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Dell Inspiron R refreshed with removable lids and Intel's latest processors
We'll be honest, we've never been the biggest fans of Dell's colorful, patterned lids -- not because some of them are pretty ugly, but because once you choose one hue, you're stuck with it forever (or at least until you need a new laptop). Well, Dell's finally solved that piece of the puzzle with its new Inspiron R series -- the 14-, 15.6- and 17.3-inch laptops all have swappable lids. Yep, it's sort of like those interchangeable Swatch watch faces from the 90s -- you can snap off the standard black cover, buy a new one for $39.99, and latch it right on. But that's not all Dell's changed with its mainstream laptops -- the rigs now have new chiclet keyboards, HD webcams, and a design that's similar to the new XPS line. For a budget system -- the 15R starts at $529.99 -- they actually feel pretty solid and the internal organs fit the same description. All three of the machines can be configured with brand new Sandy Bridge Core i3, i5, and i7 processors, Blu-ray drives, up to 8GB of RAM, six or nine-cell batteries, and USB 3.0 ports. Dell didn't forget about the graphics either -- the 14 will be available with AMD Radeon HD 6000M options, while the 15 and 17 grab a hold of NVIDIA's GeForce GT525. All three models should be up for order today on Dell's website with them heading to retailers later this spring. Hit the break for the full PR / specs and don't forget to check out the hands-on shots on your way. Update: We now have the correct spec sheet after the break! Update 2: Dell has just told us that the replaceable lids will actually be $39.99. %Gallery-119199%
HP's Pavilion dv6 and dv7 get Envy-like features, g-series loses the bargain basement looks
We know the story: all you want is an HP Envy 14 or 17, but you just don't have the cash. Well, as it turns out, HP's been thinking long and hard about your issue, and its new Pavilion dv6 and dv7 may very well be what the doctor ordered. Pulling out some of the higher-end Envy features, the new 15.6- and 17.3-inch laptops have been refreshed not only with Beats Audio speakers, HD webcams, and HP's CoolSense technology, but they've also been given "dark umber" metal lids / palm rests. Oh, and did we mention the light-up touchpads? Okay, so it's not the same as the Envy's etched-metal case, but they're certainly a step up in design from the previous glossy rigs, and for their respective $750 and $1,000 starting prices, there's no arguing that it's a pretty sweet deal. Spec-wise the machines are just as impressive -- they boast Intel's latest Sandy Bridge Core i5 and i7 processors, AMD Radeon 6000M graphics, and USB 3.0 ports. Additionally, both models will be available with Blu-ray drives and up to two terabytes of storage. Want it tomorrow? We don't blame you, but you'll have to wait until "sometime in March" to order these bad boys. On the lower end, HP's refreshed its Pavilion g-series, and you know what? For under $500, they don't look half bad. Yep, HP's gone ahead and given its budget mainstream line a total makeover with colorful lids (name a color, they've got it), a pseudo-chiclet keyboard, a touchpad that is totally flush with the palmrest, and Altec Lansing speakers. But while you may be able to take the bargain look out of the laptop, it's hard to remove those bargain specs -- the 14-inch g4, 15.4-inch g6, and 17.3-inch g7 get cut off at AMD's Athlon and Turion and Intel's Pentium and Core i3 processors. Still for the $450 to $600 price points, it's not too shabby. The g-series will be available on March 13th, but until then enjoy the hands-on shots below and the full press release after the break. %Gallery-115866% %Gallery-115873%
AMD launches Radeon HD 6000M series, endows them with HD3D and EyeSpeed skills
AMD might have let the Radeon HD 6500M and 6300M out a little early, but today marks the formal launch of its new, second-generation DirectX 11 mobile chips, the HD 6000M family. The new arrivals are the HD 6900M / 6800M in the gaming-centric high-end (offering up to 1.3 teraFLOPS of compute power), the HD 6700M / 6600M in the upper midrange, and the HD 6400M to provide mainstream users with all the discrete graphics loving that they desire. The 6000M range introduces AMD's new HD3D hocus pocus, which will allow apps, games and other media to present themselves in 3D to you -- provided devs care to make them so -- while EyeSpeed is a marketing name for a set of technologies designed to improve video streaming and gaming performance by taking on more tasks with the GPU. You'll care about that if you're a big online media consumer and you'll also want to know that AMD has an exclusive on hardware acceleration for DivX video. Full press release awaits after the break.
