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Dell has launched the Precision M6500 17-inch mobile workstation with the Intel Core i7 processor.

Along with the Core i7-920XM Extreme, i7-820QM, or i7-720QM quad core CPU, the successor of the M6400 features the ATI FirePro M7740 1GB, the NVIDIA Quadro FX 2800M 1GB, or Quadro FX 3800M 1GB dedicated graphics card, four memory slots offering up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM, dual hard drives, support for RAID 0 and 1, and a DVD burner or Blu-Ray optical drive. Dell has announced that the M6500 will soon get an SSD mini-card option and support for RAID 5.

The display uses LED backlight and has a resolution of 1440×900 or 1920×1200 pixels, depending on customer’s choice.


Dell’s M6500 has built-in support for WiFi, Blueooth, LAN, Ultra-Wideband, mobile broadband connectivity, and GPS. It includes stereo speakers, a 2MP web camera, optional dual array microphones, Display Port and VGA outputs, four USB ports, ExpressCard and PC Card slots, eSATA and Firewire ports, optional fingerprint reader, and a Smart Card reader or an optional contactless Smart Card reader.

The mobile workstation starts at 8.5lbs and comes with Windows 7 or Windows Vista pre-installed.

The base price for the standard Precision M6500 is $2,749, whereas the M6500 Covet edition with an orange aluminum chassis and an edge-to-edge screen starts at $4,219. The preliminary ship date is 12/22/2009.

Latest MSI lightweight notebook. U120 series is light enough, slim enough, thin enough and has the manageable keyboard and monitor as well as optional 3.5G network card to enable you to make short work of your business and go on your journey.

In addition to the optional 3.5G network card enabling you to easily surf the internet, MSI U120 is even "WiMAX Ready". Presented at CES, MSI built up a WiMAX wireless environment to allow people to experience the outstanding WiMAX wireless performance with U120 at the show. U120 is the outcome of MSI's constant efforts in technology research and development for its endless progress.

While all major NB manufacturers have thrown themselves into production of 10" netbooks, MSI, as the maker of the Wind Netbook U100 and the pioneer of netbooks, continues development and introduces the world its U120 to face the challenge from its competitors.

Sam Chern, MSI's marketing director, said that MSI's 10" Wind Netbook, after launching in 2008, have successfully become the hot items in stores all over the world, especially in developed countries such as Europe, the US and Japan. Recently, MSI introduced the latest U120 series on the market with more advanced specifications and vivid appearance that have become the best helpers on business trips.

While sharing some features in common with U100, including being light, slim and thin, having the properly sized keyboard display and fitting into in an A4 bag, the U120 looks different from the round-edged cute U100. The U120 is the epitome of professionalism. The mix of two different color tones through Pearl White and Cool Black highlights the U120 series' unique netbook design. Besides, the preloaded Face Recognition System makes U120 the netbook safer than ever.

The U120 adopts Intel's latest Atom platform to support a hard drive of up to 160GB. As to wireless connection, U120 supports 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and 3.5G wireless transmission (U120H only).

General tips to select a laptop ( notebook ) computer suited your need and budget.

Generally, notebook computers are categorised as follows:

Entry-level notebooks - When the main consideration is the budget. In general, they usually meet the minimum specifications required for the operating system. They are also not as reliable as the other categories of notebook computers because many reliability or high-performance features are sacrificed to fit a small budget. If you are one who prefers reliability & performance for a period of three to five years, it would be more worthwhile to invest a little more in a higher quality notebook.

High Performance notebooks - These are notebook computers that do not stinge on features & capabilities. They, of course, are also a pricey lot. Price aside, these notebook computers are created for the tough road warrior who is also a power user of the computer.

Highly Mobile notebooks - These are notebook computers that focus on mobility and style while trying not to compromise on features. They can be expensive as it would naturally cost more to design and build a notebook computer that is smaller, more reliable, more robust, and more resistance to the accidental bumps and drops.

What should I look out for when selecting a notebook computer?

1. Comfort

Inspect the keyboard layout of the notebook computer. Make sure the layout is the same as the current keyboard that you have been using all this while. Look out especially for the keys "@", "/", "\", "%", [Home], [End], [Ins] and [Del]. If they are not at the "usual" places, you would need to face a learning curve after you have bought the notebook computer.

Try to type on the keyboard and see if the keys are too wide or too close together. If they are too wide or too narrow, it could put a strain on your hands if you type a lot using the keyboard.

2. Processor Speed

Unless you are a super power user, it actually doesn't matter whether or not you get the latest available processor. Processing speed is now so fast that the human brain cannot even imagine the difference between a 1.4GHz processor and a 1.7GHz processor. When selecting the processor, choose a recent model and not the latest model unless your budget fits the bill. Otherwise, it's alright to choose a slightly slower processor as you would not feel a visible difference in the processing speed. Spend your money on more RAM and storage space.

3. RAM or Computer Memory

This is one area you don't want to compromise on. If you are using Windows XP Home, 512mb of RAM is a good minimum to start with. If you are using Windows XP Pro, 768mb or 1GB of RAM is recommended for optimal performance. Beyond that, let your budget do the talking.

4. Display Memory

Most entry-level computers share part of the RAM for video display memory, which also explains why entry-level notebooks are cheaper in a certain way. This also means your memory performance is somewhat compromised and you won't have as much RAM as you want for your notebook computer. For example, if your notebook has 256mb of RAM, and the computer specifications for video display states 64mb of shared memory, it means that you only have 192mb of RAM available for the operating system to use. Generally, this translates to a slower performing notebook computer.

The high performance computers usually have a separate display memory card built-in that gives the high performance, while the highly mobile computers may also deploy a shared memory strategy for display memory, similar to entry-level computers, due to the need to keep the form factor small.

If you budget allows, go for a independent display memory of at least 128mb.

5. Hard Drive Storage

The cost of hard drive storage have come down quite dramatically these days. And 60GB/80GB would be the minimum norm for most computers. Plan to have at least two partitions ( C: drive & D: drive ) for your harddrive. Store only programs on your C: drive and all your data on your D: drive. Refer to my article on "How to protect and optimize your computer" at http://discovervalue.com/pc_security_check for more details on what to do with your hard drive.

6. Other considerations

After the first 5 considerations, other considerations are optional. Example,
- whether to have a DVD multi-format writer drive or a CDRW-DVD ROM Combo drive
- whether to have two USB or four USB ports
- whether to have any firewire ports
- whether to have your USB ports available in front, at the side or behind, etc.