Microsoft is working with major ARM chip makers like Nvidia and Texas Instruments to design PCs for WOA, but I suspect that the majority of the devices consumers see will be tablets.

The post is very long and offers a huge amount of information, but one thing in particular struck me:

Windows on ARM software will not be sold or distributed independent of a new WOA PC, just as you would expect from a consumer electronics device that relies on unique and integrated pairings of hardware and software.

Really?

Usually a consumer can get Windows as a disk for upgrading or installing on a computer they build themselves. Apparently the company is not up with self-built ARM computers.

Their reasoning for this is two-fold. Further down in the post the author brings up consumer-friendliness:

…you never have to worry about which DVD to install and if it will work on a particular PC.

…

While each WOA PC offered will be unique, the role of Windows is to present a consistent experience to customers while allowing the unique and innovative hardware to shine through…

And he also highlights that a great experience with WOA will depend on a tighter software/hardware integration than regular Windows:

[Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, and NVIDIA have] been working with partners that will bring WOA PCs to market. These PCs have all been designed and manufactured expressly for WOA. From the chipset through the firmware and drivers, the work is optimized to be great for WOA. Partners are working hard on creative industrial designs and form factors that will include more than tablets.

I know from experience that you can’t just slap an OS onto a device and expect it to run well just because it meets the basic specs, even moreso with the chips we’ve seen in tablets and smartphones recently. So I can see the merit in this strategy, especially for mainstream consumers.

I just wonder if this is also to keep hobbyist devs and hackers from putting Windows 8 is places where Microsoft thinks it doesn’t belong. Like on an iPad or a Galaxy Tab. I have no idea if such a thing is even possible, but you know someone is going to try.

Personally, I’d like to see if the Raspberry Pi can handle it.

Perhaps that’s part of it, too. It’s possible to build very inexpensive ARM-based devices like that. If you could get Windows 8 running on it, why buy a computer that costs more? Oop.

Not everything is an evil conspiracy, but I wonder what the end result will be? Can hackers somehow get at WOA enough to port it to another system? Will we see jailbroken WOA PCs shortly after launch?

I’ll be keeping a closer eye on xda developers to find out…

Windows 8 For ARM Devices Won’t Be Sold Separately is a post by K. T. Bradford from Notebooks.com.

Enter AirFoil, an AirPlay solution that lets you stream any audio from your computer to your AirPlay speakers or Apple TV.

AirPlay for the Mac and for Windows computers is the missing part of Apple TV experience, and that’s what AirFoil solves in a simple to use program. I wish it could also handle video, like Intel Wireless Display, but for now I’m just happy to be able to send my Pandora tunes to my home theater when I work in the living room.

AirFoil has a free trial that allows you tor stream your Mac or PC to the Apple TV for 10 minutes, after which they overlay a hiss on your audio. The full program is an affordable $25, and is delivered instantly.

Using AirFoil is incredibly easy. As long as you are on the same network as your Apple TV, which is almost a given if you are at home, you will see it and any AirPlay speakers listed in the app.

To use the Apple TV as your wireless speaker system, click on the music note to right of your item. You can stream to multiple sources at once, which makes it easy to pump music throughout your house. You can install the free AirFoil Speakers app on your Mac to turn in into an AirPlay receiver.

When you want to change your audio source, you just click the dropdown menu at the top. You can pick from any program on your computer, including your web browser. The only thing I don’t like is that AirFoil will need to restart the program to capture the audio, so you may have to save your work if you want to start using Chrome or Safari in the middle of the day. Thankfully you are warned about this so there are no surprises.

Overall this is a great solution for streaming music from your computer to the Apple TV. Hopefully we’ll have a way of streaming video in the near future.

Purchase AirPlay from Rogue Amoeba

AirFoil Streams Audio From Your Mac or PC to Apple TV is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

I know your pain. Some keys just get in the way.

The solution to this problem is simple: re-map troublesome keys so they act like different ones or turn them off all together.

You don’t need to manually edit the registry or have a lot of technical expertise to do this. There’s a program for Windows that will do it for you no matter what kind of PC you have.

Here’s how to turn off or change any key’s behavior:

Step 1: Download SharpKeys 3.5, compatible with Windows 7 on down to Windows 2000, and install.

Step 2: Make a backup of your registry just in case.

Step 3: Open SharpKeys and click Add.

The left column shows a full list of keys on your computer. Choose the key you want to change here.

You can also click the Type Key button underneath to quickly add the key in question.

Step 4: In the right column is the same list of keys. This is where you’ll choose what the key does going forward.

You can change it to a more convenient key — for example, when using the IdeaPad U400 I changed the pesky Home key to Backspace just in case I miss the real Backspace key.

If you want the key to do nothing, choose Turn Key Off (first choice in the list).

Step 5: Hit OK.

To can re-map multiple keys, start again at Step 1.

Step 6: Once you’ve added all the keys you want to re-map or turn off, click Write To Registry.

Step 7: Reboot or log off for the changes to take effect.

Now those pesky keys you don’t need will no longer trouble you. And the process is reversible. Just go back to SharpKeys again to delete or change key re-maps.

How To Turn Off Or Change Troublesome Keys In Windows is a post by K. T. Bradford from Notebooks.com.

I had joined HP on a press tour earlier this week where the company was showing off its business-class EliteBook notebooks, which is an elegant aluminum-clad enterprise notebook that boasts rugged features that are tested using military specs. During the company’s presentation on design, notebooks design head Stacy Wolff had given us some insight on where HP’s design is going amidst changes in the PC industry with touch computing, tablets, Windows 8, and ultrabooks.

To date, the world’s leading PC-maker, which says it shapes 2 PCs every second, has yet to announce an ultrabook unlike competitors such as Asus, Lenovo, and Toshiba to name a few. The ultrabook category was created by Intel as a means to offer Windows PC-makers a way to compete with Apple’s MacBook Air in an era where netbooks are shunned and tablets are favored. Anticipated pricing is expected to hover around $1,000 and these ultrabooks will utilize Intel’s performance low voltage Core processors.

However, according to Wolff, ultrabooks provided too many compromises for the end user and HP wants a premium experience that will give users strong performance, high reliability and durability, and good battery life. And in my experience examining ultrabooks at Intel’s IDF 2011 conference recently, I would have to side with HP’s Wolff as many of those machines–with a few exceptions–look unpolished with a few too many corners crossed–some of the models had keys with too shallow of travel distance leading to an uncomfortable typing experience and others had keyboards that flexed too much leaving me unsatisfied.

HP does want to head into the thin and light category, however, and the company is saying that it is experimenting with new materials and construction to make that happen so that the final experience won’t be compromised. For example, in the near future, HP will be looking at ceramics for use in its notebooks, which not only offers strength, but also a new way for heat to be dissipated.

In addition to ceramics, carbon fiber and metal film may also be used in future models to provide structural integrity to make machines stronger while reducing weight.

The company is also aware of the consumerization of IT or technology. With executives and many employees across many different companies now bringing their own laptops and PCs into the workplace, a lot of consumer features are now making its way into enterprise system. That means that consumers can now buy an enterprise system and enterprise users won’t be left with a stale designed notebook.

Additionally, with Windows 8 and the post-PC evolution, HP is considering how users interact with their systems. For example, the company found that for their all-in-ones (AIOs), touch was not optimized as it required the user to have to reach their arm across the table to touch the display, leading to arm fatigue if this usage paradigm was used for a long period of time. As a result, the company made the AIO systems with a kneeling hinge so that it could stand upright as a normal display, or lowered and angled more dramatically like an angled tablet on a table top for touchscreen use.

In addition to touch, HP is looking at the post-PC era with some foresight by examining technologies like displays and batteries. The company sees that users will be using their PCs more in different environments, like in bright sunlight, and that this will potentially affect battery life and charging so HP is looking at brighter outdoors-visible displays and longer life battery on future machines.

As news is swirling around HP’s change of direction with the personal systems group, it is refreshing to hear that HP is still sticking to its core values, that the company is listening to customer feedback as it designs notebooks and computers with optimal experiences.

Be sure to tune into Notebooks.com where I will cover the HP press tour in greater depth and talk about how HP tests its notebooks and computers before releasing them to the market!

HP Talks About Notebook Designs, Windows 8, Touch, Ultrabooks is a post by Chuong Nguyen from Notebooks.com.

If you have a Windows Live ID you can get your hands on Windows 8. To be notified by either Twitter or Facebook, go to the above link to the Dev site and click the links to their Twitter or Facebook page and either follow or like Microsoft.

You will see some interesting things in this new build of Windows with Microsoft putting all their eggs in the tablet basket and the new “Metro UI”, which changes the look and feel more drastically than any version of Windows probably since the change from Windows 3.1 to 95 more than 15 years ago.

Most associate the Metro UI with the Windows Phone OS and the Zune interface before it. Tiles instead of icons dominate the look. The philosophy of the interface departs from a bunch of icons on a screen representing applications or a menu found from a single Start button. Instead the various tiles will be used to show off information and launch apps.

The old Windows 95-Windows 7 style interface will be available much like Apple did when they pushed Launchpad and Natural scrolling in OS X Lion. Apple hid Touchpad but made natural scrolling prominent. We expect Microsoft to make the Metro UI the default with the old interface available for those who wish to return to it.

Here are some of the most important changes that will be part of the new OS.

• Touch-centric interface
• Will run on ARM processor devices (tablets) but not in first dev release
• Reset and Refresh PC will let you go back to factory spec much like restore
• multi-touch in most of the OS including IE
• Magnifier for the desktop to help people see interface better
• Skydrive storage integrated
• Mail, Photos, Calendar, and People will get Metro UI
• Windows Store for buying apps
• NFC enables tap to share function
• Antivirus will be built into the OS
• Same versions that run on a desktop will run on tablets

The list comes in part from Engadget.

Windows 8 New Lock Screen - From Microsoft

For more in-depth Windows 8 coverage come back to Notebooks.com and also check out our sister site, GottaBeMobile.com where we will talk about the impact of the new OS on tablets and inking with Windows.

For now, get a look at the Windows 8 video below from Win Rumors.

How to Get Early Access to Windows 8 is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

What are definitions?

Definitions (or signatures, as they’re correctly known) are used to scan your hard disk for characteristic strings of base code left by known viruses. They also look for suspicious behavior, such as attempts to erase or change areas on your hard disks. Keeping these updated allows your antivirus software to catch the latest viruses and worms.

Lets take a look at obtaining offline signatures with a few of the popular brands:

Symantec Norton

If you are running Norton Antvirus or any of its EndPoint products, you can find the latest definitions by going to the following link. Symantec provides definitions for Norton products as far back as version 2005. The page provides a number of options for downloading definitions. The thing you need to know is your operating system version and architecture:

Once you have identified your version on the list, click the orange link. In my case this would be 20110814-003-v5i32.exe. The date changes as new definitions are released each day. As you can also see, this is for 32 bit versions of Windows. If you need the 64 bit version, you need to scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Save the file either to a thumb drive or portable storage medium. When you are back at the computer that needs updating, simply connect the device. You can launch the executable from the storage medium or copy it to the hard disk locally and launch it there.

Microsoft Security Essentials

MSE has become quite a popular choice among users when it comes to free Antivirus utilities. It is easy to setup and manage, and the features have led to over 30 million downloads so far. It is also robust and focused on keeping you constantly secure and updated.

If you need the latest offline definitions, go to the following link.

Download the Microsoft Security Essentials virus and spyware definition update file that is appropriate for your version of Windows:

    * To download the file for a 32-bit (x86-based) version of Windows, click the following link:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=87342

* To download the file for a 64-bit version of Windows, click the following link:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=87341

McAfee

If you are running McAfee Antivirus, you can go here for the latest definitions.

Click I Agree to the terms.

Click the latest DAT file for your Platform. In my case its 6438xdat.exe.

Save it and execute it on the target machine.

Trend Micro

Trend Microsoft describes its Antivirus definitions as Pattern Files. You can obtain the latest patter file from the following web page link:

If you are running a Consumer product from Trend Micro, click the Consumer Patter link.

ESET NOD32

Obtaining definitions for NOD32 works a bit differently. You will first need to install the Offline Updater, I notice there is no Windows 7 native version, but the Vista native version should work just fine. Go to this link to obtain the latest updater for your supported version.

NOD32 Offline Update will create the correct folder at the root of your C:\ drive. It will put the latest updated virus definitions and module files in it (and delete previous files if present). All you have to do is click update in your NOD32 product. It is portable, so you can run it from your hard drive, USB stick, DVD, CD, USB Key, SD Card and more…

NOD32 Offline Update 49xx will update the following:
Virus signature database:
Advanced heuristics module:
Anti-Stealth support module:
Archive support module:
Update module:
Cleaner module:
Personal firewall module:
Antispam module:
System status module:
Self-defence support module:
Antivirus and antispyware scanner module

Kaspersky

Another popular commercial choice, the company makes it difficult to find off line updates or how to do it.  Kaspersky Antivirus definitions can be dowloaded using the instructions at this link.

Bit Defender

Instructions for downloading BitDefender Weekly updates can be found here.

AntiVir

If you use Avira AntiVir, you can download the latest offline definitions here.

Click the Download VDF (multiple VDF) link.

AVG Antivirus

You can obtain the latest definitions for AVG here.

Click on the latest Iavi file. In my case, it would Iavi: 3836.

Click Save.

You will notice that the definitions for AVG are distributed as a .bin file. In order to install it, use the following instructions:

1. Open AVG User Interface.
2. Select Tools menu select update from directory, browse to where the virus definitions file is saved and click OK
3. AVG update Manager will run, virus definitions will be updated.

How To Manually Download and Install Antivirus Offline Definitions is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.

Using RAW Files

Professional and advanced enthusiast photographers often shoot their pictures using the RAW format because it doesn’t compress the images. This results in pictures that still contain all the data that was captured by the camera, usually a Digital SLR. The photographer can edit the images from there. The format provides more possibilities. It is like being able to reshoot the picture even though you are no longer at the site where it was taken.

It cannot work miracles with things like blur, or when images are so over-exposed that only white shows up, or even so under-exposed that patches are only black. However, things like White Balance can be changed from sunny to cloudy, or the photography can correct color and other things to make images look better than they would if they were shot in JPG format.

Notice the Canon RAW file extension below this thumbnail in Windows Explorer

Until now, thumbnails of files shot in the RAW format could not be viewed natively in Explorer without a patch from camera makers like Canon or Nikon. The 64-bit version of Windows required a paid version of a third-party patch to view RAW images from Canon. With Microsoft’s updated Camera Codec Pack, such third-party or camera manufacturer patches are no longer necessary.

Should You Use RAW Now?

Does this mean you should start shooting in RAW just so you can use this new software from Microsoft? Probably not! RAW images take up much more space. Hard Drive space is cheap these days, but moving those images around takes more effort. Also backing the originals up to a cloud service will take forever because your photo library will be, at minimum, twice as big as those with only JPG files. Finally, working with RAW files is a little more complicated. Even using Windows Photo Gallery editor requires the user to convert the RAW file into a format it can use for editing. The patch only lets users view files. Editing still must be done in the compressed JPG format.

Open a RAW file in Photo Gallery and this box will ask you to convert to JPG in order to edit

Microsoft Video Detailing Camera Pack

Here is Microsoft’s video about the new camera pack and its capabilities and limitations:

Limitations

Advanced photo editing programs like Photoshop, or its younger brother Photoshop Express, will handle RAW files. But you have to go through the digital version of developing the photo by opening them in Adobe Camera RAW software, which then makes the file editable in Photoshop. As you can see in the video above, you still have to convert RAW images to edit them in Windows Photo Gallery too.

Good News for Photographers

This is a wonderful development for advanced amateurs and professional photographers who use Windows computers for their workflow. I know I will enjoy being able to quickly take a look at my images in Explorer to see what they contain before opening them for editing in Photoshop. Most advanced or professional Photographers uses applications, like Lightroom, which have always shown thumbnails of RAW files. Sometimes you want a quick look without opening another application. Occasionally you want only to crop a photo without doing a lot of heavy editing. The ability to open a RAW image in Photo Gallery might help. Seeing the thumbnails in Explorer is a huge plus.

You can learn more about thew new codec pack and download it at the Windows Team Blog.

View and Edit RAW Photos in Windows Explorer and Live Photo Gallery is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

The database of threats will be updated in the background through the web every single day. This will give you another level of security and help you keep from getting bit by the MacDefender bug or any other. While you could conceivably get hit by an unknown piece of malware, it is less likely so long as Apple does a good job of finding and adding the threats to their daily updated database.

This is the updated security options in System Properties. Notice the item regarding a "safe download list".

Thanks to the new “safe download list” which will be updated every day in the background so long as you are connected to the Internet, you will be safer as you surf. When you attempt to download an infected file you will see the following warning:

This warning will pop up if you try to download an infected file after the OS X update

Apple’s handling of the MacDefender threat has proven that the Mac is innately more secure than a Windows PC, not because of the hardware or operating system’s fundamental underpinnings, but because of the people supporting it.

In fact a Windows 7 PC is a very secure OS so long as you avoid porn, pirated software, flash games and don’t open email attachments unless you know the person who sent it and you were expecting then to send it. Even if you do all four of those things, you still need to be vigilant by running security software. Not having security software on Windows is about as smart as driving a car without a seatbelt. You will be fine most of the time, but it is that one moment when you least expect to get hit that hurts you.

The Apple update and strategy of putting security scans in the operating system itself is evidence that they take this seriously. What took Microsoft years to realize has taken Apple only months. Windows still doesn’t have this kind of system built into it. A user can go get Microsoft Security Essentials, a very good free security tool. But this should be built into the OS just like it is in OS X. This one philosophical difference is evidence that you will be safer on a Mac than a PC.

Apple only recently began to have a real problem with malware. I can remember the many years that my Mac using friends would brag to me a PC guy that Mac was better because there were no viruses. You also hear the popular complaint that Windows is riddled with security flaws. I never believed the hype on either side of the argument.

Avoiding Viruses

Windows 95, 98 and the early days of XP were more vulnerable than they should have been. Those were the early days of the common Internet. It took Microsoft a long time to realize that they had a security problem. Now, with Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 9 you are pretty secure so long as you are smart. That means doing the following:

• Don’t open email attachments unless they come from someone you know and you were expecting them to send it
• Don’t play flash games online
• Be careful clicking links to celebrity news including scandalous or death stories
• Avoid porn sites
• Pay for software instead of downloading illegal pirated software from sites often called WAREZ sites
• Only get really free software from trusted sites
• Run a good security program

If you do all of the above, you are very unlikely to ever get a virus on a Windows PC.

On the Mac side of things, the main reason the Mac was more secure and didn’t need anti-malware software was because it was less of a target. There just were not as many Macs to hit. Now that the Mac has become much more popular, it is a target. It is no coincidence that within a year of Apple announcing that half of all new Macs last year went to first time owners that we are starting to see Mac malware.

The Difference

The real difference however is the way Apple is dealing with the situation versus the way Microsoft dealt with the problem when it first hit and still deals with it now. Consider the following:

• It took Microsoft years to realize they had a problem and longer to address it
• Apple only recently began to have a problem and is now integrating the security into the OS
• Microsoft forces the user to do something to get a very basic level of protection by going to a web site and downloading it
• Apple is building it right into the software which will show up in an update notification in Software Update (see below)

These seemingly small differences are the difference between Apple seeing and admitting the problem relatively quickly and assuming they must be the answer and Microsoft not admitting the problem until long after it showed itself and assuming that the user should do something to fix it.

Apple Handling Early Malware Threats More Aggressively Than Microsoft is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

It’s impossible to ignore the similarities between the MacBook Pro ant the XPS 15z. But before you begin examining the similarities and differences between the two notebooks too closely, it’s much more important to figure out if having Apple’s OSX or Microsoft’s Windows 7 on your machine. If you’re a Mac fan, there’s nothing about the XPS 15z that’ll hasten a switch over to Windows. But if you’re looking for a solid 15″ notebook that looks a lot like a Mac, the XPS 15z might be for you.

Starting at $999, the Dell XPS 15z is $800 cheaper than the base 15″ MacBook Pro. The XPS 15z’s $999 starting price is on par with the price of the HP Envy 14, another stylish all-metal notebook.

Dell’s XPS line offers a bump in power over typical consumers notebooks, but like most 15″ consumer notebooks they are too bulky to tote around all day comfortably. The standard XPS 15 measures up to 1.5″ thick, while the XPS 15z measures just .97″.  The XPS 15z is about half a pound lighter than the standard XPS (non ‘z’ series) model.

The Dell XPS 15z is available starting today for $999 from Dell.com. We’re hoping that Best Buy and other retailers will sell the XPS 15z in stores so consumers will get a chance to touch and feel the XPS 15z themselves.

Dell XPS z-Series

The new Dell XPS 15z, isn’t alone, Dell tells us that the XPS 15z is just the first of several notebooks which will be a part of the XPS z series. According to Dell, the XPS z-series will be defined by “blending precision, craftsmanship and quality in elegantly thin design.”

Like the rest of the XPS line, the z-series has much beefier guts than the average consumer notebook. Those interested in enjoying their multimedia collections, editing video and playing video games will appreciate the XPS 15z.

We’ve been told that the future of the XPS line looks a lot more like the XPS 15z series than what Dell currently offers.

Dell XPS 15z Quick Specs

This new notebook is packing 2nd Gen Core 2.30GHz Core i5 and 2.7oGHz Core i7 processors (dual core only) and NVIDIA GT525M GPU options with 1GB or 2GB of Video RAM, 4 to 8GB DDR3 RAM and up to a 750GB hard drive. There is a slot load DVD +/-RW Drive and a 1.3MP Webcam with dual array digital microphones.

Unfortunately, the thin design doesn’t allow for a Blu-ray Disc drive.

The ports and connectivity are one area where Dell outshines Apple. Rather than copying and pasting the ports from the MacBook Pro, Dell has added 2 USB 3.0 ports, Bluetooth 3.0 and a USB 2.0/eSATA port.

Dell XPS 15z Design

In keeping with the XPS z-Series ethos, the XPS 15z has a clean look thanks to its anodized aluminum exterior and rounded edges and corners. A magnesium alloy palmrest and backlit keyboard finish off the XPS 15z’s polished appearance.

The Dell XPS 15z is .97″ thick and starts at 5.54 pounds, which if you are measuring is .02 thicker than the MacBook Pro, which is why Dell isn’t claiming the thinnest 15″ notebook on the planet. Still, it is an impressively thin notebook that is able to deliver on design without also adding an inflated cost.

Like the 15″ MacBook Pro, the XPS 15z has a battery meter made up of a series of LED on the edge with the ports.

Dell XPS 15z Keyboard and Touchpad

Dell is including a spill resistant backlit island style keyboard standard on the XPS 15z. The XPS15z has a multitouch touchpad that supports gestures and has two dedicated mouse buttons. The inclusion of physical buttons is probably a wise one since many PC notebooks haven’t been able to integrate clickable touchpads as well as Apple notebooks.

Dell XPS 15z Display

The Dell XPS 15z has a 15.6″ display which will have a 1366 x 768 resolution and 200 nit brightness as standard, but users can upgrade to a full HD 1920 x 1080 display with a 300 nit brightness rating. The Full HD 300 nit display option will run an extra $100, but is well worth it for the higher resolution and increased brightness which will make it easier to use outdoors even though it isn’t an anti-glare display.

Dell XPS 15z Graphics

On the graphics side, the XPS 15z comes with a NVIDIA GT525M GPU which can be configured with either 1GB or 2GB of video RAM depending on your needs. The XPS 15z supports NVIDIA Optimus which will automatically switch to the Integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics when less power is needed in order to save battery power. The XPS 15z also supports Intel Wireless Display 2.0, which means users can wirelessly stream HD content to HDTVs with an with an optional $99 adapter.

Another nice feature tucked into the XPS 15z’s graphics toolkit is support for NVIDIA 3DTV Play which allows users to connect to compatible 3D TVs to display 3d photos, videos and games.

Dell XPS 15z Audio

The Dell XPS15z isn’t just looks, Dell has included Waves MaxxAudio 3, which we heard in person back at CES and were impressed with the software’s ability to really give audio a boost. If you connect to a stereo, you can get 5.1 surround sound.

The slimmer design means you won’t find premium speakers, such as the JBL speakers built into some Dell models, built in however.

Dell XPS 15z  Battery Life

Being thin means that Dell needs to work to get a decent size battery in the XPS 15z. Dell has put an 8-cell 64WhR battery in the XPS 15z that is rated to last 8 hours and 22 minutes. However, like other PC manufacturers, Dell is using a synthetic benchmark that’s know to overstate battery life. In the real world, we expect the XPS 15z to delver somewhere between five and six hours of Web surfing on a single charge.

The battery is not user replaceable, a trade-off that’s increasingly common on thin notebooks. While this allows for a thinner design, it means that you can’t lug around a backup battery or extended battery for a long day away from your home or office.

Dell XPS 15z Gallery

Dell XPS 15z Detailed Specs

Dell XPS 15z: Thinnest 15″ PC on the Planet, Takes on MacBook Pro is a post by Xavier Lanier from Notebooks.com.

The 11.6″ Samsung 9 Series NP900X1A-A01US has an Intel Core i3 ULV processor clocked at 1.33GHz rather than a new Sandy Bridge Core i5 processor like we have seen in the larger Samsung 9 series. The slim notebook includes a 64GB solid state drive, 2GB RAM and uses Intel integrated graphics.

The slim Samsung 9 Series 11.6″ notebook has a resolution of 1366 x 768 on the 340 Nit display and has no optical drive which helps it come in at .662″ to .65″ in thickness and a weight of 2.31 pounds. The Samsung 9 Series has Intel Wireless Display, a 1.3MP webcam, USB 3.0, USB 2.0 and SRS 3D Sound. The 11.6″ Samsung 9 series has a 4 cell battery which is rated for 7 hours.

The Samsung 9 Series is an attractive looking notebook, but the smaller version isn’t as tempting as the 13.3″ Samsung 9 Series in terms of power. Unfortunately, the Samsung 9 Series notebooks’ price will continue to be a major factor in the notebook’s success. With the MacBook Air starting at $999, we’ll have to wait and see if consumers are willing to pay a $160 premium for the extra features.

Samsung 9 Series Hands On Video

Samsung 9 Series Gallery

Via Electronista

Samsung 9 Series 11″ Notebook Hits U.S. with Core i3 and High Pricetag is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.