• 02Jun

    In energy and environmental pressures, new energy vehicles will become the automotive industry to the direction of future development. June 1, China’s four ministries jointly issued a “buy on the launch of new energy vehicles to subsidize” private pilot rating, China promote new energy automotive industry. As a new industry, developing new energy vehicles requires not just innovation and technology as support, but also and above all provide the right incentives and policies that guarantee. laptop battery

    German auto major research and development in the areas of new energy vehicles leading the world. Back in 2007, the German government had already put the key technology of electric vehicles, lithium-ion battery is included as a crucial strategy of “high tech” in the file. In 2009, the German industrial giants such as BASF, Bosch, and the public sector equivalent of the scientific community as well as applications in collaboration with 60 others to form a lithium-ion Innovation Alliance. August 19, 2009, the German government published a “national development plans electric vehicle”, which aims by 2020 to Germany has one million electric cars. German government wants to use the program to make Germany the leader Global market electric vehicle. Provided that the total project cost 500 million euros, 170 million euros to support R & D batteries to power electric vehicles. VGP-BPS8VGP-BPS8A , The development of new battery technology, and other hybrid technologies and fuel cell technology will be low-interest loans and grants.

    vehicles in Germany R & D and hybrid electric vehicles or fuel for technical research, but also do not forget the infrastructure. Germany is currently being examined through various programs, various agencies to promote creative and effective “because the charging station of the network. According to current thinking, the electric car will be the first operator in the city, and then extended to the interstate town. As the government of the German capital of Berlin in 2009 announced it would provide free land for the establishment in the flourishing urban area of at least 550 car charging stations, and major automakers from 1000 to conduct a complete test of electric vehicles.

    Including Volkswagen, Mercedes, BMW and Opel in Germany, including a number of auto giants are actively developing electric vehicles. Volkswagen at the IAA 2009, the launch of a new generation of E-Up! “Electric car concept car. This concept car could use a continuous output of 40 kW engine, just five hours to be home in the garage filled with 220 for the civil power, but a charge may be continuously covered over 200 km. battery

    Although research and development of electric vehicles there are still technical obstacles to a breakthrough, but according to industry estimates, is expected later in 2012, a series of electric vehicles will be placed on the market .

    the automotive industry in Italy is highly developed European countries, Italy is a new energy technology in the vehicle of countries are more advanced. Firstly, a series of government incentives to adopt and support policies, such as purchasing new cars friendly environment to provide a subsidy to consumers. According to the Italian government introduced last year to support the automotive industry is looking to buy all the electricity, hydrogen, methane, KD476GD761TD347Inspiron 1501 batteryInspiron 6400 battery , etc. for the new class of passenger cars powered by environmentally friendly consumers will receive € 1,500 of subsidies to purchase with methane, hydrogen, natural gas, new energy supplied to consumers in light commercial vehicles will receive € 4000 grant, these grants will be based on the classic cars from the accumulation of debris.

    Meanwhile, the Italian automotive industry as a pillar industry of national economy, the industry itself in new energy technology R & D and enthusiasm has been the industry leader in Europe. For example, the largest Italian car manufacturer Fiat, as soon as ten years in the development of methane engines have started, and now the technology has become the undisputed leader in Europe, and the 2008 Olympic Games Beijing Public Transport Company 4 More than 1,000 units to supply engines green. In 2009, Fiat third consecutive year at the top of the lowest emissions of carbon dioxide in Europe, the leading brand, it also highlights the environmental protection in the field of car Fiat importance.

    In addition, the Italian full advantage of the EU to encourage the development of new energy vehicles, such as policy lending, the financial crisis and economic recession in the negative context, increased research and development of new products energy of the car and made remarkable achievements. Not only this scale production of Fiat, the number of firms in an average car or the car industry in the Community is also a large number of vehicles involved in the search for new energy and development.

    U.S. cars and energy consuming countries in the development and promotion of energy demand new car emergency. In the U.S., subsidies for clean energy vehicles are currently the main link in the car to reach. The United States by 2005 Bill “energy” of the provisions of the purchase of clean energy vehicles get tax relief. Even happened to the coming year when tax returns all or part of the tax on income paid to the federal government. Under the Act, purchase to receive 3400 U.S. dollars based on hybrid tax credits, PC764Latitude D620 battery , plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles, tax credits to receive U.S. $ 7,500. The United States after the economic crisis struck in 2008, the government introduced the car to boost consumption, “TM” program to encourage people to exchange the old big engine cars to save energy, new car, it gives also the development of new energy vehicles provide space. In addition to federal tax credits, state and local governments have also introduced some stimulus to encourage consumers to buy new energy vehicles. The grants economy while driving the state government also provides new energy to the owners of certain aspects of driving and parking facilities, such as electric cars free parking fees, toll, etc.. Example, San Francisco, open electric cars can go fast Drive.

    In the United States government and the energetic efforts to protect the environment, new energy vehicles in the United States, development is also booming. Earlier this year’s Detroit auto, the three major U.S. automakers Ford, GM and Chrysler have always adopted new energy vehicles, including GM’s Chevrolet brand is launching a pure electric car, which should be the official launch of this fall.

    However, despite the general trend of new energy vehicles, VGP-BPS9VGP-BPS9/B , but many people in the industry noted that the development of new energy vehicles still face some obstacles, such as the high cost of maintenance is not easy , temporary facilities can not follow and so on. So there are many people still waiting for the state to develop new energy vehicles, still further government assistance.

  • 02Jun

    According to iSuppli Corporation, China in 2009 has produced more than 3.6GW of photovoltaic (PV), 90% are sold on the international market, making China the world’s largest exporters of solar battery today. laptop battery

    2009 Global top 10 manufacturers of solar batterys have six in China, Chinese production is naturally higher. At the same time, the Chinese government is actively stimulate domestic demand. China “solar roofs” and “Golden Sun” project began in March 2009, aims to encourage domestic investors and manufacturers of photovoltaic turned towards the domestic market for growth.

    Solar Roof

    According to the solar roofs program, and companies receiving grants U.S. $ 2.9 per watt,VGP-BPS8VGP-BPS8A ,  this part of the grant of up to 30-50% of manufacturing costs. The Ministry of Finance has allocated 186 million U.S. dollars for the project, 70% or 130 million planned to start the installation, while the remaining 30%, or 56 million dollars allocated in the project after the acceptance.

    Golden Sunshine

    At the same time, the golden sun project involving a wide range of applications, including not only the roof of photovoltaic power distribution system, but also other unrelated fields and photovoltaic systems and others Internet. In addition, battery subsidies Golden Sunshine Project of greater intensity, for construction projects in general and remote areas, grants of up to 50-70% of the total investment cost.

    iSuppli Corporation estimated that the two stimulus plan to make over the next three years, the country’s installed capacity of about 2.8GW to attract the interest of domestic photovoltaic companies. In addition, the stimulus may be introduced after the largest grant program.

    Faster growth than expected

    Many say that China domestic PV market is growing faster than the government originally planned. original proposal, the PV power in 2010 has reached 300 MW, 2020, increased to 1.8GW. But the year 2009, there is a new installation of photovoltaic system of 120 MW, while the Chinese total installed PV capacity has already exceeded the target 300WW a year ahead of schedule.

    However, if the capacity of PV business planning and export sales and the Chinese government has set an ambitious goal that the government plans is ridiculous.

    One of the most critical problem is the photovoltaic system of production and networking in China another grid. Fearing global stability and security, network systems have their own development plans, including coal, VGP-BPS9VGP-BPS9/BVGP-BPS9/SVGP-BPS9AVGP-BPS9A/B  , wind and nuclear and other methods of generating electricity. Therefore, the intelligent network project in China a major problem is how to adjust the grid to meet the new type of solar energy.

    drive demand

    iSuppli predicts that the Chinese market electronics to create PV sales in 2010 will reach $ 309 million, jumped 95.3% over 2009. Figure 8 shows the 2008-2014 iSuppli Corporation, China Electronics sales forecasts PV.

    PV market, strong growth is encouraged for the inverter and the demand for other electronic devices. Inverter is to improve the photovoltaic modules and solar power generation efficiency is key.

  • 08Feb

    Microsoft may consciously limit Windows Phone 7 in its attempt to compete against Apple, a leak sent out today claims. Echoing some previous reports, a source says WP7 will have a Zune-like interface at many levels but goes on to say this will extend to the underlying framework as well. It would drop multitasking and instead pause apps, using an iPhone-like push notification system to handle new updates.

    The revamp would also be less open as a whole than Windows Mobile 6. Hardware makers like HTC would not have the option of modifying the home screen with their own interfaces, such as TouchFLO. Apps would also have to go through a “service based delivery” system such as Windows Marketplace to install, reversing a years-old ability to download apps through the browser or other sources. A broad file system would be dropped in favor of a centralized but simpler storage area.

    WP7 would use the Zune HD interface wholesale for media playback but would actually have a significant amount of Xbox Live compatibility. It would not only tap into the social network but would support XNA app programming that would let developers write games using the same code they use for Xbox 360 games, although touch input and resolution would mean having to write different versions. Again, Windows Mobile apps wouldn’t be backwards compatible but would have a similar enough code base to port some titles over.

    Microsoft’s ambitions for the web experience would allegedly be another mixture of steps forward and back. The company is consciously aiming to beat the iPhone 3G in speed and accuracy but isn’t yet certain if it would beat the several months old iPhone 3GS. Flash and Silverlight would be limited to the out-of-browser environment even though both should be part of Windows Mobile in the first half of the year.

    Hardware would be available in September and should have a fast-track development cycle, according to the source. Since Microsoft would provide the drivers, third parties could not only ship phones faster but would finally have fast, over-the-air updates. Windows Mobile has widely been criticized for a slow update model that requires carriers and hardware makers to approve and implement updates, often leading to updates only arriving several months after Microsoft updated the code.

    While much of the information still isn’t confirmed, it corroborates previous rumors and hints at an unusual regressive strategy when trying to compete against Android, Apple and other more modern platforms. The design appears targeted at media-heavy phones like some Android devices and the iPhone but would, if true, eliminate some of the key advantages that Microsoft has claimed for Windows Mobile. Android and webOS already have true, simplified multitasking systems and allow users to download apps outside of traditional channels. Apple doesn’t yet have such code but is widely expected to show off iPhone OS 4.0 as soon as this spring.

  • 05Feb

    Microsoft has largely lost its ability to direct the industry, former VP Dick Brass claimed today in a telling editorial. He believes the company is now a “clumsy, uncompetitive innovator” and points to the gap in performance between its core Windows and Office businesses versus everything else. Microsoft had its best-ever quarter due to Windows 7 but lost share in nearly every other category, including web browsers, premium notebooks and smartphone sales.

    Even brands separate from the usual Microsoft fare, such as Xbox and Zune, haven’t cracked the dominance of other products over several years, such as Nintendo’s dominance with the Wii or Apple’s control of media players through the iPod. The Windows developer has also been historically afraid of producing its own hardware and has clung to platforms like Web TV and Windows Mobile even when fully integrated platforms like TiVo or the iPhone have proven more effective.

    Some of the deficit is blamed on publicly visible concerns like poor marketing and its monopolist reputation earned during the 1990s. Brass claims that much of the internal corporate culture has actively delayed or even thwarted innovative technologies. ClearType, the font antialiasing technique used in Windows XP and later, was reportedly stalled as Windows engineers and Pocket PC (now Windows Mobile) executives deliberately found reasons not to implement it until 2001, ten years after it was created.

    Tablet PCs may have actually fared worse and effectively handed Apple’s iPad the market, the executive says. From the outset, the VP leading Office was opposed to tablets and refused to make a stylus-friendly version of the suite, removing the “killer app” needed for the concept to take off. Microsoft also dismantled the separate Tablet PC group altogether despite an increasing amount of activity hinting at the iPad’s unveiling last month. Windows 7 has significant levels of multi-touch input but only has some native app support.

    As a result of the conflict, many of Microsoft’s more important executives have left, Brass says.

    The company has shown some signs of recovery and notably has received a strong critical reception for Windows 7. It’s also expected to provide a much-needed overhaul to Windows Mobile with the launch of Windows Phone 7 and gave the Zune a major restart through the Zune HD. Integration is nonetheless considered an important factor, and critics have noted that the console, desktop and mobile platforms today share little in common and provide little incentive to switch away from holistic approaches like the iPhone and its symbiotic relationship with iTunes.

  • 03Feb

    As you’ve probably realized, local news is undergoing a massive transformation. The rapid demise of “old media” has resulted in fewer local publications, and it’s likely that in a few months your local paper may no longer exist. As “new media” takes over, users will be faced with a plethora of choices to consume local news. This is great news for most (no pun intended), but it comes at a price: the vast network of local blogs and news sites is difficult to navigate and peruse. Enter Fwix, a real-time local news aggregator that automatically curates news from a multitude of sources and delivers them to you via their website, Fwix.com. Fwix, which has seen over 100% monthly growth from November to December, is now bringing their solution to mobile.

    Today, Fwix announces their “City Apps” which are local news applications for the iPhone and WebOS platforms. Much like Fwix’s online service, each application is specific to a city or general area, such as SF Bay Area, Minneapolis-St. Paul, or Los Angeles. Though Fwix.com is available for 150+ cities, Fwix only offers 6 city apps for mobile. Sorry Louisville and Oklahoma City: better luck next time. Fwix already has an application for the iPhone, but these are city-specific and offer new features. Available cities are San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle.

  • 01Feb

    The ASRock ION 330 nettop is a small desktop PC that’s not much wider than a typical optical disc drive. It’s a bit chunkier than some nettops from MSI, Asus, and other companies, but unlike many of those models, the ION 330 actually makes room for a DVD burner as well as a 1.6GHz Intel Atom 330 dual core CPU, and NVIDIA ION graphics.

    ASRock sells the ION 330 nettop as a barebones unit, which means that it comes with everything but the operating system. The model NVIDIA sent me to review came loaded with Windows 7 RC, but I’m not going to spend too much time dwelling on the software in this review.

    The model I tested also had 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, Ethernet and HDMI ports, but no WiFi. Other versions of this nettop may be available with media center remote controls, WiFi, Blu-Ray drives, and other options.

     

    Design

    The computer is a small box that bears a more than passing resemblance to a Mac Mini. It measures 7.7″ x 7.3″ x 2.8″ and weighs about 3.8 pounds. The computer is available in black or white.

    The front of the ASRock ION 330 features a power button that glows blue when the PC is on and a tray-style disc drive. And that’s about it. There’s nothing on the sides, top, or bottom.

    There’s much more going on in the back of the unit, where you’ll find 6 USB ports, mic, Ethernet, VGA, HDMI, mic, line, headphone, and S/PDIF ports.

    You can open the top of the computer case by removing two screws, but there’s not a lot of space on the inside, and the first thing you’ll be confronted with is the top of the disc drive. So if you want to spend some time modifying this nettop, you’re going to need to be able to maneuver in a pretty tight space.

    After opening up the ASRock ION 330 once, I went ahead and closed the lid and decided to test the computer as is.

    Performance

    The ASRock ION 330 isn’t a speed demon, and it wasn’t designed to be one. While the dual core Intel Atom 330 CPU gives this nettop a bit of a boost over a system with a single core Atom processor in some areas, in others the difference is barely noticeable. The Windows Experience Index for the computer is well above the netbook average. But as with most netbooks and nettops, it’s the CPU that receives the lowest score, thus dragging down the performance rating to 3.3

    The computer is more than capable of handling day to day tasks such as surfing the web with multiple browser tabs open. It can also handle some light weight multitasking, such as running an audio player in the background while surfing the web and editing a document.

    But where things get really interesting is when you look at applications and benchmarks that can take advantage of dual core processors. For instance, the Cinebench benchmarking utility consists of three tests. The first test looks at OpenGL 3D graphics performance. The remaining tests involve rendering a high quality image. The test is run once using a single CPU, and then run again using multiple CPUs. Higher scores are better.

    As you can see, the ASRock ION 330 with its dual core processor scored much HP Mini 311 with a single core Atom N270 CPU. But neither came close to the score notched by the Asus UL20A, a computer with a much faster Core 2 Duo SU7300 processor.

    Likewise, when I ran the PassMark Performance 7 benchmark, the ASRock wiped the floor with the HP Mini 311 in the CPU test, but the UL20A still came out on top.

    I wouldn’t put too much stock in the graphics scores in PassMark test, as I don’t think the benchmark plays nicely with the NVIDIA ION graphics.

    In terms of real-world performance though, what do these benchmarks mean? To be honest, not that much. As I mentioned, the computer feels fairly snappy when surfing the web or editing documents. But to be honest, so do most computers with single-core Atom processors. And while some tasks will see marked improvement thanks to the dual core processor, others won’t.

    I ran my standard battery of benchmarks on the ASRock ION 330 and a few similar computers including the HP Mini 311 which also has ION graphics, but a single core Atom N270 CPU and my aging Asus Eee PC 1000H with an Atom N270 CPU and integrated GMA 950 graphics (and an 18 month old hard drive, which explains the folder copy and zip scores).

    While the ASRock nettop was significantly faster than the other computers in the folder zip test, the differences in the other CPU-heavy tasks such as the audio transcode and video transcode tests are negligible (no, I don’t know why the HP Mini 311 was so slow in the video transcode test).

    Here’s a brief summary of what these tests entail:

    • Video transcode: Converting a 4:34 video file using the Xvid codec using VirtualDub
    • Audio transcode: Converting 13:24 WAV file to MP3 using WinLAME
    • File copy: Copying a 478MB folder filled with 2186 files
    • File zip: Zipping that same folder using 7-zip

    Finally, I timed the same three computers to see how long it would take to launch two of the slowest-loading programs I regularly use: OpenOffice.org and GIMP, an open source image editing application.

    

    The ASRock ION 330 does appear to have a clear edge here, although it still takes a ridiculously long time to launch GIMP on any computer with an Atom processor.

    Graphics

    Aside from the dual core Atom processor, the ASRock ION 330 has another trick up its sleeve. Like the HP Mini 311 mentioned above, it has NVIDIA ION graphics. That means this nettop an handle many relatively recent games with 3D graphics as well as 1080p HD video playback. Although the model featured in this review comes with a DVD drive, the ION chipset is also capable of decoding Blu-Ray discs if you happen to have a Blu-Ray drive.

    In terms of 3D graphics performance, the ASRock ION scored higher in the 3DMark06 benchmark than either the Asus UL20A with integrated GMA 3150 graphics or the HP Mini 311 with ION graphics but a single core CPU.

    3DMark06

    The ION chipset also helps out when you’re running software that can take advantage of GPU acceleration features of NVIDIA’s CUDA platform. That includes HD Flash video playback using Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta. I was able to stream several 720p and 1080p HD Flash video clips from YouTube on this system while connected to a 1280 x 1024 pixel monitor.

    I also ran another video transcoding test using MediaCoder, which has a CUDA encoder for H.264 videos. In other words, while the test in the previous section shows how long it takes to transcode a video from an uncompressed AVI file to an Xvid file using an application that relies solely on the CPU, this test shows how much faster a similar job goes when using a GPU accelerated encoder.

    MediaCoder

    The long and short of it is, the dual core processor helps a lot with CPU-intensive tasks that take advantage of both cores. It helps even more if you’re using an application which can use both a dual core CPU and NVIDIA’s CUDA technology to really speed things up. You’d need a computer with a much faster processor if you wanted to be able to transcode a4:34 video file in just 2:23 without GPU acceleration.

    Oh yeah, it can play games too. I’m not very good at the style of games that really show off the 3D graphics capabilities, but here’s a shot from the beginning of Portal, which played quite smoothly:

    That’s the ASRock ION 330 sitting in the lower right corner next to my 17″ display. I also tested out browser-based Battlefield Heroes, and despite some slow load times which I attribute to the internet connection, it also played quite nicely.

    While the ASRock ION 330 isn’t exactly a high end gaming rig, it certainly has enough oomph in the graphics department to handle games that would choke up a netbook or nettop with an Atom N270 CPU and integrated GMA 950 graphics.

    The machine also has more than enough oomph to function as a home theater PC, or HTPC.

    I tested the ASRock ION 330 with an ATSC TV tuner and a digital antenna, and while the reception in my office is pretty horrid, I was able to pick up a few signals from my area public television station. The nettop had no problems playing or recording live TV, and the transitions and other visual effects in Windows Media Center looked great.

    Using Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta, I was also able to stream Flash video in full screen mode without any stuttering. That’s something that most computers with Intel Atom processors struggle with when you add a high resolution display. You can check out a video of the ASRock ION 330 functioning as a media center PC here.

    Verdict

    The ASRock ION 330 isn’t the cheapest nettop around. With prices regularly exceeding $400, it’s not even the cheapest model with a dual core Atom processor and ION graphics. But there are few nettops on the market with ION, dual core Atom processors and optical disc drives, and the ASRock ION 330 has all three.

    With CES just around the corner, you can expect a flood of new mini-desktops with the updated Intel Atom D410 and D510 processors. But while these systems will likely consume less power than the Atom 330 chip found in the ASRock ION 330, overall performance should be similar.

    If you’re in the market for a small form factor machine for basic desktop computing, light weight gaming, or for turning into a home theater PC you might want to wait a few weeks to see if something better comes along. But as long as you don’t expect miracles from a low power machine like the ION 330, I don’t think you’d be disappointed if you picked one up without waiting to get a model with a new CPU.

  • 29Jan

    It’s substantial but surprisingly light. Easy to grip. Beautiful. Rigid. Starkly designed. The glass is a little rubbery but it could be my sweaty hands. And it’s fasssstttt.

    Apple didn’t really sell this point, but it’s the single biggest benefit of the iPad: speed. It feels at least a generation faster than the iPhone 3GS. Lags and waits are gone, and the OS and apps respond just as quickly as you’d hope. Rotating between portrait and landscape modes, especially, is where this new horsepower manifests in the OS.

    Build
    Imagine, if you will, a super light unibody MacBook Pro that’s smaller, thinner and way, way, way lighter. Or, from a slightly different perspective, think about a bigger iPhone that’s been built with unibody construction. The iPad really does feel like some amalgamation of these two product lines from Apple. And, in the hands, it feels great—not too heavy at all.

    The screen looked nice, and it’s able to display even small text crisply. Touch responds like a dream.

    But one point of the build seems odd. It’s the Home button. In portrait mode, hitting the Home button is far less natural than on an iPhone because your thumbs naturally rest in the middle of each side of the case (not the bottom). A Kindle-like side Home button may not have been a horrible idea, even if it broke up the stoic minimalism of the case a bit.

    iBooks
    It’s an optical illusion, but just seeing the depth of pages makes the iBook app feel more like a book than a Kindle ever did for me. The text is sharp, and while the screen is bright, it doesn’t seem to strains the eyes—but time will tell on that.

    Keyboard
    Typing in portrait is better than anticipated but still quite a stretch for our average-sized hands, which means that letters like F G and H will take a moderate conditioning for some. What about in landscape mode, sitting flat on the table? Well this is problematic too, as the iPad sort of wobbles. The back is not perfectly flat, meaning your typing surface is never perfectly flat, so the virtual keyboard becomes that much more difficult to use.

    Pictures
    Pinch, zoom, whatever—like we said, it’s fast—the photo app is faster than iPhoto performs on an aging Core2Duo laptop.

    Apps
    Apps can play in their native resolution, or be 2x uprezzed for the screen. How does it look? An ATV game we tried actually looked pretty good—limited more by its base polygon count than the scaling process itself. Bottom line: it’s about as elegant solution as Apple could have offered, even if that graphics won’t be razor sharp.

    Browsing
    Over Wi-Fi, Gizmodo loaded quickly. The 9.7-inch screen is an excellent size for reading the site. You can pinch zoom, but you won’t need to. Of course, on such a pretty web browsing experience, not having Flash makes the big, empty video boxes in the middle of a page is pretty disappointing. Put differently, the fatal flaw of Apple’s mobile browser has never been more apparent.

     

  • 28Jan

    Apple as part of its iPad introduction revealed its first self-produced processor, the A4. The ARM-based chip is made by the company’s PA Semi team and incorporates a graphics core into the main processor. Most details are still unclear, but it runs at 1GHz and is particularly power-efficient: Apple estimates 10 hours of Wi-Fi browsing or video and a full month of standby.

    3G battery life is unknown but should be shorter. It’s similarly unclear how the processor compares to its rivals, like the Qualcomm Snapdragon. Although Qualcomm’s chip is clocked at a similar speed, it’s based on an earlier architecture. Hands-on tests so far suggest it feels noticeably faster than the iPhone 3GS.

    The company hasn’t said who assembles the A4, though Samsung has usually manufactured the processor. Apple is likely to use the A4 or a variant of it in future handhelds, including the iPhone and iPod.

  • 27Jan

    Dell recently issued a BIOS fix for its Studio 17 with Core i7, designed to solve a serious crashing issue. However, after the release of Intel’s new Core i5 processor and a number of vocal user complaints about its Core i7 product, the company has made the lower-powered and priced Core i5 the Studio 17’s default CPU choice. Though, as of this posting, we did not see a Core i7 option on Dell.com, a rep assured us that the Core i7 model, labeled the Dell Studio 1747 has not been discontinued and will return to the site within days.

    When we reviewed the Dell Studio 17 with Intel’s Core i7 processor (aka Dell Studio 1747) in November, we gave the notebook a 4-star rating due to its blazing performance and relatively affordable price. However, we noted two major problems we experienced with our review unit. First, the initial system we received stopped booting (and made several beeping noises) just after testing had been completed and, second, we noticed that the exterior of the chassis got hot, with the underside of the system registering a troubling 112-degrees Fahrenheit after just 15 minutes of playing a Hulu video.

    We returned the first unit to Dell, which repaired it and sent it back to us a couple of days later, saying that the first issue we encountered was an isolated incident. The repaired unit worked, but we did experience experience a couple of mysterious blue screen crashes the first time we tried to play Hulu videos on it, though these seemed to disappear on subsequent tests. After we informed Dell about the uncomfortably hot temperatures, they sent us a second review unit to test. This second unit  did not break or crash, but was just as hot as the original.

     

    Readers Respond

    Without having tested an entire assembly line of Dell Studio 17s with Core i7, it was impossible for us to tell if the one defective review unit we received was a fluke or a harbinger of trouble. However, after the product began shipping, we began receiving negative reports from many users, claiming that their Dell Studio 1747s (with Core i7) had died after a few days or hours of use.

    A number of users also posted on forums that their Dell Studio 1747s slowed down after intense use. For example, a French-speaking user posted this experiment, which claims that after running two CPU-intensive programs, Prime 95 and Furmark, the CPU speed dropped from 1.6 to 1.06-GHz. Notebookcheck.com, a professional review site, did not see a clock speed drop but did see their test notebook’s 3DMark06 scores drop significantly after 12 hours of intense use. We did not test our review unit for performance throttling before we had to return it to Dell.

    Dell’s BIOS Update

    Recently, Dell  issued a BIOS update that fixes what they call the “7 beeps problem,” the same issue that bricked our first review unit. Dell advises that, if you own a Dell Studio 1747 that is working properly, you should install the BIOS update to insure you never get the 7 beeps problem. If your Dell Studio 1747 has already stopped booting, you can call Dell support or try re-seating the CMOS battery to bring the system back to life.

    Whether the new BIOS update (termed the A04 BIOS) makes the system cooler or resolves its alleged performance issues remains to be seen. If you have a Dell Studio 1747, please let us know if the BIOS update has improved your system by posting in the comments below.

    Own another Dell notebook or netbook? Sound off here on what you think of the brand.

  • 26Jan

    Pentax got ahead of rumors today by launching three expected Optios, two of which tout unusual designs. The I10 harks back to the look of vintage film SLRs and even includes a hint of SLR-level features. While still a compact camera with fixed-in-place 5X, 28-140mm equivalent lens, it supports remote control for indirect shooting. The 12-megapixel compact lacks an optical viewfinder but partly makes up for this with sensor-based image stabilization, 720p video capture and a new face detection system that can not only track 32 faces but recognize pets as well.

    The H90 meanwhile recalls older rangefinders but is pitched as a “contemporary” design with nearly flat surfaces and a two-tone body. It shares the same sensor resolution, lens traits and 720p video as the I10 but uses a new pixel tracking engine to compensate for shake on top of ISO-based checks.

    At the very starting point of the line will be the E90; it boasts a rubberized, more ergonomic grip but is otherwise simple with a 10-megapixel sensor, a 3X 32-96mm lens, ISO 6,400 sensitivity and ISO-only shake reduction. The compact takes AA batteries for power.

    All three will ship in February. Pentax delivers the I10 in black or white colors for $300, while the H90 will cost $180 in orange/silver, silver/black and all-white trims. The E90 is due in black or red color schemes for $100.

    I10

     

    H90

    E90

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