
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.
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.
Michael Dell has only been earning millions since this year?
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.
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.
MadMike, the fanboy scraping the bottom of the barrel for arguably the weakest point ever. Burn in flames baby, burn in flames.
Burn? Its a blog comment system you dolt. Get rid of the black trenchcoat, the D&D gameboard and GET A LIFE!
"Faster" as in more clock cycles. What the fuck did you think I was talking about?
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
Wait, holy crap--
John McCain DOES use the internets!
"or I custom build it myself."
Oh, nevermind. Gahh, still no post edits. /me shakes fist
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.
And has anyone noticed that Apple's cheapest laptop ($1100) doesn't even have a DVD burner!? Talk about overpriced.
> "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.
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.
Those numbers look pretty firm to me.
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.
No, see, the battery gets replaced, not charged.
how about some matte screens as well dell ...
Yeah really. This glossy thing is a pain.
Since when did Fully and 80% became synonyms? Is this Dell's new strategy of giving us "Full" PCs?
baseball is 90% half-mental
-Yogi Berra
I feel sorry for Yogi Berra's corpus callosum.
"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?
pump that fist in righteousness, shark patrol
wow.
I have not seen anyone mention apple yet.
(ctrl + f, types in apple)
never mind. Thanks, John
Actually, MadMike beat me to it, as I would hope would have been rather clear from the first sentence of my post....
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...
Isn't this guaranteed anyway? EVERYONE is making this transition. It's an inevitability more than it is an "effort".
I'm more interested in a non-defective nVidia graphics card...
It only makes sense!
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.