 |
Not for lack of trying, but PC makers haven’t had much luck with tablets. Earlier endeavors were big and heavy, burned through batteries, and were saddled with versions of Windows that weren’t really designed for touch and lacked real apps. They were expensive too.
Now the pieces are falling into place to build at least a credible contender to Apple or Samsung in tablets. Many chip companies offer inexpensive dual- and quad-core ARM processors for Android tablets and Intel’s Bay Trail platform, the first truly competitive x86 alternative, works with either Android or Windows. Microsoft has made real improvements with Windows 8.1 and now throws in a version of Office on smaller devices. For sheer numbers, the Windows Store won’t match Android, let alone Apple, anytime soon, but most of the major apps are now available.
For the past few weeks I’ve been trying out two new tablets from Dell that illustrate how PC makers are trying to catch up on tablets. The first one, the Dell Venue, is based on the older Intel Clover Trail platform and runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. It starts at $150 with a 7-inch display, but I tested the 8-inch version, which is $180. I also tested the Venue 8 Pro, which also has an 8-inch display but is based on the newer Intel Bay Trail platform and runs Windows 8.1. It starts at $300.
The Venue isn’t as thin and light as a premium tablet such as the iPad Mini, but it still feels perfectly comfortable in the hand and the build quality is fine. And it’s not really fair to compare it to tablets that cost more than twice as much anyway. The Dell Venue stacks up well to other Android 4.2 tablets with the same display size and resolution such as the HP Slate 7 Plus (Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core, 1GB plus 8GB storage); Asus MEMO Pad HD 7 (1.2GHz MediaTek MT8125 quad-core, 1GB plus 16GB storage) and MEMO Pad 8 (1.6GHz Rockchip RK3188 quad-core, 1GB plus 16GB storage); and Lenovo IdeaTab S5000 (MediaTek 8125, 1GB plus 16GB storage).There isn’t too much to distinguish the Venue from other basic Android tablets, but in a way that’s a good thing--it shows that Intel and the PC makers are finally catching up. Like most tablets in this price range, it has a lower resolution display (1,280 by 800 pixels) and the Cloverview processor (a Z2560 dual-core in the Venue 7 and a Z2580 dual-core in the Venue 8) can’t match the performance of top-end mobile processors, but it gets the job done. Both also come with 2GB of memory, 16GB of storage, 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0, and a microSD card slot. The Venue 7 has a VGA front camera and a 3MP rear one; the Venue 8 has a 2MP front camera and a 5MP rear camera. Neither one will replace your point-and-shoot, but Dell is hardly alone in that regard--most tablets have mediocre cameras.
The challenge for all of these is that there are much better Android options available for a bit more, in particular the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HDX, which both start at $229. But Intel and Dell have succeeded in delivering a competitive Android tablet, and in general, it’s remarkable to see how much you can get for less than $200 nowadays.
The Venue 8 Pro is a bit more interesting since it's one of the first full Windows 8.1 devices at this size and price. The first, the Acer Iconia Tab W3, didn’t get great reviews, but since then Acer has announced the updated W4 and others are starting to trickle onto the market including the Venue Pro, Lenovo Miix 2 and Toshiba Encore. All of these are based on Intel’s Bay Trail platform and have very similar specifications starting with an 8-inch display with a resolution of 1,280 by 800 pixels.
The Venue 8 Pro uses the Atom Z3740D quad-core processor while the others list the processor as the Atom Z3740 (though I suspect some of them are using the 3740D as well). There are some differences between the two, but in practice it shouldn’t make much difference on these devices. Bay Trail is, however, a big step up from the older Atom platform and it provides the performance to run Windows 8 and common productivity and entertainment applications.
The Venue 8 Pro I tested also came with 2GB of memory and 32GB of storage. Dell also sells this configuration with a case for $340 or with both the case and a wireless keyboard for $390. With the included Microsoft Office and my Windows 8 apps installed, I had only 6GB of storage left--before adding any music or video files (though it has a microSD slot too). So with any of these 8-inch Windows 8 tablets, I would also recommend upgrading to 64GB, which in the case of the Venue Pro adds $50 to the price. Finally there’s an active stylus pen, which came with my test unit, but costs an extra $30. Put it all together and you are up to $470.
All of these Windows 8 tablets are a bit bigger and heavier than their Android counterparts, and the Lenovo Miix 2 appears to be the thinnest and lightest of the bunch, but the Venue 8 Pro is only 9mm thick and weighs 395 grams. The Acer Iconia W4 and Toshiba Encore are both bulkier, though they have some additional features such as mini-HDMI out, and on the Encore a larger battery and 8MP camera. The Venue 8 Pro gets by with the standard 2MP front camera and 5MP rear camera.
The Windows 8.1 update is a significant improvement for these types of devices with new tile sizes, a Start button, touch-optimized versions of more Control Panel settings, and a bunch of new and updated Microsoft apps. With a few exceptions, most major apps are now available for Windows 8--recent high-profile additions include SlingPlayer, Mint, Flipboard and Facebook. The inclusion of Office Home and Student 2013 adds real value--it sells for $140 separately--though keep in mind that this version doesn’t include Outlook.
But there are still some rough edges with Windows on small devices. Most are little nuisances. For example, the onscreen keyboard covers much of the screen making it awkward to enter information such as usernames and passwords in text boxes. But there’s also one big issue: with the exception of OneNote, Microsoft has yet to release “modern,” touch-optimized versions of its Office apps. For now it just doesn’t make sense to get one of these Windows 8 tablets without a stylus, keyboard or both. (There’s a reason Microsoft pushes the keyboard so hard with its own Surface devices.)
The Venue 8 Pro has a few quirks too. The Windows Start screen button is on the side, rather than on the front like other Windows 8 PCs and tablets, which takes some getting used to. It’s tricky to figure out how to click, right-click and double-click on items using the stylus, and it sometimes didn’t work at all. And while the display is excellent, with a brightness rating of 400 nits, the feature that adjusts the display for ambient light to save battery left it far too dim, so I ended up turning it off. (Note that Dell just released an update for the ambient light sensor which should address this.)
Overall these are minor issues, and I really liked the Venue 8 Pro. It isn’t for everyone, but the concept of a tablet that can also run Office and other Windows desktop applications holds a lot of promise.
Via:ZDNet
 |
| Compellent SC8000 controller. (Image: Dell) |
Dell has refreshed its Compellent enterprise storage family with a new release of the 6.4 Storage Centre software to support data tiering across different SSD technologies as well as conventional hard disk. Affordable all-flash arrays have also been introduced along with an ultra-dense HDD enclosure and the promise of more to come from the Fluid File Systems clustering OS — all designed to further extend the capabilities of this already very scalable enterprise storage family.
SSD refresher
To fully appreciate Dell's enhancement of the Compellent technology it acquired at the end of 2011, you have first to understand the difference between single-level cell (SLC) and multi-level cell (MLC) SSDs. Simply put, the flash memory used to build an SSD drive comprises millions of individual cells that, with SLC, can only hold one bit of data each. With MLC, however, two or more bits can be stored per cell, increasing capacity while at the same time reducing costs. This is why most consumer SSDs are based on MLC technology.
One of the downsides of MLC, however, is the need for additional processing to accommodate common multi-bit errors. This makes MLC much slower, especially when writing data. The cells in MLC flash also wear out much quicker than with SLC.
So, in summary, SLC drives are faster than MLC and last longer, but are limited in size and are vastly more expensive. MLC drives, on the other hand, are more capacious and more affordable.
Making a difference
Having got your head around the technology you also need to know that in previous Compellent products, the only SSD option was to include expensive SLC drives alongside traditional spinning HDDs. Given this arrangement the automated data progression technology in the Compellent software could be configured to migrate frequently-used data to SSD for maximum performance and little-used data to disk for reduced cost.
The end result was improved throughput, but at a price. Moreover, because of the cost of SLC, an all-flash array was deemed too expensive for most applications.
Now, however, you can mix together expensive SLC drives and cheaper, larger MLC SSDs to create a much more affordable all-flash array. Plus you can take advantage of enhanced 3-tier data progression in the 6.4 software release to migrate across both SSD tiers and, optionally, onto hard disk.
This simple change enables Dell to claim 'flash for the price of disk' — at least compared to a conventional array of 15,000rpm enterprise HDDs. Moreover, you still get benefit of SLC performance where it matters most: for write-intensive operations, with a further boost to read-intensive throughput compared to hybrid SSD/magnetic disk arrays.
The products
No major changes have been made to the Compellent hardware to accommodate the new MLC SSDs or the new 3-tier data progression capabilities, other than to introduce new flash-optimised configurations. Based on twin Compellent SC8000 controllers, these can be specified with a mix of 400GB SLC SSDs and 1.6TB MLC drives in batches of six; Dell is currently using SANdisk drives to deliver these options.
The system we tested had a pair of redundant SC8000 controllers plus an SC220 enclosure equipped with six write-intensive 400GB SLC SSDs for Tier 1 data, plus six of the read-intensive 1.6TB MLC SSDs for Tier 2. Priced at £155,000 (ex. VAT), this is still an entry-level configuration — but one that consistently delivered 200,000 IOPS in read-intensive tests run using the Vdbench workload generator.
That figure fell to around 100,000 IOPS with a mixed workload, but it's still impressive, supporting Dell's claims to deliver fast all-flash storage at around a fifth of the cost of alternative SLC-only products.
For companies wanting more, the remaining slots in the 24-bay SC220 can be filled with additional 6-packs of SLC/MLC SSDs to further extend an all-flash array, or a combination of SSDs and 1TB SAS drives for a hybrid solution.
Confusingly the company has also added a new SC280 enclosure to the Compellent hardware line-up, but this has nothing to do with SSD. Rather it lets you configure up to 84 conventional 4TB 3.5-inch SAS hard disks, making it possible to support up to 336TB in just 5U of rack space. Or 67.2TB per rack unit, if you prefer.
Other changes
The Compellent management software also gets a few tweaks in version 6.4, with the addition of flash-optimised profiles to support the SLC/MLC mix, plus a new on-demand replay option for data progression. Also, you can now monitor SSD wear levels (referred to as endurance) from the Storage Centre console. This, when added to the use of MLC mainly for read-intensive operations, enables Dell to extend the 5-year warranty carried by its magnetic disks to the SSDs in Compellent arrays.
There is one small fly in the ointment. Existing customers can upgrade their controller software to the new 6.4 release for free now, but all-flash solutions are currently only being offered to customers buying new SKUs complete with SC8000 controllers. If you just want to add MLC drives, you'll have to wait until next year to benefit.
The same applies to the new release of the Fluid File System, which enables customers to build 4-way clusters of Compellent arrays with a single namespace of up to 2PB. Fluid File System v3 will add data deduplication and compression capabilities, but won't be available until early 2014.
Via: ZDNet
 |
| Dell Chromebook 11 |
With the addition of the Dell Wyse PocketCloud application, Dell Chromebook 11 users have access to content and applications across a “personal cloud” of devices. Users can access, edit, save and share their digital assets such as presentations, documents, photos and videos regardless of where the original documents are located. PocketCloud works across mobile devices, tablets, PCs, laptops and Chromebooks. It is tightly integrated with the Google ecosystem and leverages the Google infrastructure effectively to authenticate, discover and access users’ content and applications. The PocketCloud app will be available for download in the Google Chrome Web Store in January 2014.
The Dell Chromebook 11 easily connects to Dell’s next generation learning technologies, infrastructure and peripherals. Additionally, with Google Cloud Print, users can easily print documents, photos or emails using Google Docs and other Chrome apps.
 |
| Microsoft Store : Dell Venue 8 Pro tablet selling for $99 |
That's because Microsoft is offering the Dell Venue 8 Pro for just $99 on December 9 -- and only through its physical stores. That's a massive discount from the $299.99 price that Dell itself sells the base model for. In fact, Dell didn't even offer much of a deal on it during Black Friday/Cyber Monday, choosing just to throw in a free case and a year's worth of accidental damage service if you purchased at the full price.
Of course there's a catch. Only the first 20 Venue 8 Pro tablets sold in each location will be available at the $99 price. After that, the price shoots up to $199 as long as stock lasts (though it may be as little as 10 additional units at a store). That's still a pretty good deal, but the price difference should prompt you to arrive early if you want a chance at the better bargain.
While your best opportunity to score the Venue 8 Pro for dirt cheap is by physically showing up at a Microsoft store, the company's online store will also offer the $99 price for the first 100 units sold. Again, once that quota is reached, the tablet will be available for $199 until supply runs out.
Is the $99 price enough to get you to go to a Microsoft store on Monday to buy a Venue 8 Pro? Let us know in the Talkback section below.
Via The Verge
 |
| Dell Venue 8 Pro tablet |
They might not get the love that Apple stores often do, but Microsoft has slowly amassed more than 40 retail locations over the last couple of years. If you haven't been to one yet, and you're in the market for a new Windows 8.1 tablet, you might want to pay a visit this coming Monday.
That's because Microsoft is offering the Dell Venue 8 Pro for just $99 on December 9 -- and only through its physical stores. That's a massive discount from the $299.99 price that Dell itself sells the base model for. In fact, Dell didn't even offer much of a deal on it during Black Friday/Cyber Monday, choosing just to throw in a free case and a year's worth of accidental damage service if you purchased at the full price.
Of course there's a catch. Only the first 20 Venue 8 Pro tablets sold in each location will be available at the $99 price. After that, the price shoots up to $199 as long as stock lasts (though it may be as little as 10 additional units at a store). That's still a pretty good deal, but the price difference should prompt you to arrive early if you want a chance at the better bargain.
While your best opportunity to score the Venue 8 Pro for dirt cheap is by physically showing up at a Microsoft store, the company's online store will also offer the $99 price for the first 100 units sold. Again, once that quota is reached, the tablet will be available for $199 until supply runs out.
Is the $99 price enough to get you to go to a Microsoft store on Monday to buy a Venue 8 Pro? Let us know in the Talkback section below.
Via: ZDNet
For its part, the newcomer UltraSharp 24 has an IPS LED screen with Dell's PremierColor tech, which translates to being able to support 99 percent of AdobeRGB colors, and offers access to HDMI, DisplayPort, USB 3.0 and a 6-in-1 card reader. The UltraSharp 32, meanwhile, boasts the majority of the same specs as its smaller 24-inch sibling, save for the fact it's sporting a 32-inch, IGZO LCD panel.
Furthermore, Dell also took the time to reveal it plans to
release a 28-inch model sometime in the near future, noting that this
"will be the most affordable Ultra HD
monitor in the industry when it is launched." Speaking of which, The
UltraSharp 32 is now up for grabs worldwide for $3,499, while the $1,399
UltraSharp 24 is only available in South and North America to begin
with and elsewhere on December 16th. No word yet on how much exactly the
UltraSharp 28 will cost, but Dell did say we can expect it to be under $1,000 when it hits shelves in "early 2014."
Via : Engadget
ell has jumped on board with the Thanksgiving Day deals trend, and is rotating online "doorbuster" deals, which started at 6 p.m. Come midnight on Thursday, Dell is planning to slash online prices by hundreds of dollars, and will continue with separate rounds of deals on laptops, desktops, tablets, cameras, and more.
At midnight, for example, the Dell Inspiron 15laptop will be $199.99, down from $349.99. That deal runs until 1 p.m. ET on Black Friday, but after Dell sells its limited quantity of $199.99 laptops, the Inspiron 15 will be $299.99 "for another few thousand units and expire afterwards," so buy sooner rather than later.
Also at midnight ET on Black Friday, shoppers can get 33 percent off the Dell Inspiron 660s slim tower desktop, which will be on sale for $199.99 until 1 p.m. ET on Nov. 29. It too will get a price bump to $299.99 when Dell exhausts its initial supply.
Dell will also offer deals that start at 8 a.m. ET and 2 p.m ET on Black Friday.
Best Dell Black Friday Deals:
$799.99 $469.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $330.00 (41% Off)
$1,549.99 $724.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $825.00 (53% Off)
$748.00 $599.00 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $149.00 (20% Off)
$748.00 $599.00 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $149.00 (20% Off)
$349.99 $219.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $130.00 (37% Off)
$349.99 $219.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $130.00 (37% Off)
$1,999.99 $1,097.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $902.00 (45% Off)
$999.99 $799.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $200.00 (20% Off)
$1,599.99 $1,399.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $200.00 (13% Off)
$1,219.99 $799.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $420.00 (34% Off)
Dell 23" Inspiron One 2330 Core i7 1080p All-in-one Touch PCDell 23" Inspiron One 2330 Core i7 1080p All-in-one Touch PC
$1,389.99 $1,069.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $320.00 (23% Off)
$319.99 + FREE SHIPPING
$599.99 $379.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $220.00 (37% Off)
$249.99 $179.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $70.00 (28% Off)
$299.99 $169.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $130.00 (43% Off)
$529.99 $397.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $132.00 (25% Off)
$529.99 $476.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $53.00 (10% Off)
$1,299.99 + FREE SHIPPING
$34.99 $29.74 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $5.25 (15% Off)
$799.99 $469.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $330.00 (41% Off)
$187.98 $149.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $37.99 (20% Off)
$999.99 $549.00 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $450.99 (45% Off)
$749.99 $497.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $252.00 (34% Off)
$400.99 $297.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $103.00 (26% Off)
$329.99 $299.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $30.00 (9% Off)
$899.99 $647.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $252.00 (28% Off)
$599.99 $199.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $400.00 (67% Off)
$69.99 $29.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $40.00 (57% Off)
$54.99 $34.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $20.00 (36% Off)
$419.99 $299.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $120.00 (29% Off)
$1,249.99 $849.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $400.00 (32% Off)
$328.00 $288.00 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $40.00 (12% Off)
$899.99 $697.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $202.00 (22% Off)
$299.99 $199.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $100.00 (33% Off)
$129.99 $116.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $13.00 (10% Off
$94.99 $79.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $15.00 (16% Off)
$99.99 $79.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Save: $20.00 (20% Off)
Source : PCMag
Image : PCMag
Google-owned Motorola has jumped to the head of the non-Nexus Android pack, pushing out 4.4 KitKat in the US this week, as HTC confirms US HTC One owners will get the update at the same time as UK owners.
Sony made a recently splash by announcing KitKat would arrive on five Xperia devices - however, it looks like US-owners of the Moto X will be the first to get KitKat, with T-Mobile starting the roll out on Thursday, according to Motorola. Verizon should also start the rollout to Moto X devices soon, Motorola said, although it made no mention of when AT&T will start.
Release notes for the update list a number of improvements to the phone dialler, Gallery photo editing, support for Square's credit card reader and wider NFC support.
According to Motorola's support pages, Verizon plans to deliver KitKat to the Moto X, Droid Ultra, Droid Maxx, Droid Mini, though it hasn't given a timeframe for when it will arrive.
Similarly, Sony hasn't provided any updates on when it will roll out KitKat to its Android devices, but has previously confirmed 4.4 will come to Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia Tablet Z, Xperia Z Ultra, and Xperia Z1 handsets. The company notes that the phased rollout may vary by market and carrier and has advised Xperia owners to keep an eye out on its @SonyMobileNews Twitter account for the specific timing of the release.
However, most of those devices will get Jelly Bean first: Sony said it will also begin rolling out Android 4.3 over the next month to the Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia ZR, Xperia Tablet Z, Xperia SP, Xperia Z Ultra and Xperia Z1. Again, that may vary by market or carrier.
HTC has just begun rolling out Android 4.3 with Sense 5.5 to HTC One handsets in the UK, and is eyeing an early 2014 timeline for bringing KitKat. "Across EMEA, HTC will work with local carriers to begin the roll-out of Android 4.4 with Sense 5.5 for the HTC One from end of January.
"The Google Play edition will start to receive the update earlier, starting from the end of November," a spokesperson told ZDNet. HTC has handed off its KitKat build for the the Google Play edition of the HTC One, so now it's up to Google to release it through Google Play.
HTC hasn't provided an update on the timing and version of Android for the HTC One max and the HTC One mini, but details will follow. Meanwhile, HTC US this week confirmed it will push KitKat to HTC One owners in the same timeframe as the UK.
There's still no word from Samsung about its KitKat schedule for the Galaxy S4 and Note 3. However, Google has already confirmed that the Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition with 4.4 should be coming soon. "Samsung UK will announce rollout plans for Android 4.4 in due course," a spokesperson told ZDNet. However, anyone with a Samsung Galaxy Nexus won't be getting KitKat at all — Google has said the handset is too old to get the OS.
Not so for the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets, however — the Android team said on Twitter earlier this month that it has started pushing out 4.4 to the devices. The 2012 and 2013 wi-fi versions of the Nexus 7 will be among the first to get the update, the team said.
The Nexus 4 is also reportedly now eligible for KitKat, with some users seeing the update arriving this week.
While LG is behind Google's fast-selling Nexus 5, the South Korean company hasn't released a schedule for when its own Android devices, such as the G2 smartphone, G Pad tablet, and Optimus range, will get KitKat.
Huawei this week posted on Weibo it will release KitKat for the domestic version of its super slim Ascend P6 by the end of January, though it's not clear whether that extends to international customers. ZDNet is waiting for a response from Huawei UK to answer that question.
Dell has of yet provided no details about whether KitKat or Jelly Bean will reach its Android Venue 7 and Venue 8 slates, which both run Android 4.2. "Dell continually assesses its product portfolio in each country where it does business and not all products are available in all countries. At present Dell doesn't have a timeline on whether the Android-based tablets will be made available in Western Europe, but continues to assess the opportunity in that region," a spokesperson told ZDNet. Acer has no official timeline for the release of KitKat, a spokesman for the company said.
Via: ZDNet
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Recent Comments