Inspiron
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Dell also blames Inspiron delays on inability to paint stuff
We're not really sure how a company like Dell hasn't been able to track down anyone with some laptop coloring chops to fulfill its backlog of XPS M1330 and Inspiron orders, but whatever their reason might be for not figuring things out by now, Dell is pinning colored Inspiron delays on that exact same paint job problem they detailed for the M1330. As has been the case from the start, your best shot at getting a laptop in a timely manner from the big D is to completely disregard those ads of theirs and order a boring old black or white model -- individuality is overrated anyways.
Dude, you're not getting a Dell: shipping delays hound PC maker
For those of you who've recently placed a Dell laptop order only to find yourself high and dry on shipment, rest assured you're not alone -- not by a long shot. Of course, there have been problems with shipment on the XPS M1330 for some time -- problems so severe that a thread on NotebookReview's forum concerning delays for the laptop has had over 9,000 replies to date (a record for the site), but apparently that's not the only system affected. It would seem that customers who've placed orders for the Inspiron 1420, 1520, and 1720 are also feeling the burn of Dell's little stop-up. Some of the disgruntled purchasers have even gone to the trouble of breaking down Inspiron delays based on lid color, which, for the 1520 (for instance) runs the gamut from no delays for a black lid, to a whopping 11-day delay if you want to go red, green, or pink. This phenomena has even led to buyers forgoing their desired color choices just to get a laptop in a timely fashion. With the continued slowdown in production and increasing heat from the competition, Dell and its customers may find that this minor bump in the road is turning into a major headache.[Thanks, Paul]
Dell's XPS M1330 finally ships to all regions this week
There's good news this morning for those of you stuck in the Dell XPS M1330 build queue. After weeks of delay, Dell has finally kicked it into large-scale production and expect M1330 systems to ship in all regions "beginning this week." Unfortunately, this update comes a tad late for those of you who felt jerked around by Dell's uninformed customer service reps. For the rest, your 13.3-inch LED-backlit fix should be on the way.
Wireless USB finds its way to Dell and Lenovo laptops
If you're like us, you've bopped along happily once or twice to USB.org's funky little wireless promo video, hoping that someday the wire-free utopia it promises could become a reality. Well now Lenovo and Dell have put us one step closer to the prize with two new laptops. Both the Dell Inspiron 1720 and the Lenovo ThinkPad T61 and T61p models are expected to be Wireless USB certified any day now, and ready to connect to... um, something. As the standard is just starting to see the light of day, there aren't a lot of options available unless you decide to get jiggy with a wireless router such as this Belkin hub -- but if things go as planned, in the next few years we'll all be trashing our wires and listening to really bad instrumental rock -- just like in the video you can watch after the break.[Via CNET]
Dell Inspiron m1330 hands-on
At this point there's not a whole lot for us to say about the m1330 that hasn't already -- except that we finally got a chance to check this bad boy out, and no surprise, we liked what we saw. Pictures in the gallery below -- lock on sights and accept our apologies for the less than desirable lighting on this thing.%Gallery-4334%
Dell introduces Online Backup, more 3G for laptops
Dell didn't only drop the official announcement concerning its new Inspirons (both in the desktop and laptop variety), as well as the much-discussed, world's-seriously-thinnest-13-inch-laptop XPS m1330 -- it also managed to uncork the news that all its new widescreen laptops would be EV-DO and HSDPA ready (provided by Sprint, AT&T, or Verizon), and that the company is now offering an obviously named Dell Online Backup service to the tune of 3GB for Inspiron owners and 10GB for XPS users. We don't know much more than that at the moment, but we definitely like what we've heard thus far. Dell news keeps coming, stand by.
Dell's XPS m1330 and Inspiron laptops now on-line
After an initial appearance on Canada's site, Dell's new XPS m1330 and Inspiron laptops have broken free from the rumor mill. Available on-line now, the new 17-, 15-, and 14-inch Inspirons start at $769 while the XPS m1330 hottie will set you back at least $1,684 $1,299. Specs are in line with what we've already heard: LED-backlighting, slot-loading and Blu-ray optical, SSDs, big juicy 1,920 x 1,200 resolutions, GeForce Go 8600M GT graphics, 2x hard disk configurations and enough colors to make you doubt your manhood.Update: Dell just updated the website (again) to reflect a starting price of $1,299 for the XPS m1330. That's more like it.[Thanks, everybody who sent this in]
Dell fesses to more vertical line issues -- offers free replacements
Get 'em while they're hot, Dell's offering up free (labor and parts) replacements for laptop LCD screens with vertical line issues. Owners of Inspiron 6000 and 8600, Latitude D800 and D810, and Precision M60 and M70 machines exhibiting one-pixel wide vertical line(s) are now eligible for a free LCD replacement or cash money refund if Dell already repaired your box sometime in the past. According to Dell, all the affected machines shipped between December 2004 and December 2006. Apparently, this is the same issue already corrected on the 17-inch LCDs shipped with their Inspiron 9200, 9300 and Dell XPS Gen 2 laptops back in April. Your slab not exhibiting the problem? No worries, if it gets ugly in the future, you're still eligible for a replacement within three years of purchase. The issue has been tracked back to one specific component used on a small number of LCDs across Dell's Lineup. Hey Dell, care to share that information with Apple to see if it's the cause of their 17-inch LCD woes? Wouldn't be the first time you two sourced the same OEM panels. Dell users, click the read link below to get yours.
Dell confirms XPS m1330 and Inspiron laptops -- and 22 other "confessions"
Dell has a new post titled "Dell's 23 confessions" up on their official Direct2Dell blog. The fact that Dell's Digital Media Manager, Lionel Menchaca apologizes for some embarrassingly public missteps made recently makes the piece worthy on its own. However, one of our favorite disclosures has to be confession number 9 where Dell confirms both the new XPS m1330 and Inspiron series of laptops coming "later this month." We must say, Dell's frank, open discussion with the consumer community is certainly refreshing and -- for good or for bad -- stands in stark contrast to the brutal, one-way flow of information out of Apple. Speaking of which, confession number 19 states, "If Steve Jobs ever changes his tune on OS X, we'd probably offer it too." Not that that's going to happen mind you.[Thanks, CR H.]
Pics and specs of Dell's unannounced Inspirons: HHDs, Blu-ray, and RAID?
Attention Wal-Mart shoppers, we've got pics-a-plenty from Dell's new Inspiron lineup. Better yet, French forum lesDelliens proclaims to have the specs on not only the 1520, 1521, 1720, and 1721 already churning in the rumor mill, but also on a new 14.1-inch 1420. Everything certainly looks kosher but you'll have to judge for yourselves. Click-through for a glimpse at the purported specifications (via machine translated French) or just click into the gallery below. Mmm, so many pretty pictures.%Gallery-3912%
Dell reportedly set to release new Inspiron, Vostro laptops
As they are wont to do, the folks at Notebook Italia have turned up some details on a fresh new batch of laptops, including a bundle of new Inspirons from Dell and a pair of new models in the company's hereto unheard of "Vostro" line. The new entries in the Inspiron line include the 1520, 1521, 1720, and 1721, each of which pack either 15.4-inch or 17-inch displays, and boast either Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Turion 64 X2 processors. The Vostro models on the other hand, appear to be Intel-only (at least from what's been revealed so far), with the Vostro 1500 coming equipped with a 15.4-inch display and the Vostro 1700 upping things to a 17-inch screen. Unfortunately, those are about all the specs that are known at the moment, although it doesn't look like we'll have to wait long to find out more, as all but one of the laptops are reportedly set to be released on June 26th, with the Vostro 1700 following later in July.Update: The laptop above is a new Inspiron, not a Vostro. Those, apparently, are all black.
Dell's 17-inchers packing a jolt?
Dell 9400 owner "ViriiGuy" is a PC repair guy by day, human lightning rod by night. His 17-inch laptop seems just dandy, other than a nasty habit of sending off between 19 and 65 volts of AC out of any screw on the bottom of the laptop. Along with the annoying result of making ViriiGuy "feel like a 9 volt battery" to his wife whenever he's using the laptop, the laptop also fried its own RAM and video card. After getting a replacement 9400 from Dell, along with couple more 9400s he was prepping for clients, VG noticed the exact same shocking dilemma on all three laptops. Reports have also surfaced of similar jolt coming out of a Inspiron 6400, and Dell's 17-inchers are mostly based off the same platform, so other Dell laptops of that size could be at risk as well. The latest word is that VG's own problems were solved by springing for a three-pronged grounded power adapter, but since Dell still hasn't fessed up to the problem, or offered up such adapters for free other than in a few isolated incidents, we thought we'd run this by you Engadget guinea pigs valued readers to see how widespread the problem actually is.
Canadian lawsuit pegs Dell for knowingly selling defective laptops
Sure, it's a new year, but it's the same ole problems for Dell. Yet again the Texas powerhouse is facing a lawsuit claiming that the company knowingly and willingly sold laptops to loyal buyers even though they were defective, and this time it's coming from our northerly neighbors. A group of Canucks who purchased toasty Dell lappies have slapped some legal action on Dell through the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, and the filing claims that "Dell was negligent in designing the computers and sold them even though the company knew of the problems." The models in question reportedly include the 1100, 1150, 5100, 5150 and 5160 models of the Inspiron, and rather than focusing on batteries that erupted in their laps, it claims that the "notebooks suffer from design defects that cause premature failure of the motherboard due to overheating just after the one-year warranty expires." As expected, a Dell spokesperson didn't have a comment on the pending suit, but we're sure it'll be a bit more diligent to show up in court than in previous scenarios.[Via Inquirer]
Dell has a fever, prescribes Core 2 Duo updates to XPS and E1705 laptops
As expected, Dell is throwing a whole bunch of Core 2 Duo "Merom" processors into their existing laptop models: the XPS M2010, M1710 and M1210, along with the Inspiron E1705. All three XPS lapsters now offer your choice between a T7200, T7400 and T7600 Core 2 Duo processor, while the E1505 loses the T7600 option but holds onto a pair of Core Duo choices. The XPS units will be starting at $3,500, $2,300 and $1,200 respectively, while the E1705 bottoms out the collection at $1,124. Dell is promising Core 2 Duo updates for the Inspiron E1515 and E1405 later this week, with the Latitude D820, D620 and D520 to follow next week.[Thanks, Devin and Zach]Read - XPS M2010Read - XPS M1710Read - XPS M1210Read - Inspiron E1705
Dell has Core 2 Duo laptops in the wings?
A few spicy tidbits have been showing up on Dell's websites pointing to some Core 2 Duo releases sooner rather than later. Their UK website lists Core 2 Duo versions of their XPS M1210, M1710, M2010 and Inspiron e1705 and e1505 laptops, while the US support site mentions a BIOS update to allow current owners of those laptops to upgrade to Merom processors. So far there isn't any official word from Dell on any such upgrades, and you'll have to call up Dell in the UK to try and finagle those Core 2 Duo models, but it seems like Dell fans aren't going to have to wait too long to get some of that next-gen Intel action.
Dell laptop + ammo = no go
We'd think by now people might have heard about some of those Dell laptop mishaps, but it looks like a few boxes of ammo and a vintage Ford pickup are the latest casualties in an incident of laptops gone bad. While it's yet to be proved certainly that the Dell Inspiron 1300 in question did actually start the fire that blew up the ammo boxes of two outdoorsmen on a fishing trip (uh, who needs ammo on a fishing trip?) and overtook Jenny, the '66 F-250, we've little doubt that the laptop's, ammo's, and truck's owner Thomas Forqueran regrets ever placing the three within the vicinity of one another. ConsumerAffairs, from whom we sourced this story, did make mention of the Dell battery recall website some Engadget users have been tossing about -- you know, the launched in December of last year to take back some 22,000 batteries. Calls to Dell this week about the program went unreturned, but one thing is definitely for sure: if you've got a Dell laptop, do yourself (and your truck) a favor and still check and see if you can get it taken back, would you? We know you like your lap / desk / shoulder bag / car / plane in good working order.Here's that Dell recall page one more time, keep it handy, would ya? http://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/[Thanks, Robert]
Dell Inspiron E1505 reviewed
If you've been looking to go Core Duo on the cheap then wait no longer. PCMAG just busted out their Editor's Choice award on the 15.4-inch widescreen Dell Inspiron E1505 laptop. Good reason too, since their $999 test model shipped pre-loaded with XP Media Center Edition 2005 (TV tuner costs extra), sporting a 1.67GHz Intel Core Duo, 1GB DDR2 SDRAM, 80GB (5400rpm) disk, 802.11b/g, dual-layer DVD burner, and ATI Mobility Radion X1300 graphics -- not top of the line by any means, but oodles better than a lot of those integrated graphics craptops, and more likely to run Vista with some pep. PCMAG calls the E1505 "perfect" for people on a budget who "appreciate technology" which well, pretty much covers just about everyone we know. Knocks? Sure, the battery only managed about 3 hours and you have to enter a goofy Dell E-Value code "E1505PC" when ordering if you expect your kit to ring-up with that sub-grand price tag. Righteous pricing indeed for this full featured and powerful kit.
Price bout: Dell vs. Mac Book Pro
Dell. The very name makes me imagine dull little boxes doing dull little tasks, however, they are the price leader (and overall marketshare leader) on the PC side of the fence. Therefore, by law, every tech columnist much compare Dell's prices to the newest Mac to prove, once and for all, that Mac users pay a premium.Dan Frakes, who can be my number one any time (get it? Star Trek? No? Ok, moving on), has braved the Dell website and configured a 'comparable' Inspiron. The results? Well, I don't want to steal Dan's thunder, but since he writes for Macworld I think you can guess.
