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Dell Inspiron Mini 9 with Vodafone HSDPA

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Dell may be late to the netbook party, but it's turned up with something very fashionable on its arm to make up: the Inspiron Mini 9, bulging in all the right places with HSDPA 3G mobile broadband goodness.
Unlike the Advent 4213 we reviewed recently, which also comes with HSDPA and into which you can slip any old 3G-enabled SIM card and surf away, the situation with the Mini 9 is a little more complicated. Although you can order one direct from Dell for £269 for the Linux version or £299 for the Windows XP flavour, neither comes equipped with 3G.

If mobile internet is what you're after, then your only option is to get one from Vodafone. On the plus side, the carrier will give you the Small, Cheap Computer for free. In exchange, however, you'll have to promised to cough up at least £25 a month for the next two years, which works out at £600 minimum for the 1GB-a-month deal. If you need to transfer 3GB a month then the £30-a-month commitment will cost you an additional £120 over the life of the contract.

While the price seems reasonable if you need a mobile broadband connection, the contract does seem a little on the lengthy side - two years is a long time in the life of a laptop with battery like Toshiba PA3250U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3356U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3291U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3591U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3641U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3641U-1BRS Battery, Toshiba PABAS123 Battery, Toshiba PA3727U-1BRS Battery, Toshiba PA3534U-1BRS Battery, Toshiba PA3535U-1BRS Battery .

Apart from baked in 3G, the Vodafone-branded Mini 9's spec isn't all that surprising. It's powered by a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor and 1GB of DDR 2 memory. The screen stretches to 8.9 inches and packs in a standard 1024 x 600 pixels. Dell has gone down the solid-state route when it comes to storage, opting for an 8GB SSD.
Completing the list on the wireless front, there's both Bluetooth and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi for your cableless communication needs. You'll find the usual three USB ports on offer - two on the left, one on the right - plus VGA, SD/Memory Stick slot, wired Ethernet plus 3.5mm headphone and microphone sockets.

You may have seen pictures of the 9 decked out in red and white, but currently the only colour available in the UK is black. However, it's a super swish piano black finish that looks fantastic. You'll need to ensure you've got a cloth handy at all times to keep it looking spotless as it's prone to picking up greasy finger marks.

The lid slides down behind the main body of the machine when you open it up - similar to many netbooks - and there's the usual 0.3-megapixel webcam sat a top the screen.

Despite its small footprint, Dell has clearly spent some time trying to cram in as large a keyboard as possible. Perhaps the most noticeable result of this approach is the complete lack of function keys along the top of the keyboard. This means the rest of the keys can be much taller, providing a larger strike area and cutting down on mistypes. If you still can't live without your Fn-based shortcuts, F1-F10 have been relegated to the second row - simply press Fn then A-;. If you need F11 or F12, though, you're out of luck.
The touchpad is small but responsive, filling the remaining vertical space between the keyboard and bottom edge, bar two small left- and right-click buttons. Unlike many machines with dedicated volume, wireless and ambient temperature buttons, the Dell is distinctly minimalist in comparison. The power button sits alone above the keyboard and everything else is relegated to a secondary function of an existing key on the top row.

When it comes to performance, the Mini 9 is a bit of a mixed bag. It only just missed on the top spot for CPU performance running PC Mark05 and it was almost as good for memory. Hard drive results were shocking, in comparison, with its solid-state drive unable to keep up with the spinning platters offered by the competition.
It had no trouble chomping through our Gimp Gaussian Blur test, managing to chew through it in a mere 5.1 seconds putting it second only to the aforementioned Advent 4213.

Dell posts user guide for unseen tablet

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Dell has published the service manual for an upcoming tablet PC on its website.

Presumably designed as the latest update to its existing Latitude XT tablet range, a whole host of specifications for the previously unseen XT2 have been published alongside drawings and photos of the machine itself.

The XT2 sports a 12.1in, 1280 x 800 screen that's able to twist by up to 180° and turn the machine into a pen-operated tablet PC.

An ultra-low voltage Intel Core 2 Duo processor hides under the XT2's shell, with integrated Intel GMA X4500 graphics and the capacity for up to 5GB of DDR 3 memory.
In addition to an ExpressCard 34 and SDHC card slots, the tablet also has Wi-Fi connectivity and an Ethernet port. Two USB 2.0 ports are built in, but Bluetooth and a biometric reader will all be optional extras.

The machine measures 297 x 218 x 25mm and weighs in at 1.6kg when equipped with its four-cell battery.

Unfortunately, the only details that Dell 'forgot' to publish was the XT2’s launch date and price.
Running our standard battery such as Dell RD859 Battery, Dell PR002 Battery, Dell UD260 Battery, Dell PD942 Battery, Dell Latitude 131L Battery, Dell 8F871 Battery, Dell 2G218 Battery, Dell Winbook N4 Battery, Dell F0590A01 Battery, Dell 7T670 Battery life test, which involves playing standard-def video full screen on repeat, at maximum screen brightness and with Wi-Fi turned on, we found the Mini 9 could still give its rivals a run for their money. It came in just two minutes shy of the Advent 4213, giving it a mid-table placing for battery life.

The Vodafone-supplied model comes with XP pre-loaded - you'll need to go direct to Dell if you want the Linux version. You also get a copy of Microsoft Works thrown in to boot and thankfully, unlike the version seen on the Advent 4213, you don't need to sit through adverts while working away.

A copy of Vodafone's Mobile Connect software is also pre-loaded to manage the 3G connection and there's an SMS app included as well so you can fire off 160-character missives without having to resort to predictive text.

The SIM card slots in underneath the battery - which would normally be a bad thing, but since the only way to get a 3G enabled Mini 9 is with a new contract from Vodafone, chance of you wanting or needing to swap it out on a regular basis are slim.
That's probably true of the Mini 9's internal workings too. But if you do fancy tinkering with the storage, memory, Wi-Fi and 3G cards, they're all easily reachable by removing just two screws and a panel on the Mini 9's base.

Without doubt, the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is easily the nicest looking netbook on the market so far, and its performance scores show it's no slouch when it comes to crunching numbers. Despite its small footprint, it has a decent-size keyboard and provided you can live with the function keys being relegated to a secondary location, it's a good compromise.

On the downside, its SSD drive is not only small but also a bit on the slow side. The built-in 3G is also a bit of a mixed blessing as currently you either have to enter a two-year contract with Vodafone or go without completely. We'd much prefer at least the option of buying a 3G enabled Mini 9 outright - especially given that who knows what the laptop market will look like in two years' time. That said, if you're going to £25 a month to spend anyway, a free netbook certainly isn't to be sniffed at.

Dell teases with Adamo XPS website

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Dell is on the verge of unveiling a laptop thin enough to compete with Apple’s MacBook Air.

The company has launched a teaser website for the latest edition to its Adamo laptop line – the Adamo XPS, which measures a mere 10mm thick.

Dell’s original Adamo – which starts at $1999 (£1419/€1536) and was launched back in March – measures 16mm at its thickest point. The new model features a 1.2GHz or 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of DDR 3 memory and a 128GB SSD.

The PC assembler’s posted picture of the Adamo XPS doesn’t reveal much in the way of technical features – the machine’s shown from behind and with its lid down. But we can at least see that the original model’s bulky rear has been trimmed and streamlined.

The result is an Adamo XPS that appears much more Air-like than its predecessor, well, at least from behind.
A launch date or price for the Adamo XPS hasn’t been announced yet, but if you’re looking for ways to streamline your desktop in the meantime then you could do worse than Microsoft’s latest keyboard – the Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000.

Apparently “just a few millimetres” thicker than a AAA battery such as Dell BATDW00L Battery,
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Microsoft hasn’t spelled out how much the keyboard will cost in the UK, but has listed a North American price of $90 (£54/€61) and launch date of mid-October. A separate Bluetooth Number Pad – priced at $45 (£27/€30), will also be available at launch.
Dell may be on the cusp of launching a high-end laptop equipped with wireless charging technology, it has been reported.

Images of the Latitude Z first broke cover back in June. However, business publication Forbes has since discovered that the machine will “most likely” sport “advanced wireless capabilities, perhaps even wireless charging”.

The report also rumoured that the 16in machine will feature an Intel processor and sleek grey casing – details which correspond with the Latitude Z images leaked online earlier this year.

“Design is important, and we recognize that, and that even more important than design is functionality, and this is a good packaging of the two”, Stephen Schuckenbrock - President of Dell's large enterprises division - told Forbes, presumably in response to a plea for information about the Latitude Z’s existance.

The machine will be displayed publically within a few weeks, the report added, and positioned as the ideal laptop for business executives, lawyers and the like.

Dell will reportedly price the Latitude Z at “a great deal more” than $1100 (£672/€749).

Depilatory Dell debuts beard-busting laptop?

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Dell is to enter the male grooming market and offer an electric shaver with its new Z-series Inspiron laptops, it would seem.

How else can we explain the headline on the company's website: "Dell's New Inspiron 'Z' laptops prove beauty and Braun go together."

The new notebooks are the Inspiron 14z and 15z, both 1in thick but equipped with 16:9 widescreen displays - the model numbers indicate the sizes - up to 8GB of 1067MHz DDR 3 memory, up to 500GB of 7200rpm Sata hard drive storage and an Intel processor selected from a choice of Pentium, ultra-low voltage Core 2 Solo and Core 2 Duo.
Wi-Fi comes as standard - 3G connectivity is an optional extra.

The machines come with a four-cell, four-hour battery like dell Vostro 1510 battery, dell T112C battery, dell Vostro 1310 battery, dell Vostro 1520 battery, dell Vostro 2510 battery, dell Inspiron 1501 battery, dell Vostro 1000 battery, dell T116C battery, dell Y022C battery, dell Latitude E6400 battery as standard, but buyers can opt for a six-cell, eight-hour power pack if they prefer.

The Inspiron 14z and 15z are available in black or cherry red and can be purchased in the US from $599. There's no word yet on UK pricing and availability.
Or indeed which model of shaver the laptops will ship with.

Oh, wait a minute, maybe they mean 'brawn'...
Dell has taken its ultra-thin business-centric Vostro V13 notebook and tweaked it for suits.

The Latitude 13 is a real “beauty” – says Dell — but one with brains. The machine contains your choice of an Intel CULV Celeron or Core 2 Duo processor, supports “remote manageability” and disk encryption through a Trusted Platform Module chip.
To jazz the machine up, Dell will allow buyers to swap out the standard hard drive for an SSD - though it didn't say what capacities will be offered An external Blu-ray drive is also available.

The Latitude has 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. A five-in-one media card reader is installed, Dell added.
The Latitude 13 weighs in at around 1.5kg and will be available to order online within weeks, Dell said. A starting price hasn’t been disclosed, but it's likely to be higher than the £359 V13.

Dell Latitude XT2 XFR ruggedised laptop

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Dell’s XT2 tablet PC has been around for just over a year, and now the company has come up with a fully-ruggedised version in the form of the XT2 XFR. Able to withstand drops, freezing temperatures and rain, it’s primarily aimed at those who have to cope with something a little more testing than a daily commute on the train.
With a sturdy, rubber-edged chassis, the XT2 XFR has much in common with similar ruggedised laptops from the likes of Getac and the Toughbook range from Panasonic. One of the downsides of these designs is that they tend to look almost toy-like, and the XT2 XFR is no different.

All ports round the edge are covered up by small waterproof doors, while a catch at the front securely locks down the lid. At 2.7kg, it’s fairly heavy for a tablet, but that’s to be expected given its robust nature. On the underside the 42Wh battery such as dell Precision M6400 battery, dell HW905 battery, dell XPS M2010 battery, dell Latitude E5400 battery, dell Latitude E5500 battery, dell Latitude XT battery, dell Inspiron 1410 battery, dell Vostro A860 battery, dell Vostro 1014 battery, dell Inspiron 5000 battery is removed by unlocking and releasing two catches – take it out, and a 128GB Samsung SSD is also revealed.

The 12.1in flip-and-twist screen (1280 x 800) is a capacitive multi-touch display, and Dell supplies a stylus that slots neatly into the side of the chassis. Being bright and lacking a glossy coating, the display is also perfectly suited to outdoor use. It welcomes finger prods, but if you whip the stylus out it’ll ignore them, so if your palm touches the screen your scribbling won’t be interrupted.

Inside, the keyboard is comfortable to type on and Thinkpad fans will appreciate the nipple control sat in the middle. The touchpad seems unnecessarily small, though, and the rubber buttons are awkward to use.
The laptop’s powered by a 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo SU9600 processor, has 2GB of DDR3 memory to play with and uses Intel’s integrated GMA 4500MHD chipset for the graphics. Other features include 802.11n wireless, Gigabit Lan, an ambient light sensor, fingerprint reader and Windows 7 Professional 32-bit.
Unfortunately for Dell, the first review sample it shipped out to me was pretty much useless in that the touchscreen had a mind of its own. Random screen presses occurred every few seconds, almost as if there were a poltergeist in the room – all of which made it impossible to use. Furthermore, one of the waterproof caps at the rear wasn’t particularly snug.

Dell therefore recalled the laptop back to its labs and, about a week later, it was returned. The loose waterproof cap appeared much more secure, the screen was just as problematic as before, which seemed more than a little odd since Dell had told me their labs couldn’t find anything wrong with it.

In order to get things moving, Dell opted to send me a German version of the XT2 XFR, which is identical except for the different keyboard layout. Thankfully, this sample worked perfectly. I don’t want to knock Dell too hard over the malfunctioning of the original review sample, but given that this laptop is meant to be harder than nails you’d think the chances of problems occurring would be pretty small.

With a fully-functional sample I decided to go about testing some of Dell’s claims. The laptop is both MIL-STD-810G (a US Department of Defence test) and IP-54 (protection from dust and water) certified, so I started by subjecting it to a few random drops. Dell reckons a 3ft fall is no problem for the XT2 XFR, so, tape measure in hand, that’s exactly what it got. Despite making an unholy racket, it emerged unscathed and the rubberised sections of the chassis meant there were no unsightly marks.

Of course, being a tablet it’s designed to be used in the hands at chest height. And since most people are a fair bit taller than 3ft, a butter-finger moment would most likely result in it tumbling around 5ft. To be honest, I reckon a 5ft drop wouldn’t be a problem, but I didn’t fancy testing beyond Dell’s specifications and then be faced with a hefty repair bill.
Another of Dell’s claims is that it can withstand temperatures right down to -40C, and be fully operational at -23C. And after finding the temperature of my freezer to be -21C, I decided to plop it in overnight alongside the freezer’s woefully out-of-date contents. The next morning I took it out, fired it up and – despite being too cold to hold – it appeared to work fine.

Dell Studio 17 touchscreen notebook

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When it comes to mobile phones, tablet PCs or one of those brightly-coloured public access kiosks you find in airports and shopping centres, touchscreen displays make perfect sense. They do away with the need for a space-consuming keyboard and let the display take up the majority of the device.
But do you really need a touchscreen on a laptop that’s already got a perfectly good keyboard and touchpad? Dell seems to think so, and has decided to release a new multi-touch version of its popular Studio 17 notebook.

Despite Microsoft taking all the trouble to integrate multi-touch support into Windows 7, there are precious few touchscreen PCs to choose from. HP’s been making some touch noise – most recently with its TouchSmart 600 all-in-one PC – but laptops with touchscreens are very rare. So far, we've only seen Acer's Aspire 5738PG Touch- reviewed here. Whether this means there’s a gap in the market - or simply that no one wants them - is up for debate.

The glossy black chassis of the Studio 17 feels reassuringly sturdy, and at 3.5kg the machine is also weighty. Open the lid and the inimitable sheen of a capacitive touch-sensitive display is immediately obvious – this also makes it a nightmare in terms of attracting reflections.
Dell’s gone for a low-profile keyboard complete with numeric keypad. Given the price of the Studio 17, it was disappointing to find that the keyboard flexes quite heavily in the middle. Some people may not mind, but for me a sturdy, unbending keyboard is a good sign that care has been taken over the design of a laptop. And when typing at speed, the constant, albeit small bouncing motion can soon become an irritation.

I also wasn’t hugely impressed with the slightly slippery nature of the keys. Thankfully, the large touchpad is far more welcoming, with its matte texture aiding usability.
Should you, for whatever reason, be using the laptop with battery like dell J399N battery, dell Inspiron 1440 battery, dell Inspiron 1750 battery, dell Inspiron 17 battery, dell Inspiron 14 battery, Dell RM791 Battery, Dell Studio 1735 Battery, Dell Studio 17 Battery, Dell Studio 1737 Battery, Dell MT342 Battery in the dark, the rather nifty backlight on the keyboard means you won’t be fumbling around. Although present on the review unit, the backlight is actually an optional extra, so if you’ve no need for it, £30 can be shaved off the asking price.

Fans of the Context key - you know, the one that lets you bring up a right-click menu - will be disappointed to hear Dell’s seen fit to banish it from the Studio 17. Instead, you’ll need to use the Shift + F10 combo. Dell has also decided the Function keys along the top of the keyboard aren’t as important as its shortcut buttons – if you want to send an F2 command, for example, you’ll need to press Fn + F2, otherwise you’ll simply activate the shortcut to switch off Wi-Fi.

If this bothers you, it can be reversed in the Bios, so that the shortcuts, not the function keys, require a simultaneous press of the Fn key.
Dell’s gone to town with the speaker system in the Studio 17. Stereo speakers at the front combine with a sub-woofer on the underside of the laptop to provide some truly stunning audio. Whack it up to full and it produces loud and undistorted tunes with aplomb.

Unfortunately, Dell’s opted to place the two satellite speakers on the wrist rest. While fine when using the laptop as a portable hi-fi, try listening to music while typing or gaming and you have to take great care not to let your palms cover the speakers. It would have been far better to situate them either just above the keyboard or underneath the front lip of the chassis.
Networking options comprise the usual Gigabit Ethernet and 802.11n wireless. Bluetooth was also included on the review system but, as with the backlit keyboard, this can be ditched in favour of a £30 saving.

The 17.3in display has a native resolution of 1600 x 900 which will no doubt disappoint many potential buyers. Dell presumably wanted to avoid anything higher than this so as to make the touch side of things easier – trying to use one of your grubby mitts to prod a small link or icon is hard enough at 1600 x 900. This resolution also means playing 1080p HD video at full resolution is out of the question, unless you fancy hooking the laptop up to an external display through its HDMI port.

Dell Inspiron Duo

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Devices that try to reconcile the essentially irreconcilable often come a cropper. As the Good Book says, “Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” Trying to combine the best of the netbook with the best of the tablet is what Dell’s new Inspiron Duo is all about, but does it work as either, let alone both?

First off a word about the lid assembly and screen mount which is the Duo’s party piece. The lid itself opens and shuts just like any other netbook but the screen can pivot through 180 degrees within the lid frame, so it can face inwards to work as a regular laptop with battery such as dell Inspiron 5150 battery, dell Inspiron 1150 battery, Dell 312-0660 Battery, Dell XPS M1530 Battery, Dell TK330 Battery, Dell RU030 Battery, Dell XT828 Battery, Dell 310-5351 Battery, Dell G5226 Battery, Dell C5340 Battery or outwards to work as a tablet. Small magnets keep it in place in either position. The design looks fragile but it’s not actually, so durability shouldn’t be an issue.

And a nice screen it is too. It’s only the netbook norm 10.1in corner-to-corner but the resolution is a healthy 1366 x 768. It’s also glossy and capacitive to the benefit of how it looks and how it works when touched. However, it has a less than robust tolerance to viewing angles, especially about the horizontal plane.

Take a shufti around the exterior of the Dell Duo and you will find two USB ports and 3.5mm audio in/out jacks all hidden behind panels on the left... and, well, actually, that’s it. No SD card reader, no more USB ports, no HDMI socket. Dell seems to have decided we don’t actually need the usual netbook array of ports. I beg to differ, however.

If you do want two extra USB ports, an Ethernet socket and a card reader, then you will have to cough up £100 for the JBL-endorsed speaker dock, the Inspiron Duo Audio Station. I’m sure the dock is a great bit of kit and a worthwhile investment if you plan on watching a lot of video on our Duo. Even so, removing expected connections from a small laptop to help flog a desktop accessories is still daft.

The Duo’s chiclet keyboard is solid affair with well spaced flat topped keys that have a clean and positive action. The layout looks a tad odd due to the rounded corners of each key but I’ve no complaints about how it works, and the same goes for the multi-touch trackpad and two-piece click bar.

Dell Studio 15

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Dell is going big on personalisation with the Studio 15, with five colours and 11 artistic designs available to choose from. If you really want your laptop to stand out from the crowd, then you could opt for one of the colourful finishes from designers such as Mike Ming, Derek Welch, Joseph Amedokpo, Siobhan Gunning or Bruce Mau. This comes at a cost, however, with three colours (lime green, purple and red) adding £29 to the bill and artistic designs an extra £69.

There's also a bewildering array of components to choose from, but this offers the freedom to tweak the spec to suit your needs. The review model came with a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 processor, 4GB 800MHz DDR2 Ram, 320GB 7,200 rpm SATA hard drive, 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 graphics, an internal DVD writer and a six cell battery like Dell Inspiron E1405 Battery, Dell TC023 Battery, Dell XPS M140 Battery, Dell PP19L Battery, dell Inspiron E1705 battery, dell Inspiron 6000 battery(dell 6000 battery), dell Inspiron 9300 battery, dell Inspiron 9400 battery, dell 310-6321 battery, all coming in at £719. Adding £100 will get you the Blu-ray reader but if you want to burn Blu-ray discs as well, then £280 will get you the writer.

Going the other way, opt for a 2GHz Pentium Dual Core T4200 CPU, integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD GPU and trim the memory down to 2GB together with a 160GB hard drive, and you'll shave around £250 off the price tag. Designer options aside, the Studio 15’s wedge shape starts out at 30mm high at the front, rising to 43mm at the rear and it measures 372mm wide by 252mm deep. Tipping the scales at 2.65kg, it’s not the most travel-friendly laptop, but manageable for short excursions.

On the whole, the Studio 15 has a good array of connectivity options. Down the left hand edge you'll find both HDMI and VGA output, Gigabit Ethernet, USB, a combo USB/eSATA port, 4-pin Firewire, microphone and two headphone sockets. Flip over to the other side and you'll see a power connector, an additional USB port, memory card reader (SD, MMC, Memory Stick), ExpressCard 34 and a slot for the internal DVD writer. If you're hunting for the power switch, you'll find that nestling in the middle of the screen hinge on the right hand side.

However, having only two dedicated USB ports seems a little stingy, if you do actually require the eSATA interface. These main USB ports are, on opposite sides, so you at least have some degree of freedom when it comes to positioning your peripherals.

That said, some portable USB hard drives rely on a Y connector for laptop use. These godawful break out cables featuring two USB connectors are typically short in length and can’t reach both sides of a laptop but, nevertheless, need to use two USB ports for power and data, respectively, to work on most notebooks. So if you do use eSATA and you find yourself with one of these drives you'll certainly need to do some forward planning.

Dell Expands Battery Recall

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Dell has increased by 100,000 the number of laptop batteries it is recalling due to a potential fire hazard, while Toshiba said it would take part in Sony voluntary battery replacement program kicked off Thursday. Fujitsu indicated that it was also considering a voluntary recall.

Dell said it received new information that caused it to increase its recall to 4.2 million batteries from 4.1 million. It urged customers to visit www.dellbatteryprogram.com and to recheck their batteries to see if they are affected. The site has received almost 200 million hits since the recall was first announced in August, Dell said.

The problems affect battery such as dell 2941E battery, dell 9943E battery, dell Inspiron 7100 battery, dell Inspiron 7500 battery, dell Inspiron 7000 battery, dell 310-6322 battery, dell D5318 battery, dell G5260 battery, dell G5266 battery, dell Latitude CPi battery packs containing Sony-made Lithium Ion cells. Sony has discovered that metallic particles in the cells created during the manufacturing process could cause a short-circuit. That short-circuit could in turn result in a fire, depending on the way the laptop is designed.

While the affected notebooks from Dell and Apple Computer pose a potential fire hazard, Toshiba said its laptops are not in danger of catching fire. It said it was recalling the laptops voluntarily to ease concerns among customers.

Toshiba offered to replace 830,000 laptops, including some of its popular Satellite and Portege models. Fujitsu indicated that it would also be likely to join the voluntary recall, although details had not been announced late Friday in Japan.

Toshiba, and possibly Fujitsu, are taking advantage of a program announced by Sony on Thursday, which said it would conduct a battery-replacement program in conjunction with laptop makers worldwide.

One day earlier, Lenovo added its name to the list of manufacturers recalling Sony-made battery packs, saying it will recall 526,000 notebooks.

In late August, Sony said it would incur costs of between $170 million to $255 million, but that was only for the recalls announced by Dell and Apple. Sony has not updated investors since then.

Its battery problems began in October last year when Dell approached the company about a possible problem involving Sony Lithium Ion cells used in battery packs in Dell laptops.

Sony changed its manufacturing process to lessen the chance of metallic particles being left in its products, but it wasn't until August this year -- after several well-publicized cases of Dell laptops catching fire -- that Dell began recalling batteries.

Apple followed on Aug. 25 with its own recall of 1.8 million batteries, and on Thursday Lenovo joined the list. Together, the recalls that cite a potential fire hazard total about 6.5 million battery packs.

Separately, Toshiba last week offered to exchange 340,000 Sony notebook batteries, but not because of a fire hazard. Instead, the defective batteries could unexpectedly cut power to the notebooks, causing users to lose unsaved work, the company said.

Dell Unveils 19-hour Latitude Laptop

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Dell on Tuesday announced a series of Latitude laptops, including its lightest ultramobile commercial laptop yet and a larger system that the company claimed provides 19 hours of battery life.

The company's Latitude E6400 runs for as much as 10 hours on a single nine-cell battery, and an additional battery that snaps on to the bottom of the laptop adds as much as nine hours of battery life, Dell officials said at a press event in San Francisco. That gives users close to a full day of laptop use without carrying an AC adapter to recharge the batteries.

Dell has developed proprietary technology to boost battery like dell Inspiron 8200 battery, dell Inspiron 8000 battery, dell Inspiron 8100 battery, dell Inspiron 4000 battery, dell Inspiron 4100 battery, dell Inspiron 2500 battery, dell Latitude CPX battery, dell Latitude C600 battery, dell Latitude C610 battery, dell Latitude C640 battery life in the laptop, said Jeff Clarke, senior vice president and general manager at Dell. The technology focuses on making components suck less power from the battery, Clarke said. For example, the refresh rate of a screen is reduced under certain conditions. Dell needed to develop related software and work with component manufacturers to enable these capabilities.

The company has also added those power-saving features to other Latitude models, but a Dell spokesman wouldn't say whether they would also be available on the Inspiron line of consumer laptops. The battery life was measured using standard industry benchmarks, Dell officials said.

The Latitude E6400 comes with a 14.1-inch screen and runs an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. It can have as much as 8G bytes of RAM and 250G bytes of storage. The system comes preloaded with Windows Vista, with an option to downgrade to Windows XP. It is priced starting at US$1,139. The Latitude E6500, a similar laptop with a larger screen, was also announced, starting at $1,169. Both systems are available immediately.

Dell has also added some other power-related enhancements to new laptops and said it would offer a smaller and lighter AC adapter that enables batteries to recharge more quickly. Some of the new Latitudes will also be able to recharge consumer electronics, such as a cell phone, via USB (Universal Serial Bus) without the laptop being switched on, according to the company.

In addition, Dell announced new ultraportable laptops, including the Latitude E4200, which the company said is its smallest and lightest commercial laptop to date. It comes with a 12.1-inch screen and weighs just under 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram). Another ultraportable, the Latitude E4300, has a 13.3-inch screen and weighs 3.3 pounds. Both are powered by Intel Core 2 Duo ultra-low voltage (ULV) processors running between 1.40GHz and 2.40GHz. Pricing information has not been announced, but the laptops will be available in the coming weeks, a Dell spokesman said.

Future ultramobile Latitudes could feature Dell's On technology, with which users will be able to access the Web, e-mail messages and contacts without loading the operating system, the company said. Dell previewed the technology at the event but didn't give complete details.

Dell rounded out Tuesday's announcements with budget and semi-rugged Latitude laptops. The E5400 and E5500 laptops, available immediately, come with a variety of screen sizes, with prices starting at $839. The semi-rugged E6400 ATG laptop, which meets the U.S. Army's standards to withstand dust and humidity, will be available next week starting at $2,399.

Dell has seen its laptop shipments grow since it signed up retailers worldwide to sell them, a move away from its Web-based sales model. It is the second-largest PC retailer behind HP, shipping 11.56 million units in the second quarter for a 16.4 percent market share, according to IDC. That represented a 21.4 percent year-over-year increase, IDC said.