It's been awhile since this family saw any updates, but we must say, Dell did a pretty laudable job with the redesign here. Make no mistake -- these guys are still aimed squarely at the gamboling suits in attendance, but we could certainly see a consumer or two pulling the trigger. The freshened line includes the 13.3-inch Vostro 1320, the 15.4-inch Vostro 1520, and the 17-inch Vostro 1720, all of which come with pre-installed videoconferencing and webcam software (so long as you purchase the integrated webcam and microphone). Furthermore, users can now opt for an SSD in place of the traditional hard drive, a fingerprint reader for added security or an encrypted HDD with Wave Systems software. The whole trio is available today in North America and select South American countries starting at $569 (Vostro 1520), $629 (Vostro 1320), and $649 (Vostro 1720).

Not down with MSI's GT725? Just an AMD purist? Either way, you'll be thrilled to feast your retinas on the company's latest gaming behemoth, the GT733. This 17-inch beast gets powered by a AMD Turion X2 Ultra dual-core mobile CPU, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a WUXGA display, ATI's Mobility Radeon HD 4670 (512MB GDDR3), up to 500GB of SATA hard drive space, an optional Blu-ray optical drive, 2.0 megapixel webcam, and a 4-in-1 multicard reader. There's also gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, three USB 2.0 sockets, HDMI / VGA outputs and your choice of a six- or nine-cell battery. Per usual, MSI's keeping quiet on the pricing / availability front, but we reckon it'll be filtering out here soon.

Apple's latest firmware update for the recently shipped 17-inch MacBook Pro sure is light on details, but one thing's for sure: it reportedly nixes those weird vertical line issues that have plagued so many. Unfortunately, the "MacBook Pro Graphics Firmware Update 1.0" doesn't point out whether it was an overheating problem or a GeForce 9600M quirk that was wreaking havoc, but so long as it works, we guess it matters not. Hit up your Software Update when you get enough courage to suck down 770KB of problem-solving goodness.

[Via MacRumors]

Oh, brother. We can already tell this one's going to be a fun, enjoyable journey to follow. Shortly after Apple's 17-inch unibody MacBook Pro began making its way out to early adopters, small legions of owners have reported all sorts of bizarre graphical glitches. While we first assumed that it was NVIDIA's GeForce 9600M causing all the mayhem, further investigation has led us to believe that faulty fan controls could be the culprit. Granted, all of this is just speculatory at the moment, but it seems that some users have noticed that their fans aren't kicking into high gear when they should. 'Course, some folks have seen those RPMs spin up while the funky lines and psychedelic colors remain, so it's still hard to pinpoint a definite root cause. We're told that folks from NVIDIA and Apple are spending their weekends working to figure it out, but we can't help but be reminded of an eerily similar string of events with overheating MacBook Airs just last year. Hopefully a fix will be out soon; till then, just pretend those erratic colors are some new curative feature.

Read - Fan grumbling
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It's hard to say at this point whether we should point the blame at NVIDIA, Apple or right in between the two corporate campuses, but it seems that an uncomfortable amount of 17-inch MacBook Pro owners are having some serious issues with their GeForce 9600M graphics card. For those unaware, there is actually a 9400M in there too, but word on the street has it that the random green lines and nasty artifacts are only showing up when the more potent card is kicked into action. Most folks are saying that a reboot solves the problem momentarily, but eventually it returns to bother, annoy and sadden new owners. Anyone else out there pulling their hair out over this? Here's hoping a firmware update is all that'll be needed to bring closure to yet another NVIDIA-Apple related fiasco.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: We just got word from an NVIDIA spokesperson, who had this to say: "Our understanding is that Apple is investigating this, and if they need our help we will certainly support them. But right now it's unclear what the issue is, so jumping to conclusions at this point is premature." We'll keep you posted!

We had heard that quite a few early birds were receiving shipping notifications, and sure enough, Apple's 17-inch unibody MacBook Pro has left the docks. One proud owner has even taken the time to host up a handful of unboxing shots as proof, and while nothing here is out of the ordinary for those acquainted with Apple's newest 15-incher, the actual machine just looks a touch longer and wider for some reason. Maybe it's just our eyes.

[Thanks, Derek and Michael]

If the above picture is to be believed, the new unibody 17-inch MacBook Pro is beginning to ship a little earlier than Apple projected when it announced that two-week delay. That's a fun little valentine treat if it's true -- anyone else get a ship confirmation?

[Thanks, Michael]

When it said evolutionary, it wasn't kidding around. Alienware has just taken the wraps off of a relatively uninspiring (or, unworthy of hype, we should say) new laptop: the M17. Not to be confused with the M17x, this 17-incher is the outfit's very first CrossFire X-enabled notebook, and those with the requisite coin can get one outfitted with a Core 2 Quad / Extreme CPU, up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM, twin ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 GPUs, a WXGA+ / WUXGA panel, an optional ATSC HDTV tuner, up to 640GB of HDD space in a RAID 0 array, a dual-layer DVD writer / optional Blu-ray reader, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, gigabit Ethernet and a facial recognition sensor. As with most of its siblings, this one puts a beating on the scales at 9.5-pounds, and we're certain you can deplete that 12-cell battery in no time flat. Granted, it does get going at "just" $1,399, but you can expect that figure to head far north when you add anything drool-worthy to the build sheet.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Well, hiddy ho Dell Precision M6400, nice to finally meet you all retail-like. The 17-inch (LED back-lit 1,920 x 1,200 pixels covering 100% of the RGB color gamut) Mobile Workstation capable of playing host to 16GB of memory, a Core 2 Duo Quad Core Extreme processor, and up to 1TB of data (2x 500GB disks in RAID 0 or RAID 1 configs) is now up on Dell's website. Other specs include up to 1GB of NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M Graphics, Bluetooth 2.1, Ultra-wideband, WWAN, GPS, 802.11a/g/n WiFi, stereo speakers and dual-array mic, 8-in-1 card reader, ExpressCard 54 and PCMCIA slots, Firewire, 4x USB 2.0, DisplayPort, eSATA, and more. All that in a 15.4 x 11.0 x 1.35-inch chassis weighing 8.5-pounds with a biggie 9-cell battery. The only thing missing is Blu-ray and that shuttle controller spotted in the teaser video. Starts at $2,599 with an October 22nd ship date.

Update: Ah, we get it: the track pad "works like a jog shuttle" -- it's not a physically distinct device. See it pictured after the break.

[Thanks, M.Luczak]

This is going to be huge. Unfortunately, we're talking size not marketplace impact when Dell's 17-inch Precision "mobile workstation" rolls out this fall. This portable desktop replacement promises up to 1TB of storage configured in a dual-drive RAID configuration, quad-core processor, and 16GB of graphics memory (1GB for graphics) with enough oomph to power a pair of external 30-inch displays. It also includes a number of unidentified media slots and an integrated jog shuttle controller -- a pretty good hint at the mobile media types this laptop is targeting. Watch it all go down in the video after the break.

Update: Heh, this is the same Dell leaked last month carrying the M6400 moniker.

[Thanks, Gaurav S.]

Given that Gateway just pushed out a round of updates including the relatively ginormous P Series, we reckon it was only logical to expect a review shortly. To be frank, the P-6831FX critiqued over at HotHardware is far from being the most potent machine with a 17-inch panel, but unlike many of its luxurious competitors, this one is actually affordable. So, how much gaming joy can $1,349.99 bring you? Quite a bit when the 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTS and 3GB of RAM are included. Reviewers found gaming performance to be downright remarkable, though the 1.67GHz CPU did hamper it a bit in other areas. It should be noted that the unit now arrives with a slightly faster CPU among other minor extras, so if it was good then, we're guessing it's a runaway winner now.

This certainly won't be the first time ASUS has shipped an in-demand item elsewhere in the world while USers ponder the thought of importing, but apparently the outfit's potent G70 is now on sale in the UK. For those who missed it, this monstrosity features a 17-inch WUXGA / WXGA+ panel, an optional Core 2 Extreme processor, twin GeForce 8700M GT graphics cards, 1GB of RAM, an optional Blu-ray writer, gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth / WiFi and oodles of LED accents. Word on the street has it going for around £1,999 ($3,948) well equipped, but those blokes across the pond aren't too worried about a US release date.

If your neighbor ordered one of these monstrosities, you probably felt the ground shake when the freight carrier dropped this bad boy off at his / her doorstep. If you were stuck in the cubicle during that whole ordeal, however, here's a gentler news flash: Alienware's brawny m17x gaming laptop is shipping right now. Initial reports from early adopters include phrases like "So huge!" and "Brobdingnagian!," which is pretty much right in line with what we were expecting to hear.

Dell just pumped out a trio of Vostro laptops for small businesses. The new 13.3-inch Vostro 1310 (starting at $749), 15.4-inch Vostro 1510 (starting at $599), and redesigned 17-inch Vostra 1710 (price, undisclosed) all feature a slot loading optical drive and thinner / lighter designs. They also ship with 10GB of free online storage, Network Assistant and PC TuneUp -- all crapware free. The 1310 and 1510 are available today in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) then May 1st for the Americas. The 17-incher hits mid-May.

[Via Notebook Review]