Dell laptops fall victim to the “capacitor plague”
Alexandra | 8:14 pm | July 17, 2010 | Laptop News
Were you aware that many of Dell laptops currently on the market contain some serious defects? Dell sold millions of notebooks between 2003 and 2005 that had faulty components according to documents unsealed in a case being heard in the federal court in North Carolina. The New York Times reported about the problems and allegations that Dell faced last week:
Documents recently unsealed in a three-year-old lawsuit against Dell show that the company’s employees were actually aware that the computers were likely to break. Still, the employees tried to play down the problem to customers and allowed customers to rely on trouble-prone machines, putting their businesses at risk. Even the firm defending Dell in the lawsuit was affected when Dell balked at fixing 1,000 suspect computers, according to e-mail messages revealed in the dispute.
According to this data, Dell supplied faulty PCs to many of its clients including companies like Wal-Mart and Wells Fargo, institutions like the Mayo Clinic and Texas University as well as many small businesses. In 2005, Dell announced that it was taking a $300m charge to cover the cost of fixing and/or replacing the faulty machines. However, to make things even worse, they replaced faulty PCs with other faulty ones, according to the NYT further findings.
Dell felt victim, quite without realising it, of one of the most fascinating pieces of industrial espionage of recent years: the theft of a formula for making the electrolyte to go into capacitors from a Japanese company, which was smuggled to China, and then onto Taiwan, but somewhere on the way things got messed up.
In 2001, an unknown scientist left Rubycon Corporation Japan to go and work for the Luminous Town Electric in China. Both companies were producing electrolytic capacitors, which are usually used in power circuits. Capacitors are found on computer motherboards, playing a crucial role in the flow of current across the hardware. At the LTE Company, the scientist made a copy of the electrolyte – the chemical that goes inside the capacitors.
Later that year, according to the NYT story, the scientist’s staff defected to Taiwan, taking with them a copy of the electrolyte formula so they could set up their own company. Taiwan supplies 30 per cent of the world’s electrolytic capacitors and most of the big PC manufacturers like Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Apple get their machines assembled in Taiwan. But the defectors miscopied the formula. The end product would leak hydrogen gas, before bursting the metal body of the capacitor in up to 97 percent of the time over a three-year period. The electrolyte would then leak its brownish filling and could cause a fire.
Passive Component Industry Magazine (passive components are things like capacitors and resistors) wrote about this in September 2002, though it didn’t know then quite how bad things would get. As Dell’s experience showed, it could get very bad indeed.
A scientist steals a secret formula for an electrical product from his Japanese employer and takes it to China. Then it is stolen again and turns up in Taiwan. But something goes wrong – and thousands, perhaps millions, of computers and electrical goods in the West begin to burn out or explode. It sounds like the plot of a thriller, but it’s reality. Thousands of computers have failed and nobody is sure how many more products might go wrong because their capacitors – essential components to control the power supply – were made with faulty materials.
Perhaps more than any other company, Dell fought to lower the price of computers. And that’s certainly true: for years, Dell led because it could undercut rivals, and kept pushing the price down. However, nobody knows what Dell will do to survive the multibillion lawsuit and how they are planning to gain the users’ trust back.
Acer wants to become #1 in the laptop market
Alexandra | 4:40 pm | July 12, 2010 | Laptop News
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing Acer chairman Wang Jeng-Tang, about this very ambitious goal which, as they think, the company will be able to achieve by the end of 2010. Moreover, he said, it will be done despite the recent economic turmoil in Europe as well as the growth of labour costs in China.
Acer currently holds 13% of the global PC market, following Hewlett-Packard, which owns a 19.3% share, according to the source. Even though Acer yields to the market leader in this respect, it takes the lead in volume production of laptops. According to the Gartner Company, in the first quarter of this year the supply volume of Acer laptops was 9.49 mln while the Hewlett-Packard produced only 9.47 mln. In the third quarter Acer is expecting the growth of 10—15% in comparison with the second quarter.
Chairman Wang expressed hope that very soon Acer won’t have any feasible competition on the PC market. Positive vibes are also being felt on the desktop front, where Acer aims to shift 10 million units this year, while a decent $15 million is being invested into “developing a a smartphone platform based on Google ’s Android. Of course Acer’s “thrifty” strategy is not exactly tailored for tough economic times but it can be seen as the company response to HP’s ebullient $1.2 billion acquisition of Palm, but one thing’s for sure: PC vendors are hungry for some of that sweet smartphone pie.
Toshiba launches laptop “Trade-In” scheme
oleg | 2:32 pm | July 5, 2010 | Laptop News
If you are thinking to get rid of your old Pavilion dv6000 you might be interested in the following news. Toshiba has announced the launch of a new “Trade-In” programme describing it as “an initiative designed to help consumers offset the cost of buying a new laptop whilst ensuring that their old laptop is disposed of in an environmentally sustainable way”.
When purchasing a new Toshiba Windows 7 laptop, consumers are offered cashback in return for their old laptop depending on its condition and technical specifications. Before you buy a new computer you can use Toshiba’s Trade-In website to get the price of your current notebook calculated. For example, for an old Dell Inspiron 1501 in good condition the quote is £58 while if selecting higher specification laptop such as HP Compaq 6720s or Acer Aspire 5920, Toshiba is offering up to £150.
After visiting the website for valuation go ahead with the trade-in, you will see the laptop collected by Toshiba’s partner Tier 1 Asset Management who will pay out – assuming all is good with the device – within 10 days.
The Toshiba Trade-In programme is live now over at www.toshiba.co.uk/tradein
Smart Parts offers Laptop Support Scheme to UK educational institutions
oleg | 7:17 pm | June 23, 2010 | Laptop Accessories, Laptop News, Smart Parts
The use of ICT in British schools, colleges and universities covers many aspects of educational program including E-safety, the schools learning platform, use of computers in day to day life and responsible use of the Internet. Day by day ICT increases its importance in virtually every subject of schools’ curriculum. Demand of personalized learning means that there is pressure on educational institutions to provide comprehensive access to ICT and everyone agrees that laptop use empowers young people learning experience. However, for many parents the purchase of a laptop PC is a financial burden they are unable to bear. To solve this problem, many schools across the country are now offering to their staff and students an affordable, fully supported laptop leasing option.
This option, widely known as Student or Teacher laptop scheme, provides wireless-enabled laptop computers that are pre-configured to connect to the institution’s network. Such laptop usually comes with full manufacturer’s warranty and comprehensive cover for fire, theft and accidental damage. The laptops can also be rented for a period of one month to three years with a rent-to-buy option available on the longer term agreements.
These laptops also have guaranteed system support from the ICT department staffed by technician trained to manage all enquiries, orders and support issues. Besides making a personalized access to learning easier and saving parents’ money the laptop scheme is also meant to solve other issues such as technical problems and queuing in computer labs at busy times.
We at Smart Parts are actively engaged in technical support to the growing number of the UK schools. Since 2009 a dedicated department has been organized withing our company. Its main objective is to work with educational institutions nationwide and supply a broad range of laptop accessories.
This option, widely known as Student or Teacher laptop scheme, provides wireless-enabled laptop computers that are pre-configured to connect to the institution’s network
and provides the opportunity to rent a laptop from registered supplier, whether it to be laptop manufacturer like Dell, Apple and Toshiba or a third party ICT solutions provider. Such laptop usually comes with full manufacturer’s warranty and comprehensive cover for fire, theft and accidental damage. The laptops can be rented for a period of one month to three years with a rent-to-buy option available on the longer term agreements.
These laptops also have guaranteed system support from the ICT department staffed by technician trained to manage all inquiries, orders and support issues. Besides making a personalized access to learning easier and saving parents’ money the laptop scheme is also meant to solve other issues such as technical problems that students computers that have been bought from whatsoever had and queuing in computer labs at busy times.
Even though Smart Parts cannot claim to be among select few IT partners that schools can fully rely on in terms of providing laptops for such scheme and organizing ongoing system support for teachers and pupils, we are nonetheless actively engaged in active support to the growing number of the UK schools nationwide. Since early October 2009 a dedicated department has been organized withing our company. Its main objective will be working with educational institutions nationwide, supplying broad range of laptop accessories.
- all products are being offered at the wholesale price, with no minimum order quantity;
ThinkPad T410: another powerful and reliable business laptop from Lenovo
Alexandra | 12:28 pm | June 14, 2010 | Laptop News, New Laptops
A 14-inch ThinkPad T400 was good in everything: an excellent, powerful, non-killable device for working. While developing a new model, ThinkPad T410, they at Lenovo tried to improve all the main characteristics. Apart from powerful Intel Core i-series processors the updated laptop has got several new features such as enlarged touchpad area with MultiTouch support and the Gobi 2000 3G-module. The time of autonomous performance has been improved too; the new extended ThinkPad battery now provides up to 22 hours of runtime.
Performance
ThinkPad T410 is available with the Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors. The version with powerful Core i7 provides the maximum performance while the Core i5 models offer a better balance between performance and the duration of work off mains. These processors also support the so-called Intel Turbo Boost technology , where the frequency can be automatically accelerated.
Intel Core i3 doesn’t support the Turbo Boost technology but at the same time it is a very powerful processor that beats the Core 2 Duo of the previous generation in all tests.
Connectivity
ThinkPad T410 is equipped with the maximum set of all possible ports for connecting gadgets and devices. The DisplayPort interface to connect an external monitor has now become the standard for T-series. If necessary, the monitor can be connected with the help of the DVI or HDMI cable using an adapter. Apart from four usual USB ports (power is permanently supplied to one of these ports even when a laptop is switched off), the eSata and FireWire mini slots are in place. Additional modules can be also installed into a 34-mm Express Card slot.
Reliability
The display lid is equipped with the stiffening frame from highly elastic polycarbonate (HEPC) and the motherboard and hard disk are protected by the frame made of magnesium alloy. The keyboard is protected from ingress of moisture; spilt over the keys liquid is deduced from the laptop through special channels without touching electronic components. And, of course, ThinkPad T410 is equipped with the legendary trade-mark keyboard that guarantees an incredible comfort at typing.
Battery life
T410 is one of the most suitable laptops for long autonomous work. You can buy a laptop with ordinary accumulators that come with 6 or 9 cells. With a 6-cell battery, the machine will work for about 6.6 hrs which is not that bad! The extended 9-cell battery provides 11 hrs of work from one charge. Though that is not it, the new prismatic battery developed primarily for new T series is connected to the dock station and can be used along with the standard battery. Thus, with two 9-cell batteries at a time, the laptop will be able to work without charging for 22 hours. Both accumulators will be charged simultaneously – there’s no need in replacing batteries or buying an external AC Adapter.
Lithium-air: next generation of laptop batteries
Alexandra | 8:01 pm | May 31, 2010 | Laptop News
The researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) made another breakthrough in power technologies for mobile devices. The group of MIT engineers managed to achieve significant progress in developing a new type of lithium-air batteries. According to the reports, energy density of the new development can be as much as three times higher than that of a lithium-ion cell.
In fact, many of the research groups working on lithium-air accumulators are sponsored by industrial giants, such as IBM and General Motors. More functional portable computers with better performance will soon require more powerful and capacious batteries. Though some laptop batteries can provide a run-time of up to 22 hrs at the moment, researchers claim that the advanced lithium-oxygen technology can drastically increase this figure.
The way the lithium-air batteries operate is very similar to that of other batteries used in portable electronics or electric transport. However, the MIT prototype with inlet and outlet oxygen pipes in place utilizes carbon-based electrodes that interact with air flows and make the cell much lighter. While laptops and other gadgets are already on the way to be more mobile, it may become a long journey- ten years needed to start mass production of such batteries, the researchers predict.
Dell starts sales of the world slimmest laptop with 13 inch screen
Alexandra | 1:23 pm | February 25, 2010 | Laptop News
Dell starts sales of its ultra-slim business laptop — Dell Latitude 13. The company representatives state that it’s the thinnest laptop in the world with 13-inch-diagonal screen.
Dell Latitude 13 can be used as a good helper by those who travel a lot. This gizmo is based on Intel CULV Celeron or the Core 2 Duo processor and offers a DVD-drive, which may be replaced by Blu-Ray. Also users can choose between a hard drive or SSD-drive. In any case the user data will be protected by Computrace, a special program that sends information about stolen and lost laptops to the special website via the Internet.
The notebook’s dimensions are 330 × 230 × 19.7 mm, weight is about 1.5 kg.
P.S. Acer is also going to release its new ultra-slim laptop that will be a strong rival for similar laptops from Apple and HP. This gadget will be only 19 mm thick, which is less than Apple MacBook Air and, of course, it’s much less than the size of similar models from HP.
Scientists can make laptop batteries from ink and paper
Alexandra | 5:15 am | January 19, 2010 | Laptop News
Scientists from Stanford University used nanotechnology to create ultra-lightweight, flexible batteries and supercapacitors from ordinary paper. They just covered a sheet of paper with ink comprising carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires. And as a result they got a new storage device that can be used for production of innovative power supplies (laptop batteries, chargers for mobile phones, electric vehicles, etc.).
Capacitors can hold their charge for smaller period of time compared to batteries, but they can also be charged much faster. Professor Yi Cui (Stanford researcher) claims that used nanomaterials contain structures with a very small diameter, allowing ink to attach to fibrous paper. So it makes the paper batteries resistant to wear. Moreover, they can be recharged about 40,000 times (it’s incommensurably more than corresponding characteristics of lithium-ion batteries).
Yi Cui tried to create an analogous storage device form plastic earlier. But his new study shows that paper-based solution has greater prospects. This battery can be crumpled, placed into liquids (even acidic solutions!) without any damage to its performance.
Calculations show that paper with a kilogram of ink can power a 40-watt bulb for about an hour. It’s not an impressive result, but you should take into account that scientists are running their first experiments now. Be sure, after a couple of years your laptop battery will be much thinner and lighter in weight, allowing you to enjoy liаe without chargers and AC adapters for days, not hours.
Laptop market trends: forecasts for 2010
Alexandra | 7:27 pm | December 14, 2009 | Laptop News
What do we like in modern laptops? What do we want to improve in them? So, let’s discuss laptop market trends for the year 2010. Reading the text below, you will see how new technologies can make your live better. 
Netbooks will continue its triumphal procession in 2010. These devices are positioned as complements of full-featured
notebooks, not as their substitutes. More than 5 million netbooks were sold in 2008, and experts think that sales will be estimated as 50 million in 2012! So, netbooks remains very attractive, easy and inexpensive gadgets for cheap and fast Internet connection.
It’s a remarkable fact that development of new laptop models will reduce growth of sales (now it’s 26% per year). By the way, stunted growth of desktop computers sales has already transformed into drop in sales in some European countries.
17-inch monitors will be replaced by 18″-20″ LED-backlit displays, because their price is gradually approaching the prices of conventional monitors.
External hard drives will be more and more popular, because new programs and games require more and more gigabytes.
There is no doubt that almost every notebook will be equipped with blu-ray-drive in the near future, it will happen closer to the end of 2010.
But forecasts for solid state drives are not so clear. They are faster, easier, but some expert believes that as buyers can buy a classic hard drive of bigger size at the same price, they prefer larger storage volume, rather than better technology of SSD. But, of course, leading specialists have no doubts that future is with this technology.
Laptop battery life extension can be considered as one of the most important target for manufacturers in 2010. Some of them have encouraging results. Hardware developers are working in two directions: on the one hand they try to reduce power consumption of laptops with conventional batteries and on the other hand they create new types of laptop batteries.
As for the first direction, designers plan “to teach” laptops turn off unused components. For example, laptop uses integrated graphics core working with simple office applications and turns on a discrete graphics card running 3D-games.
As for the second direction here we should tell about fuel cells and new promising lithium-polymer batteries, which allow to create slim laptops. Also OLED-displays and new HDD Seagate Momentus Thin will make laptops even more slimmer.
The most reliable notebooks and netbooks — no conjectures, facts only
Alexandra | 10:08 pm | November 20, 2009 | Laptop News
According to the latest research conducted by the analytical department of the SquareTrade company, Asus laptops are the most reliable among other popular brands. It is a real surprise for many Apple fans that mobile computers from their favorite company are only on the fourth place, yielding to Toshiba and Sony laptops in reliability characteristics. SquareTrade provides after-sales warranty services for consumer electronics. The company based its new study of notebooks / netbooks reliability on the analysis of more than 30 thousand mobile computers from different manufacturers.
Result #1: HP, Gateway and Acer are the least reliable laptops
The results show that almost one of three laptops fails during the first three years of use. It’s difficult to imagine a more fragile electronic gizmo than a laptop (just imagine that every third TV set or car breaks down in 3 years after the purchase).
So the 1st place has been given to Asus laptops, problems with them occur during the first three years in 15.6% of cases. It may not sound too good, but it’s the lowest failure rate among 9 largest producers which laptops were used for the research.
Toshiba with the rate of 15.7% has taken the 2nd place, Sony laptops with 16.8% has become the 3rd. The failure rate for Apple (17.4% and the 4th place) was calculated for two popular models — MacBook and MacBook Pro.
Vince Tseng (VP of Marketing at SquareTrade) said that analytics were not surprised that Apple laptops had appeared in the middle of the list, but the victory of Asus had come as a real surprise.
Hewlett-Packard, the company, which production volume of notebooks was the biggest in the world last year, was pronounced as the most risky brand (more than a quarter of HP laptops is in danger). It may be not so bad taking into account that this company offers a 3-year guarantee for its products, it even started selling of HP laptop batteries that had a guarantee of 36 months.
Result #2: laptop users have only one year without worries and problems
The report also states that the risk of any problems with the laptop is growing rapidly after one year of usage:
- 4.7% — failure rate after the 1st year;
- 12.7% — after the 2nd year;
- 20.4% — after the 3rd year.
Mr. Tseng explained that mobile computers have high rates of usage. People often leave them running, laptops components are shock-sensitive. At the same time they are portable, and it often leads to falls and blows. And moreover, it is one of the most complex devices compared to other customer electronics.
Result #3: netbooks are characterized by a low price and a high rate of failure
The researchers also has found that netbooks break down more often than notebooks. The average rate is 23% higher than similar data for entry-level notebooks (with price from $ 400 to $ 1 000) and 38% higher than premium portable gadgets (more than $ 1 000).
