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Dell's Studio XPS 13 and 16 laptops with a kiss of Merlot Red

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 1st 2009 at 6:23AM

Hey, it's just a color change but red is undeniably sexy especially when wrapped around Dell's design-heavy Studio XPS 13 and 16 laptops. Already rumored and spied, a post over at Dell's Direct2Dell blog makes the Merlot Red laptops official. Man, high-gloss finish with red leather accents... it's like kissing Betty Page. Er, was that out loud?

Gallery: Dell's Studio XPS 13 and 16 laptops with a kiss of Merlot Red

Dell now offering Studio XPS 13 with Ubuntu

by Darren Murph, posted May 24th 2009 at 8:53AM

Dell's been showing Ubuntu lots of love over the past few months, so it's no real shock to see the Linux-based operating system slide on over to Dell's hottest (literally and figuratively) 13-incher. The Studio XPS 13 can now be ordered with Ubuntu 8.10 or 7.04 right from the factory, though it seems you'll be forced to upgrade to Jaunty Jackalope once the rig hits your doorstep. Ah well, you won't find us kvetching over added options, so we'll just pencil on a smile and raise a glass to diversity at Round Rock.

[Thanks, Landon]

Crimson Red Dell XPS 16 in the wild?

by Ross Miller, posted May 17th 2009 at 2:26PM

So about that apparently canned crimson red Dell XPS 16 laptop. We received a handful of pics from a tipster who claims to have gotten one about a month ago when he returned his other, decided un-red model for a screen replacement. We don't want to say this is 100 percent legit without holding it in our hands, but if this is the beauty we once had the option to purchase, Dell, please, bring crimson back.

Gallery: Crimson Red Dell XPS 16 in the wild?

[Thanks, P]

Dell XPS 16 gets extra glossy Crimson Red option

by Donald Melanson, posted May 8th 2009 at 5:57PM

Dell took a slightly different tact with its new XPS 13 and XPS 16 laptops by offering them only in basic black (or Obsidian Black, to be exact), but it looks like the company is slowly returning to its more accommodating ways by adding a new "high gloss" Crimson Red option to the XPS 16. As you can see above, however, you'll have to shell out an extra fifty bucks for that added bit of eye candy, and it doesn't look like it's available on the smaller XPS 13 quite just yet, though it seems safe to bet that it will be sooner or later.

[Via NotebookReview.com]

Dell injects WiMAX into trio of laptops

by Ross Miller, posted May 6th 2009 at 1:55AM

While making a point to assert it's looking into LTE as well, Dell has for now jumped on the WiMAX bandwagon by announcing it'll offer the technology as an option on its Studio 15, Studio 17, and Studio XPS 16 laptops. US customers can pick the Intel 5150 WiMAX / Wireless-N combo card for $60 under the wireless card tab when customizing. Right now, we'd wager a few people living in Portland, Atlanta, or pockets of Baltimore just got mighty happy.

How would you change Dell's Studio XPS 13 / 16?

by Darren Murph, posted May 2nd 2009 at 12:54AM

Make no mistake -- Dell's Studio XPS 13 and Studio XPS 16 are drastic departures for it in terms of laptop design. Highly stylized, a touch of leather and a bombastic keyboard -- things that were never really associated with Dell prior to its Studio family coming to light. Now that both of these portables have been out for a tick, we're interested to see how your experience has been. Are you feeling the new designs? Is the hardware up to snuff? Tinkered with any alternative OS choices? We know it'll be hard to get honest with a machine you've relied on so heavily for the past few weeks, but trust us, it's good for the soul.

Sonic shoves Qflix DVD burners into more Dell desktops

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 23rd 2009 at 9:22AM

We know you're struggling to believe your eyes, but those Qflix burners actually are still hanging around. For those who missed all the action last year, these devices enable users to download a DRM-laced film onto their PC and burn it onto a specially-keyed DVD for playback. In other words, you can forget about toasting flicks to that dusty stack of DVD-Rs you've got laying around from late '05. For whatever reason, Dell has seen fit to extend its partnership with Sonic Solutions by offering internal Qflix drives on the Studio XPS Desktop, Studio XPS 435, Studio Desktop and Studio Slim Desktop. The wild part? Its actually charging more for having you clean out its inventory.

Dell's Studio XPS laptop might be going red

by Ross Miller, posted Mar 23rd 2009 at 1:51AM

The so far black-only Studio XPS laptop might soon be getting an injection of color. A "Bordeaux" (red) version of the portable was spotted at Dell's design labs, and the company told CNET an official release is currently under consideration. It isn't related to (Product) Red, however, so if you're eyeing this beaut, be sure to do it for style and not charity. Also on display at the labs were some test designs for next-generation server racks, for the fashion-minded out there needing a proper storage solution. Hit up the read link for more pics from the lab.

Dell's Phenom II-equipped XPS 625 benchmarked to the hilt

by Darren Murph, posted Mar 6th 2009 at 2:27AM

Yeah, we already heard that Dell's Phenom II-equipped XPS 625 was a solid value, but what does that really mean? The testing fiends over at HotHardware sought to find out, and after putting this gaming beast through more tests than it ever wanted to endure, they mirrored most of the earlier (positive) sentiments. In fact, it was found to boast one of the best price-to-performance ratios out there, and the "minimalist" software installation definitely earned brownie points in our book. One thing that bothered critics, however, was the excessive amount of noise. We too have noticed that Dell's ginormous XPS towers -- which, by the way, reviewers also found to be unnecessarily heavy and unwieldy -- can emit some serious decibels under heavy loads, but you'd think the engineers in Round Rock would've figured out a solution by now. Still, those quirks are probably small hassles to deal with given the savings compared to similar rigs, but we'd highly recommend digging into the read link just to be sure.

Skyhook XPS integrates with TI's NaviLink and WiLink mobile solutions

by Darren Murph, posted Feb 16th 2009 at 12:01AM

It's not that hybrid GPS systems are all that new, it's just that most are working totally under the radar. Skyhook's hoping to get its rendition out in the open a tad more via a new partnership with Texas Instruments. The company's XPS hybrid positioning system is now cleared for integration within TI's NaviLink and WiLink mobile solutions, though there's no mention made of who all is drooling to get this into their phones. In short, Skyhook's XPS works by detecting WiFi hotspots, raw GPS readings and cellular IDs, and then comparing that information against a known database of geo-located points. In theory, this stuff could totally amp up the location abilities of most any handset, but in reality, we wouldn't be surprised to see it get swept away and forgotten just like the eerily similar announcement between Skyhook and Broadcom. Full release is after the break.

Continue reading Skyhook XPS integrates with TI's NaviLink and WiLink mobile solutions

Dell adds 256GB SSD option to XPS M1330 and M1730 laptops

by Paul Miller, posted Jan 17th 2009 at 9:20PM

Oh, how the times change! In August of last year we were talking up a 128GB SSD drive for Dell's XPS laptops like it was some kind of hotness -- and only $450! Now that same drive is a mere $200 upgrade, while a new 256GB SSD has been introduced to Dell's XPS M1330 and M1730 laptops for "only" $400. Sure, six months from now we're gonna be chatting up a slightly cheaper 512GB SSD and laughing at our January selves, but we just can't help ourselves and this pesky linear of progression of time we're so beholden to. Dell's also now offering a 7200RPM 500GB HDD as well, and plans to introduce both of these upgrades to additional laptops in the next few weeks.

Read - Dell XPS M1330
Read - Dell XPS M1730

Dell introduces XPS 625 gaming rig

by Donald Melanson, posted Jan 8th 2009 at 5:37PM

Dell has been pretty laptop-heavy at CES so far, but it looks to be balancing things out a bit today, with it introducing its new gamer-minded XPS 625 desktop. This one is AMD through and through, and includes your choice of AMD Phenom or Phenom II Black Edition processors, ATI Radeon HD4670 or HD4850 graphics cards (in single or CrossFireX configurations), and some other suitably high-end specs all around, including up 8GB of RAM, a whole host of hard drive options and, of course, an AlienFX custom lighting system to remind you just why you bought it. Best of all, prices start at a reasonable $999 for a decently-equipped system, and you can get your order in right now.

Dell's XPS 1340 and 1640 get official, latter gets reviewed

by Tim Stevens, posted Jan 8th 2009 at 4:52AM

The new XPS 1340 and 1640 laptops just appeared yesterday, and now (a mere day late) have been given the blessing of officialdom from Dell. Of course, we already knew all there was to know about them when it comes to specs, so rather more interesting is the first review of the bigger of the two, also called the XPS 16. The 2.4GHz machine scored high marks both when it comes to aesthetics and overall performance, but the thing got a little too hot for comfort, costs a good bit more than the competition, and those glossy screens are always controversial. Overall it sounds like a nice machine if you have the dough -- and don't mind a little glare.

Read - New Dell XPS laptops confirmed
Read - Dell XPS 1640 reviewed

Dell's XPS 730x H2C Core i7 gaming PC benchmarked and tested exhaustively

by Darren Murph, posted Dec 23rd 2008 at 1:05PM

If you thought the original XPS 730 H2C was boss, get a load of this. The incredibly diligent benchmarkers over at HotHardware have taken the Core i7-powered XPS 730x H2C under their wings for a fortnight of testing, and they've got a baker's dozen worth of review pages to display their findings. We can't even begin to cover the array of graphs, bar charts and triple-digit FPS numbers here, but we can tell you that critics were duly impressed with how well the Core i7 performance compared to older Core 2-based offerings. Gaming performance was predictably "fantastic," and even the single GeForce GTX 280 that it was packin' held its own under pressure. All in all, this fanciful machine was deemed "a worthy update to what [reviewers] thought was the best XPS 700 series system to date," and if you've got the coin, you'll probably be incredibly pleased with what it delivers. Dive deep (and we mean deep) in the read link below.

Studio XPS 13 materializes on Dell website

by Ross Miller, posted Dec 20th 2008 at 2:27PM

Earlier this week we showed you photos of the slick Dell Studio XPS 13, and now it's popped up on the company's website -- sort of. It's currently showing among its laptop lineup, but trying to get to the individual product page gives us an error screen. Starting price is $1,406, sandwiched just between the XPS M1330 and M1730. We think it's safe to say we'll be seeing the official launch soon.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]