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IRL: Trading in the MacBook Pro for Dell's Precision M3800 workstation (updated)
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. I know what you're thinking: isn't Dell's Precision M3800 workstation for graphics pros or architects? Yes, but just look at it: it's gorgeous in aluminum and carbon fiber, weighs a mere 4.15 pounds, has a fourth-gen Intel Core i7 chip with 16GB of RAM, NVIDIA Quadro K1100M pro graphics and -- get this -- a 3,200 x 1,800 touchscreen. The frosting on the gateau, as it were, is the price: it runs $2,554 with a 512GB SSD. If you were eyeing a Retina display MacBook Pro or another high-end 15-incher with discrete graphics, that'd be pretty tempting, right? Maybe yes and maybe not –- let's take a closer look.
Dell's XPS 11 convertible and refreshed XPS 13 now available starting at $1,000
Dell's Yoga competitor, the flexible XPS 11, has made its way into availability in the US and other select countries, with the refreshed XPS 13 also tagging along. As we mentioned in our hands-on, the 11.6-inch ultrabook's keyboard folds all the way back to transform into a tablet with an impressive 2,560 x 1,440 IPS display. The updated XPS 13 laptop, on the other hand, has gained a touchscreen option, as well as new Haswell processors like those in the XPS 11. Both devices are now up for sale on Dell's own site for at least $1,000, depending on specs. As always, the bigger the SSD storage space and the RAM, the more expensive it is. Almost all the laptops will ship with Windows 8.1 preinstalled, except the non-touch XPS 13 that's keeping things dated with Windows 7 Home Premium. If you like your PC hardware a little cheaper (or costlier), the company's also releasing the OptiPlex 3020 desktop ($499) and the Precision M3800 business laptop ($1,799). For a reminder of the XPS 11's acrobatic ways, we've added our hands-on video right after the break. [Thanks, Louis]
Acer introduces Aspire M5800 and M3800 desktops, H235H display
Acer's been on a tear with the new gear lately, and while we're not going to say we're as hot for the new Aspire M5800 tower as we are for, say, the Timeline, it's still a pretty nice little machine -- you're looking at a 2.66GHz Core 2 Quad with 8GB of RAM, 1.5GB GeForce GT230 graphics, a 740GB drive and HDMI out for $800. Not bad at all. Little brothers Aspire M3800 and X3810 are far less interesting, with a 2.5GHz Pentium and integrated X4500 graphics for $450 in a tower or $529 in a low-profile case. Not exactly mindblowing, but you've still got HDMI out, so they could make for reasonably cheap HTPCs if you don't need much more than Flash support. Acer's also got a new display out, the 23-inch H235H, which offers 1080p resolution, 2ms response time, a 160-degree viewing angle, and 100,000:1 contrast ratio for $239.
