August 13, 2010
SAY GOODBYE TO SIX YEAR OLD COMPUTERS
Small businesses bought a lot of computers in 2004 and 2005. Windows XP had been on the market for three years and early compatibility problems had been resolved. Small businesses cleaned out the aging Windows 98 80386 computers to take advantage of the new OS and new programs.
This is the year to repeat the process. Windows 7 is a mature version of Windows Vista – for all intents and purposes, the current version of Windows has been on the market for three years and early compatibility problems have been resolved. Businesses should be clearing out the old Windows […] continued
July 5, 2010
NEW NOTEBOOKS
It is impossible to keep up with the flood of new devices onto the market. Technology is appearing everywhere, in every form factor, faster than anyone can hope to keep up with it. The most you can hope to do is be generally aware of how many choices are out there, so you don’t settle for something in the belief that you can’t get what you want.
Take a look at this article, which covers 17 new notebooks. The manufacturers are familiar but I’ve never heard of most of the specific models – and I read about new […] continued
March 31, 2010
POWERED BY PURE SINE WAVES!
I’ve got Pure Sine Waves! Woo hoo!
If you had asked me last month, I would have bet heavily that I would never use the words “pure sine wave” in a sentence. And yet here I am, gloating because I have pure sine waves and you don’t. What an interesting world!
The background for this story concerns life in the country. Our supply of electricity is fairly messy – it hiccups frequently with little blips and surges, lights dimming and returning, computers and printers at risk. I’ve had high quality UPS battery backups running in my office for […] continued
March 15, 2010
MORE DELL COMPUTERS FOR SMALL BUSINESS
I’m not going to mention every product announcement that comes along, but Dell has introduced some small business laptops and desktops that look particularly appealing.
The Dell Vostro 3000 line of laptops come in a variety of screen sizes and weights (13”, 14”, 15” and 17”), with the latest Intel processors, extensive battery life, high quality graphics, built-in DVD drives and webcams, and all the usual accessories. Prices change quickly depending on what boxes are checked for processor, memory, video, software, but these appear to be comparable to all the other laptops on the market now.
Here’s […] continued
March 5, 2010
DELL LATITUDE 13
Dell has added the Latitude 13 to its business notebook lineup, with a design that is identical in virtually every respect to the Vostro V13 introduced in December. The “Latitude” brand name is used by Dell to indicate that the notebook includes features for management by large companies. Here’s the description of the added features distinguishing the Latitude 13 from the Vostro V13:
The Latitude 13 adds features such as remote manageability and desktop virtualization through certification from Citrix and VMware to deliver a full PC experience to users in non-standard computing environments such as
[…] continued
March 1, 2010
TALES OF WOE: HARDWARE DEPT.
When you tell me about certain kinds of computer problems, I sometimes begin weeping uncontrollably, or excuse myself from the room for a few minutes while I gobble down powerful antidepressants. Let me give you another example to show you why.
A law firm wrestled with a new Dell Optiplex 760 for months, starting almost immediately after it was purchased – erratic lockups with no obvious cause and no pattern.
At some point the computer refused to restart, with a message on a black screen that there was no boot device to be found. It wasn’t consistent – […] continued
February 22, 2010
HANDS-ON WITH THE DELL VOSTRO V13
Once my wife saw my Dell Vostro V13, it didn’t take long before we had two Vostro V13s.
The Vostro V13 is an ultrathin notebook with a 13” 1366×768 nonglare screen and a full-size keyboard. It’s two-thirds of an inch tall with the lid closed and weighs just 3.5 pounds. The aluminum body oozes style and elegance, with curved edges and a polished exterior that is surprisingly solid for such a light machine. It has the same appeal as some very expensive ultrathin laptops, the Dell Adamo and Sony Vaio Z, but sells for far […] continued
December 22, 2009
DELL INSPIRON MINI 10
Intel formally announced its new line of Atom N450 processors for netbooks, which will make the teensy computers powerful enough to be useful. In late January, Dell will be shipping the Inspiron Mini 10 with the new processors.
The features are pretty typical: 10-inch screens running at 1024×600 or 1366×768 resolution; 1Gb of memory (expandable, I hope); 160Gb or 250Gb hard drive; 3 cell or 6 cell battery; built-in wireless and optional built-in mobile broadband for data over a cell phone carrier’s network. The lightest ones will be under three pounds, although it will edge up […] continued
December 15, 2009
DELL UPDATES OPTIPLEX DESKTOPS
Dell’s line of Optiplex desktops was updated a few days ago. It continues to be my first choice for small businesses. Like all the manufacturers, Dell changes its consumer lineup frequently – there are a dizzying array of Inspiron, Studio, and Studio XPS models, with constantly changing colors and specs. The Optiplex line has looked more or less the same for years; as much as possible the parts and configuration are standardized across the Optiplex line. They’re sturdy and Dell ships them with virtually no useless extra programs.
The latest models are the Optiplex 380 […] continued
December 11, 2009
DELL VOSTRO V13
Now that we’ve all had our fun looking at ultraexpensive ultrathin notebooks, Dell announced one this week that looks much more reasonable. The Dell Vostro V13 has all the characteristics we want from an ultrathin notebook – a 13” screen and a full-size keyboard, in a package that’s two-thirds of an inch thick and weighs three and a half pounds. It can be configured with a Core 2 Duo processor, up to 4Gb of RAM, a 7200RPM hard drive. It’s beautiful.
Prices for the Dell Vostro V13 start at $650 for Windows 7 and a Core […] continued