When it comes to open-source, Dell is certainly one of the few major vendors out there that has always done a pretty good job of opening up their support for these types of projects, and that includes Linux. Recently Dell found plenty of success in its Project Sputnik, an initiative to provide developers with a copy of Ubuntu 12.04 (Linux) and the drivers needed to make it work flawlessly on the Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook. While technically anyone can install Ubuntu on just about any kind of x86 device, often there will be a few driver conflicts along the way, so having official vendor support is pretty significant.

Now that they’ve seen how well an Ultrabook with Ubuntu can do, the company is launching a version of XPS 13 that will ditch Windows entirely and have Ubuntu 12.04 “Precise Pangolin” pre-installed and ready to go. While this won’t appeal to everyone, not all would-be Ultrabook purchasers are exactly thrilled with the changes coming to Windows 8, so this could certainly have some appeal to at least a small niche of users. At the moment, Dell isn’t exactly telling us how much a Windows-free XPS 13 will cost, but odds are that it will probably likely hit at least a little cheaper than its Windows counterpart- even if only by a little. The most important thing about this news is that the XPS 13 could now represent one of the fastest, most-portable pre-assembled open-source laptops ever.

[ source ]

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Gateway EC14D01h Ultraportable Notebook

Usually, you have to make a very important decision when it comes to buying netbooks and notebooks. If you opt for a standard-size laptop, you usually gain extra weight and reduced portability. If you go for something smaller, like a netbook or ultraportable, you usually end up without an optical drive. That’s changing.

To address the need for portability and an optical drive, we are now looking at the new entries in the Gateway EC Series. The ultraportable notebook PC is unique in that while it only has an 11.6-inch display, it also has an integrated DVD drive.

It’s rare to see an optical drive in a laptop of this size, because many users in that market value the lighter weight that the lack of an optical drive affords. However, there are people who still want to watch DVD movies and burn backup discs on the go.

Even though there is the 8x Super Multi dual-layer DVD drive in there, the Gateway EC14D01h only tips the scales at a mere 3.55 pounds. Other highlights include an Intel Pentium SU4100 ULV processor, Windows 7 Home Premium, Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics, 4GB DDR2-667 RAM, 320GB HDD, webcam, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, HDMI, multi-gesture touchpad, and a standard 6-cell (5600 mAh) battery.

Expect the Gateway EC14D01h to ship later this month with a suggested retail price of $579.99 (CAD).

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Just because you want to get a business-level notebook computer does not mean that you have to do away with style and portability. The newly refreshed Dell Latitude 13 is, in fact, the world’s thinnest 13-inch commercial client laptop. For a little more oomph, though, you may want the Dell Precision M6500 instead.

As an ultraportable, the Dell Latitude is the “beauty” of the pair. It gets loaded with robust remote manageability, virtualization-ready design from VMware and Citrix, and plenty of security features. Key features include an optional integrated webcam, optional WWAN mobile broadband, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and optional Blu-ray drive. There’s no specific mention of processor choices, but we’ll find out when the Dell Latitude 13 goes on sale “in the coming weeks.”

Stepping it up a big notch is the Dell Precision M6500. The “beast” of the two, the Precision M6500 can come loaded with your choice of Core i7 or Core i5 processors, including an option for the Core i7-920XM Quad Core Extreme Edition processor. The 17-inch screen can come with optional LED backlighting, RAID 5 configuration (with three internal storage devices), USB 3.0, 3.2-megapixel camera, and more.

“Our customers’ issues are our issues and we’re increasingly seeing that solutions, not hardware is the center of the conversation,” said Brett McAnally, director, Dell Product Group. “With the Latitude 13 and Dell Precision M6500 dual core, we’re refocusing our solutions to ensure we solve key customer concerns such as mobility and collaboration.”

Dell Latitude 13 and Precision M6500 Image Gallery

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Joanna Stern decided to compare four of the best competitors in this realm, making sure that they satisfied a few different criteria. First, they had to have a 13.3-inch display. Second, they had to be running on some real build of Windows 7. Third, they had to be priced at $800 or better. Remember that these ultraportables are certainly more powerful than their $400 netbook counterparts too.

For the purposes of the comparison, she considered the Acer Aspire Timeline AS3810T-8737, the HP Pavilion dm3, and the Toshiba Satellite T135, but the ultraportable that came out on top was the Asus UL30A-A1.

In the shot-by-shot comparison, we learn that the Asus was the thinnest and had the best touchpad, but much more importantly, it had the longest battery life (eight-cells for 6:25) and the best overall performance. It was also quite the contender for design, lightness, and speakers.

Check out the full comparison through the source link below.

Source: Gizmodo

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These are not meant to compete against the smallest of the netbook family, nor are they meant to be compete against the larger powerhouses in the gaming laptop market. Instead, they’re supposed to be low-voltage machines that are simultaneously portable and reasonably powerful.

The ViewBook 130 gets a 13.3-inch LCD display and three different configurations. The cheapest of the bunch (about $767) gets a 1.3GHZ Intel ULV743 processor, whereas the priciest option (about $983) gets a 1.3GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 7300 processor. They all get HDMI, VGA, 2GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 1.3MP webcam, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Windows 7 Home Premium.

You can go smaller with the ViewSonic ViewBook 120, which gets a 12-inch display with prices starting at $678. The ViewBook 140 gets a 14-inch display and will likely get similar specs as the 130. Bear in mind that these prices are for the Taiwan market, so any America-bound versions may experience some price adjustments.

Source: Crunchgear

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Rather than dropping $2,000 or more for an adequately equipped ultraportable from someone else, you might want to think about the Satellite T115 instead. Prices start at just $450 and you get an 11.6-inch HD display.

Other highlights include Windows 7 Home Premium, Intel SU4100 or Celeron 743 processor, DDR3 RAM, up to 250GB HDD, multi-touch trackpad, HDMI-out, and a six-cell battery for up to nine hours of life. This is far from being top of the line, but you are only paying $450. That’s the same price as many Atom-powered netbooks.

If you’d prefer to have a slightly bigger screen, Toshiba also has the Satellite 135 with a 13.3-inch HD display. That starts at $600 and comes with your choice of Intel SU4100 or SU2700, as well as built-in Bluetooth.

Source: Crunchgear

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