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

(Source: CNET)

If you’ve been keeping up with the recent torrent of news, you’d know that the delayed Dell XPS 700 gaming powerhouse will come equipped with Intel’s latest Core 2 Duo processors. But more likely than not, the XPS 700 is far too high-end (and far too pricey) a PC for even the gamers in most of us.

So, what do you get if you really, really need to test out Intel’s latest microprocessor offering? Get a Dell XPS 410 - a Core 2 Duo E6600-powered replacement of the aging XPS 400. CNET already has a review for it too, and they say it’s fast. Ironically though, it’s also pretty expensive - value for money-wise, that is. But its US$2K+ price is surely leaps and bounds away from the US$4K+ Dell is demanding for the XPS 700.

So, if you’re looking to own the latest in processor technology, and want a PC that’s on the high-end - though not too high - give the XPS 410 a shot. After all, 7.2 out of 10 from CNET is still pretty respectable.

Read more news and reviews on the Dell XPS 410.

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(Source: Forumz)

Well, this time the laptop didn’t really explode, but “bursting into flames” is probably a bad enough mess for the guys over at Dell’s recently launched one2one corporate blog to handle.

Yes, you did catch the “this time”, right? Because if you recall, this isn’t the first time we’re looking at a publicly-reported incident of this nature. Just last month, we saw news regarding an exploding notebook in Japan - which Dell quickly resolved by providing a replacement.

What do you think will happen this time? Will Dell take the initiative by reaching out to the unlucky owner through its weblog?

[News via Tom’s Hardware Forumz]

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(Source: Intel)

Intel takes the lead again with today’s launch of the Core 2 Duo processor, or more accurately, 10 Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme processors.

While the average consumer will certainly be thrilled by the sheer power packed within these processors (which apparently consume 40% less power too), those who have yet to receive their Dell XPS 700 gaming desktops and have opted for Dell’s Core 2 Duo upgrade scheme will surely be the happiest.

After all, now that Core 2 Duo has been unveiled, it shouldn’t take “too” long for Dell to get some of it and pump those XPS 700’s out the factory door.

[News via Geekzone]

Read more news and reviews on the Dell XPS 700 .

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(Source: NotebookReview.com)

Here’s yet another review of the Dell XPS M1710 notebook - this time from About.com. As usual (that is, with respect to About.com), it’s only a tech. specifications review (i.e. no benchmarks, pictures, etc.), but it follows the downwards trend begun by BusinessWeek Online by awarding an overall rating of only 3 out of 5.

So, it shouldn’t be surprising to see a reasonably positive, yet very qualified bottom line: “Dell’s XPS M1710 is certainly a very stylish and high performance system, but the high cost and recent drop in Dell’s support make this a very specialized system that will appeal to a very specific audience.”

Read more news and reviews on the Dell XPS M1710.

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Dell’s first store (you know, one of the two that captured everyone’s attention two months back) opened a couple of days back in Dallas’ NorthPark Center.

For those who have forgotten, while the stores contain sample products for consumer viewing, they do not contain inventory. All purchases will have to made through phone or internet within or outside the store.

The second of the two stores will open later this year at New York’s Palisades Center.

[News via KRISTV.com]

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(Source: bit-tech.net)

Remember the delayed XPS 700 gaming powerhouse that Dell said it would start shipping very soon? Well, it seems there might be further delays, and Dell is trying to mitigate the negative impact from this by pledging a free Core 2 Duo processor upgrade for those who ordered on or before 18 July.

Customers who accept Dell’s upgrade offer will also have to agree to an “extended wait time” - presumably for stock of Intel’s upcoming Core 2 Duo to come in.

At least this time, we’re hearing direct from the horse’s mouth, i.e. Dell’s newly-launched one2one blog. So, we most probably won’t have to look at problems like the recent overclocking misunderstanding issue XPS 700 customers experienced.

Read more news and reviews on the Dell XPS 700 .

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(Source: TrustedReviews)

Servers are a rarity when it comes to reviews, so we should cherish every one of them - including today’s review of the Dell PowerEdge SC430 by TrustedReviews.

Specs-wise, the SC430 is healthy, but not particularly amazing. With a 2.8GHz Pentium D processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM and up to 1TB of SATA or SCSI storage (much less than 1TB for SCSI), it’ll do what most Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) need it to do, but don’t expect it to power production-level web applications.

Given its competitive price though, it scores a strong 8 out of 10 overall rating, with a favourable verdict: “The SC430 is certainly a good candidate for very small businesses on a tight budget looking for their first server. You don’t get any management or monitoring features and the embedded SATA controller doesn’t support RAID arrays but the server is very well built, it includes a good specification for the price and workers in small offices will appreciate its near silent running.”

Read more news and reviews on the Dell PowerEdge SC430.

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“Oops…” That’s what Dell claims to have happened when it was discovered to have overcharged 470,000 of its customers in Washington State, USA by US$24 million in sales taxes.

What happened was that the World No. 1 PC vendor charged sales tax on warranties (or rather, extended warranties) - services where sales tax does not apply.

Dell was ordered by the court to repay the $24 million to its customers, but this is probably just the tip of the iceberg considering that the class action suits in other US states have yet to conclude.

FYI, this is at least the second time this month that Dell has been charged with ripping of its customers. It was reprimanded on charges of misleading advertising earlier this month.

[News via The Inquirer]

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(Source: NotebookReview.com)

Perspective counts. At least, that’s what BusinessWeek’s review of the Dell XPS M1710 gaming notebook reminds me.

While early reviews of the XPS M1710 gave Dell’s gaming luggable unrestrained praise (think 9.0 out of 10 kind of praise), we’re looking at a “mere” 3.5 out of 5 from BusinessWeek. Why? Simply because BusinessWeek now has comparable top-of-the-line laptops, such as Fujitsu’s Lifebook N6410, to compare with.

It’s something we tend to forget when reading multiple reviews of the same product, even though we all know how fast the PC world moves at. At least, it’s something I tend to forget.

Anyway, here’s BW’s conclusion: “Overall, Dell has drawn a serious line in the sand for rivals in the PC gaming business. There are indeed some nice flourishes, but also evidence of some lack of attention to detail. Having shown the rest of the industry how to cut prices, it could still stand to learn from its competitors how to really build a top-flight machine. But it’s clear that Dell is coming along. ”

Read more news and reviews on the Dell XPS M1710.

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(Source: luftwaffe at Neowin.net)

DigitalReviews.net had the pleasure of buying two 30″ Dell 3007WFP LCD monitors recently, and took it upon themselves to review these babies after a month of use.

For the basics, I suggest reading the prior two reviews on Dell’s 30″ offering because I’m skipping straight to their conclusion.

Besides discovering that “…the Dell 3007WFP is an amazing display…”, they said that, “Once you have played games on it which fully support the ultra sharp resolution you will never want to go back to any smaller monitors. Of course, in the gaming world you score extra by killing your opponent with jealousy and envy. As much as we like admiring glances, an early “Game Over” doesn’t work for us. We want to give our opponent a fair chance. That’s why we bought two of them…”

Of course, you could have guessed all this with their overall rating of 9.0 out of 10.

Read more news and reviews on the Dell UltraSharp 3007WFP.

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