towards the optimal laptop

These are the laptop reviews of the week:

• Dell Latitude E6400 (14.1″): CNET, Laptop Magazine.
• Dell Studio 17 (17″): Notebookcheck.
• Acer Aspire One (8.9″): Laptop Magazine.
• Asus Eee PC 1000 40G (10″): Tech Report.
• Asus M70Sa-X2 (17″, multimedia): PC Magazine.
• HP Pavilion dv5-1015nr (15.4″): CNET.
• Sony Vaio FW139E/H (16.4″): Notebook Review.
• Lenovo Thinkpad R500 (15.4″): Laptop Magazine.
• Lenovo Thinkpad T500 (15.4″): Notebook Review.
• Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Li 2727 (15.4″): CNET UK.

Here you have the laptop reviews of the week:

• Acer Aspire One (8.9″): OS News, CNET.
• Acer Extensa 5220 (15.4″): Notebook Review.
• Lenovo Thinkpad SL400 (14.1″): Notebookcheck, Laptop Logic.
• Lenovo Thinkpad X200 (12.1″): Digital Trends.
• Lenovo Thinkpad T400 (14.1″): Notebook Review (first look).
• Lenovo Thinkpad T500 (15.4″): Notebook Review (first look).
• Lenovo Ideapad S10 (10″): Laptop Magazine (first look).
• Dell Inspiron 13 (13.3″): Notebook Review (first look).
• Dell Precision M6300 (mobile workstation, 17″): Notebookcheck.
• Dell Studio 15 (15.4″): CNET.
• HP Pavilion dv5t (15.4″): Notebook Review.
• HP Pavilion dv5-1032eg (15.4″): Notebookcheck.
• Gigabyte M912 (tablet-PC, 8.9″): Laptop Magazine.
• Fujitsu Lifebook T5010 (tablet-PC, 13.3″): PC Magazine.
• MSI Wind (10″): Digital Trends.
• Sony Vaio CR31S/W (14.1″): Notebookcheck.
• Sony Vaio FW11M (16.4″): Notebookcheck.

Dell has launched the professional laptops Latitude E. Dell Latitude laptops are designed for business, and the E series features a new design and a renewed hardware based on the platform Intel Centrino 2.

Currentyl available laptops in E series are:

• Dell Latitude E6500: 15.4″ and 2.35 kg. From 779 € + VAT in Spain (1169$ in the US).
• Dell Latitude E6400: 14.1″ and 1.95 kg. From 749 € + VAT in Spain (1139 $ in the US). According to Dell using the 9-cell battery it offers up to 19 h of battery life (!!!).
• Dell Latitude E5500: affordable, 15.4″ and 2.89 kg. From 479 € + VAT in Spain (808 $ in the US).
• Dell Latitude E5400: affordable, 14.1″ and 2,54 kg. From 499 € + VAT (788 $ in the US).

Dell Latitude E4300 and E4200 (13.3″ and 12.1″, respectively) are not yet available.

I’m still suffering Internet access limitations, but here you have the laptop reviews of the week:

• Dell Studio 17 (17″): CNET UK.
• Dell Inspiron 1525 (15.4″): CNET UK.
• Lenovo Thinkpad SL400 (14.1″): PC Magazine.
• HP Pavilion dv6985se Special Edition (15.4″): CNET.
• HP Pavilion dv9925nr (17″): CNET.
• HP Compaq 6910p (15.4″): Notebookcheck.
• Acer Aspire 6920 (16.4″ multimedia ): Notebook Review.
• Asus M50S (15.4″): Notebookcheck.
• Gigabyte M912 (8.9″ tablet PC , mini review): Laptop Magazine.
• Sony Vaio VGN-FZ31Z (15.4″): Notebookcheck.
• Toshiba Satellite A305 (15.4″): CNET.
• Toshiba Satellite L300 (15.4″): CNET UK.
• Toshiba Portégé R500 (12.1″): Notebook Review.

This week my Internet access is a bit restricted but here you have, with a small delay, the laptop reviews of the week:

• Acer Aspire 6920 (16.4″, multimedia, first look): Notebook Review.
• Asus Eee PC 901 (8.9″): Notebook Review.
• Asus Eee PC 904 (8.9″): Mobile Computer Magazine.
• Sony Vaio FW (FW198U; 16.4″, multimedia): Notebook Review.
• Lenovo Thinkpad X200 (12.1″): Geek.com.
• Toshiba Satellite U405D (13.3″): CNET.
• Dell Latitude D430 (12.1″): Notebook Review.

As Dell already did, HP publishes a list of models affected by the Nvidia GPU problem and updated BIOS.

Found via Fudzilla.

Dell has just presented the desktop minicomputer Studio Hybrid. It is already available in Spain (and probably in other countries, but at the moment not in the US, UK or Australia).

It is a small (or VERY small, look at the size of the CD in the picture) form factor desktop computer with an appealing design. It has a good assortment of connections for a computer of this size (5 USB, FireWire, Gigabit Ethernet, DVI, HDMI, S/PDIF, card reader, line-in, speakers-out and headphone-out) but it’s not very powerful (up to Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 at 2,1 GHz, 4 GB RAM and 320 GB hard disk drive; graphics card is an Intel GMA 3100 that can’t be upgraded). Anyway, its performance should be enough for the most common needs and can be configured with BD drive.

Dell Studio Hybrid costs from 449 € with the base configuration (Celeron processor, 1 GB  RAM and 160 GB hard disk), pero under Windows Vista I recommend the first preconfigured option (Pentium Dual Core with 2 GB RAM), costing 549 €.

Watch Dell’s site for your country, It’s likely to be available later today or tomorrow.

Update: it’s already available at dell.com, and PC Magazine has already published a review.

Things are much quieter this week. Here you have the laptop review I have found:

• Dell Studio 15 (15.4″): Notebook Review, Notebook Review.
• Lenovo Thinkpad SL400 (14.1″): Notebook Review.
• Sony Vaio FW139E/H (16.4″, multimedia; first look): Notebook Review.
• HP Compaq  CQ50 (15.4″): CNET.
• Toshiba Satellite L305 (15.4″): CNET.
• MSI Wind (10″): PC Magazine.
• Acer Aspire One (8.9″, first look; in Spanish): Xataka.

There has been a lot of talk about some problems with Nvidia mobile GPUs. It’s difficult to know the truth inside so many reports and rumors, but the point is that an unknown number of Nvidia GeForce 8400M and 8600M have been manufactured using defective materials, and can fail with GPU temperature fluctuations.

Dell just updated the BIOS of the affected laptops. The update avoids the GPU failure, possibly enhancing its temperature control. Not all Dell laptop models with Nvidia GPU are affected: for more information and downloads, visit Direct2Dell.

This week we have a lot of laptop reviews, and the stars are Centrino 2 laptops and tablet PCs. Here you have (a bit late) the laptop reviews of the week:

• Lenovo Thinkpad X200 (12.1″): PC Magazine, Notebook Review, Laptop Magazine.
• Lenovo Thinkpad SL400 (14.1″): Notebook Review, Laptop Magazine.
• Lenovo Thinkpad X300 (13.3″): Notebookcheck.
• Sony Vaio FW198U/H (16.4″): PC Magazine, Laptop Magazine.
• Sony Vaio TZ298N (11.1″): PC Magazine.
• Acer Aspire One (8.9″): Laptop Magazine.
• Acer Aspire 6920G (16.4″): PC Magazine.
• HP Pavilion dv7 (17″): Laptop Magazine.
• HP Pavilion tx2500z (PC tauleta 12.1″): Notebok Review.
• Fujitsu Lifebook T5010 (PC tauleta 13.3″): Tablet PC Review.
• Fujitsu Lifebook T1010 minianàlisi (PC tauleta 13.3″): Blog de Laptop Magazine.
• Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Si3655 (13.3″): Notebookcheck.
• Dell Latitude XT (PC tauleta 12.1″): Laptop Magazine.
• MSI Wind (10″): Notebook Review.
• Toshiba Satellite L305D (15.4″): CNET.