House of Dell | The Unofficial Dell Weblog, with News, Reviews, and Information.

(Source: Dell)

Dell has upped their firepower with two business-class notebooks, both equipped with Intel Core Duo processors. At a starting price of US$1,149, we have a Dell Latitude D620 equipped with a Core Duo T2300 processor, 14.1 inch screen, 512MB RAM and 40GB SATA hard disk drive.

But if you can spare a bit more, at a starting price of US$1,289, we have the pictured Latitude D820 - which also comes with a T2300 processor, but with an exclusive option of upgrading to a 512MB NVIDIA Quadro NVS 120M graphics card. This one is a bit heavy at a minimum weight of 5.6 pounds, but that’s pretty okay considering that this is a 15.4 inch model.

Both notebooks come with Dell’s HyperConnect (wireless connection tie-ups with Cingular, Verizon and Vodafone), Smart Security (optional fingerprint reader, Wave Embassy Trust Suite security software), and RoadReady certification (durable design and rigorous testing).

[News via Dell]

Read more news and reviews on the Dell Latitude D620 notebook.

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After all the rumors floating around on Dell’s planned aquisition of Alienware, we finally have official confirmation of Dell’s plans. Dell announced today that it has entered into “…a definitive agreement to acquire Alienware to further satisfy the growing number of consumers and businesses seeking the highest-performance PC products.”

Not surprisingly, Dell maintains that Alienware will be left as a subsidiary – with its own product marketing, development, sales and technical support – rather than be assimilated into the Dell juggernaut.  As such, if this deal is realized, we will probably see fewer high-end gaming PCs (e.g. recently launched Renegade XPS) chugging out into Dell’s core product line. Good riddance.

Of course, we must not forget another key benefit from this arrangement: Dell’s ability to avoid direct confrontation with Intel. However, if seen in another perspective, it could be that Dell’s Alienware purchase is a harbinger for a Dell-AMD link-up.

[News via Dell]

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(Source: Engadget)

The NVIDIA® Quad-SLI-equipped Dell Renegade XPS 600 revealed earlier has been released for sale today.

For those who have forgotten, the Renegade XPS 600 comes equipped with the industry’s first dedicated physics accelerator - the AGEIA PhysX processor - which will allow developers to increase the sophistication and realism of their games. Of course, the overclocked Intel® Pentium® 965 Extreme Edition processor and the four NVIDIA® graphics cards aren’t to be laughed at either.

So, how much do we have to pay for this monster? Well, the Dell Renegade XPS 600 is priced at a whopping US$9,930. But the standard XPS 600, plus the physics controller, is going at US$2,039, while the lower-end Dell XPS 400 (with the physics controller), is priced at US$1,239.

More information and reviews on the Dell XPS Renegade 600 here.

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(Source: Dell)

With the recent launches of upgraded models for Dell’s other LCD monitors, it seemed to be prime time for the Dell 2007WFP to get its own makeover. So, it isn’t really surprising that Dell has recently done exactly that, with the upgraded model coming with a 800:1 contrast ratio, 300 cd/m2 brightness, and a 16ms response time.

Of course, the upgrades are minor, but if the 2007WFP does come out competitive enough on price, that won’t really matter – though it would have been nice to see HDCP compliance.

[News via Engadget]

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(Source: NewsFactor)

The Dell Dimension E510 desktop was fully reviewed earlier by NewsFactor, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to add in About.com’s usual specifications review.

On the positive side, the Dimension E510’s equipped DataSafe technology and customizability seemed to score points with the reviewer, but these didn’t help much when it came to the system’s weaknesses. A few of the negative points on the Dell Dimension E510 include its lack of a bundled DVD burner and the stingy 256MB RAM equipped. Overall, About.com gave the system a 3 stars out of 5 as the system, while sufficiently solid, did not have the necessary features to go further.

More information and reviews on the Dell Dimension E510 here.

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Some recent Asian news on Dell, in super compact form.

1. Dell Doubling Staff Count in India by 2009
   Dell has announced that its current 10,000 strong workforce in India will expand by 100% to 20,000 in 2009. Of course, I don’t think anybody will be surprised if I predict that there will be corresponding stagnations or worse still, decreases elsewhere.
2. Taiwan Notebook Makers Must Give Dell Discounts To Secure Contracts
   Like any other huge purchasing firm out there, Dell is squeezing its Taiwan notebook contract makers for some heavy discounts, i.e. 3% of revenue contributions from shipments to Dell in 2006. Those that do not provide the said discounts will suffer significant orders losses.

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(Source: Dell)

[H] Consumer purchased a Dell XPS 400 online in order to provide a comprehensive evaluation of it for prospective Dell buyers out there. They evaluated the XPS 400 from the ordering point all the way to benchmarks and technical support.

Overall, [H] Consumer found the Dell XPS 400 to be very disappointing, awarding it a mere 4 out of 10. Nevertheless, the review itself is a good read, with a conclusion that actually spans a whole page. So, for the sake of conciseness, I’ll just quote a few paragraphs from their bottom line:

The system itself is a decent gaming platform and the hardware was well built. It was put together decently with parts that can pull the weight required to play today’s graphically intensive games.

But we couldn’t even install one of the most popular games on the market, Sims 2, and trying to play other popular games would lock up the system and gaming sessions, when they would run, would get interrupted.

It comes down to this: Most people who buy a computer from Dell instead of a lesser-known builder do so specifically because they just want something that works out of the box, and the Dell XPS 400 doesn’t.

Our experience with the Dell, overall, was unpleasant and unsatisfactory. We cannot with good conscience recommend this computer to anyone.

More information and reviews on the Dell XPS 400 here.

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(Source: NotebookReview.com)

NotebookReviews.com reviews the entry-level Dell Inspiron B120 Celeron notebook, and has mostly good things to say about it. Of course, the reviewer’s opinions stem from his/her’s modest needs - email, surfing, wordprocessing, etc.

Nevertheless, the sturdy construction, steady performance, and most of all, the low price, came out as strong positives, with only minor problems arising from the initial lack of RAM and weak speakers.

NotebookReviews.com concludes that, “I did not set out looking for a notebook or acquiring one. Finding one would have been nice, as I did need to move to the next step in terms of mobility and slightly better performance (from the 800 MHz desktop I was using!) before this Dell essentially landed in my lap! Once communications were established (network and internet) and the fiddly early adjustments (software re-installed) were behind us, and we found a home with enough room to work without cramming each other’s space (after memory was added), it looks like it is going to be a happy, loving relationship — until one of us dies (worst case) but even after that, I am sure, the memories shall linger — both modules to boot (pun unintended)!”

More information and reviews on the Dell Inspiron B120 here.

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(Source: Dell)

About.com does another one of its tech. specifications reviews, and this time, it’s for the Dell XPS 400. While I’m sure all of us prefer first-hand reviews with benchmarks, “feel” reviews and all, tech. specs. reviews can come in pretty handy when you’re just comparing PCs on paper.

Anyway, a few things touched on the negative side for the About.com reviewer, including the XPS 400’s small hard drive, its lack of a DVD burner, and its under-par software package. But the XPS 400 redeemed itself by coming equipped with a 128MB ATI Radeon X300SE graphics card. Overall, the Dell XPS 400 scored 4 out of 5 stars with About.com.

Note: The highest-end Dell-suggested configuration of the Dell XPS 400 (Ultimate Multimedia) comes with a PCI Express™ x16 nVidia GeForce 6800.

More information and reviews on the Dell XPS 400 here.

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It seems that the lucrative healthcare market is no exception to Dell’s attempts to grow (and satisfy shareholder expectations) as it has recently announced its eHealthcare information technology (IT) framework “…that can help health care organizations improve overall efficiency and quality of patient care.” The framework utilises Dell’s comprehensive range of products and services, along with those of Hospital Information Systems (HIS) and digital imaging partners.

Basically, the eHealthcare framework attempts to satisfy three of the most important technology needs of health organisations: “Access to Patient Information When and Where Needed” - showcasing Dell’s mobile technology, “Continuous Availability of Patient Information” - featuring Dell’s servers and storage solutions, and “IT Asset Management and Cost Control” - underlining the cost-effectiveness of Dell’s direct sales model.

[News via Byte and Switch]

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