All is not well in the land of the E6400- and E6500-series lappytops. What looks to be hundreds of owners of these machines have been complaining of massive performance issues, throttling themselves down by as much as 95% under what would seem to be normal operating conditions. Whenever the devices get slightly warm the BIOS automatically starts dialing down the performance until they basically crawl to a halt, some indicating that even when cool they won’t go over 50% of maximum clock. Users have been reporting this issue since early in the year and Dell has apparently started censoring some posts on its forums, including a link to a PDF created by (now-banned) user Tinkerdude describing the problem in detail. It’s entitled “Performance loss during normal operation in a Dell Latitude E6500 laptop due to processor and bus clock throttling”, and if you think that’s long wait until you see all 59 pages of analysis (at the read link). As of now there’s no official fix provided by Dell, leaving many to call this Throttlegate, and we do love a good Stargate reference.
Update: Ibrahim e-mailed to let us know that these two series aren’t the only ones being gimped. The Studio XPS 1645 is said to be having similar (but somewhat less drastic) issues according to this thread, seemingly thanks to an inadequate AC adapter. In this case Dell seems to be shipping replacement adapters to those who call up and complain.
Update 2: Dell’s Chief Blogger Lionel Menchaca dropped the following in comments, which is something of a positive step:
We’re aware of concerns raised in this post and others like it. At this point, our teams are looking into the details. When we have more information to share, we’ll update customers via a post on Dell’s blog, Direct2Dell.
Dell facing massive E6400 and E6500 overheating and underclocking problem? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ah, Black Friday. The words send shivers down your spine… do they not? We’re sure that you’re probably napping right now after a 4AM jaunt to your nearest brick and mortar retailer, where you inevitably trampled some children to get your hands on a Zhu Zhu or that super cheap TV with a 10:1 contrast ratio (hey, it was really cheap!). Still, there are some hard workin’, hard spendin’ folks who probably haven’t had nearly enough of Capitalism Day, and as such, we’re going to round up some of the best or most interesting deals we’ve seen thus far for their shopping pleasure. We’ve already done a few posts on the matter prior to the big day, and we’ll include those here as well. Oh, and we’re going to let you know about deals that seem too good to be true or just plain bunk to us, because no one wants you wasting your money… beyond what is considered reasonable by polite society. If you guys have any deals you think are notable, use the tip form (or comments) and let us know!
New deals today:
Dell Zino HD for $199 (buyer beware, it ships with Vista)
PS3 Slim (120GB) with inFAMOUS and Killzone 2 + a $10 Amazon gift certificate (different deals also available at other retailers)
Westinghouse 32-inch TV for $246 at Target (it is dirt cheap, but probably looks like crap)
TomTom iPhone app 30 percent off until Monday (link goes to App Store)
Previous deals:
Apple’s Black Friday deals
Black Friday deals roundup: Best Buy, Lenovo, Verizon and more
Black Friday deals roundup: Walmart, Target and NewEgg
Black Friday deals bonanza round up
Black Friday ads leaking all over town, we’ve rounded them up
Sears Black Friday ad revealed, we’ll be sleeping off our tryptophan hangovers
Black Friday deal roundup: Zhu Zhu mania edition originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Of the many trends in consumer electronics, today’s announcement by Lenovo highlights two of the biggest: 1) PC makers are desperate to get in on that handheld smartphone action, and 2) China is the place to do it with its 700 million mobile subscribers. That’s why Lenovo is putting up $200 million in cash and stock to reacquire its former mobile business sold to a group of investors last year; a move made possible by Lenovo’s recent return to profitability. Although Lenovo says its focus will be on the Chinese market, don’t be surprised when you see Lenovo branded handsets headed to downtown stores or your favorite high-street shops — assuming the deal passes shareholder approval, of course.
Lenovo begins $200M buyback of Lenovo Mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Of the many trends in consumer electronics, today’s announcement by Lenovo highlights two of the biggest: 1) PC makers are desperate to get in on that handheld smartphone action, and 2) China is the place to do it with its 700 million mobile subscribers. That’s why Lenovo is putting up $200 million in cash and stock to reacquire its former mobile business sold to a group of investors last year; a move made possible by Lenovo’s recent return to profitability. Although Lenovo says its focus will be on the Chinese market, don’t be surprised when you see Lenovo branded handsets headed to downtown stores or your favorite high-street shops — assuming the deal passes shareholder approval, of course.
Lenovo begins $200M buyback of Lenovo Mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Stantum Japan already got us all giddy and schoolgirlish once, and now that the company’s TouchPark has reached the proof of concept stage, we’re ready to fawn all over again. Initially compatible only with smartphone hardware, the firmware seems to have been adapted to the x86 instruction set, as it’s now perched atop a Dell Mini 10 netbook modded with a resistive touchscreen. Responsiveness and accuracy are both remarkable, with the multitouch feature accommodating as many fingers as you can fit on the screen. There’s pressure sensitivity too, and we even get to see the thing used with a paintbrush. A paintbrush. Scalable from 2.5 to 30 inches, this can do all the gestures, swipes and rotations you want, and viewing the video after the break will lead you to conclude the same as us: this needs to be out yesterday.
Continue reading Stantum shows off resistive multitouch Slate PC, we’re awed again
Stantum shows off resistive multitouch Slate PC, we’re awed again originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Dell and HP, HP and Dell. The United States’ two biggest computer hardware manufacturers, and two of the world’s top three, have tended to match each other step for step, so it’s no surprise that Dell’s recently released SX2210T was quickly followed by a Compaq L2105tm from its closest rival. Measuring 21.5 inches each, with 1920 x 1080 resolution, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, and optical multitouch technology under their chunky bezels, these two models represent the biggest mainstream push for touchscreen computing yet. Functionally identical to standard monitors, they offer the added benefit of letting you input your heart’s urges and desires using swipes, gestures and flicks, and we’ve plucked one of each panel to see how this all plays out for ourselves. Join us after the break, won’t you?
Continue reading Dell SX2210T vs. HP L2105tm: optical multitouch head-to-head review
Dell SX2210T vs. HP L2105tm: optical multitouch head-to-head review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Dell recently announced their upcoming smartphone with no tech specs whatsoever. China Mobile will be the first to offer it and stepped up to fill in the technical information about the Dell Mini 3i…
When it comes to nerd obsessions, the only thing that can trump a fictional tablet developed by battling left-coast legends is the promise of a revolutionary OS from Google that relies upon nothing but a browser and the dreams of a young Larry Ellison. Don’t even start with your Korean product waifs as we’re trying to keep the discussion in the realm of possibilities. Now, with the weekend over, you’ve probably experienced the same sense of ennui we’ve all felt at having downloaded and tested a copy of Chrome OS. To be fair, that meh-ness is kind of what you’d expect from a browser-based OS that’s meant to get out of your way. Still, it’s hard not to wonder where Android and its growing application base fits into Google’s long-term OS strategy especially after seeing several ARM-based smartbook prototypes running Google’s smartphone OS. Fortunately, Google co-founder Sergey Brin shed some light on this topic in a candid statement following the Chrome OS event. According to CNET, Brin said that Android and the Chrome OS “will likely converge over time,” noting the common Webkit and Linux foundation of both operating systems. It’s unclear when this might occur however. In fact, listening to Google CEO Eric Schmidt attempt to explain the difference between Google’s operating systems in a recent CNET interview leaves us wondering if Google has a clear idea of its target markets as smartphone and laptop functionality continues to converge across devices. Schmidt concedes that it’s too early to tell how the OSes will be used and prefers not to “prejudge the success” of each. “The future will unfold as it does,” he says, and the open-source community will determine the natural fit. Check the interview after the break — the Android vs. Chrome OS waffling begins at the 16:30 remaining mark of the 19 minute and 11 second interview.
[Original image courtesy of Rich Dellinger]
Continue reading Sergey Brin: Android and Chrome OS ‘will likely converge over time’
Sergey Brin: Android and Chrome OS ‘will likely converge over time’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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After so much speculation and rumor, it’s hard to believe that Dell’s first modern cellphone is ready to launch. And while we’ve already seen the official press release announcing the Mini 3 for Brazil and China, today we get a followup release with a bit more detail. As expected, the Chinese Mini 3i variant is quadband GSM/EDGE only (no 3G) and packs a 3.5-inch nHD, 640×360 touchscreen display just like that found on Nokia’s N97. The 58.35 x 122 x 11.7-mm OPhone will ship in “Red Passion” and “Oiled Bronze” colors packing Bluetooth, a 3 megapixel auto-focus camera with flash and video capture mode, microSD slot, and GPS with pre-loaded maps. And in case you’re wondering why China first, that’s easy: Dell’s going after China Mobile’s 500 million subscriber base when its first handset hits authorized stores later this week.
Dell Mini 3i OPhone detailed ahead of this week’s China Mobile launch originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Dell sure is adding multitouch to
quite a few products these days, but it isn’t exactly doing it with much fanfare on every occasion. The latest to slip into availability is an updated version of the company’s generously-sized
Studio 17 laptop, which is now available with a 1,600 x 900 display that boasts full multitouch and arm-tiring abilities. Otherwise, you can expect to get the usual wide range of configuration options, including your choice of Pentium Dual Core or Core 2 Duo processors, a maximum 8GB of RAM, up to 1TB of storage, integrated Intel or discrete ATI graphics, and an optional Blu-ray drive, among other standard fare. Some of those options will obviously bump the price up considerably, but things start at just $899 — look for it to start shipping on December 4th.
Dell lets loose Studio 17 laptop with multitouch display originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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