We know, we know, you're freaking sick and tired of us talking about the Dell 2407WFP, and probably for good reason. But what can we say, we love them big-booty monitors, so head on over to Dell's site if you've got the itch to drop $949 US on a screen that'll light up that life with 1920 x 1200 pixels. That's a lot of pixels friend, you should at least consider it.

P.S. -For those wondering, unfortunatel the monitor's ship date is still listed as unavailable, so don't buy if you're expecting to get the thing overnighted, ok?

[Thanks, master_of_fm]

Dell has signed a deal with Skype, agreeing to pre-install Skype software on two of its new XPS laptops, the M1210 and M2010. Skype will be part of Dell's snazzy audio/video communication package, which consists of an integrated webcam and microphone, noise isolation earbuds, and mobile broadband capabilites. Financial terms of the deal were not announced at this time, nor did they they give any word about any other Dell systems that may or may not come pre-loaded with Skype. And, yes, we really did do a whole post without saying "Dude, you're getting Skype!"

NotebookReview got their mits on Dell's brand new XPS M1210 laptop for a looksee and really liked what they found. Indeed, while the design may leave a bit to be desired, it's hard not to like the specs on this one, especially when they're maxed out like the review unit they got. It came loaded with a 2.16GHz T6500 Core Duo processor, a 100GB 7200 rpm HD, 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 graphics, and built-in EVDO, all in a 4.4 pound package measuring 11.7x8.7x1.2-inches, with one of those new glossy 12.1-inch LCDs all the cool kids have. Depsite having a few quibbles with the keyboard, and the fact that at 4.4 pounds it's not exactly an ultraportable, NotebookReview gave the XPS M1210 high marks across the board, finding that it lives up to its billing as a gaming laptop, able to run Half-Life 2 on high detail without any problems. They also complained that the laptop ran a bit warm, but then again, what doesn't?

[Thanks, Dan H and Ben]

Well, isn’t that unusual? Dell offering OS X driver downloads on their site? Hmm. We know you want it, Mike, but somehow we don’t think your company has Jobs in your pocket quite yet. Give it some time though, we’re sure he’s bound to come around now that he’s in the PC business, himself.

P.S. The drivers listed on Dell’s site don’t actually appear to be files for use in OS X, so for now we’re chalking this up to Dell-related error. But see for yourself, why don’t you?

[Thanks, Nick F]

Here’s one situation where we’d rather Apple would take a page out of Dell’s book. After receiving reports of severe color banding issues on certain users’ new 2007WFP LCD displays, Dell looked into the issue, found the problem to be pretty rare, and caused by the monitor’s active color management chip which switches between desktop, multimedia and gaming modes. Turns out the reported banding is caused by the “desktop” mode, and Dell has now updated the firmware to disable this mode (alright, so maybe Apple shouldn’t follow this plan 100 percent). Dell has provided contact information for help with the firmware fix, and will also straight up replace your 2007WFP if you’d like. The roughly one month response time from rumblings to solution could be improved, but it’s good to see a company take at least some responsibility for its faulty products.

[Via PC World]

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google has succeeded in outbidding Microsoft for the right to integrate its search tools into the millions of personal computers that Dell will sell over the next three years. After Yahoo dropped out of what may have been a billion-dollar auction, sources say that along with its desire to increase the exposure of its services, it was Google’s frustration over the perceived difficulty in changing the default settings in Internet Explorer to non-MSN search options that ultimately motivated the company to emerge victorious. Besides winning a coveted spot on IE’s default homepage, the deal also nets Google some valuable desktop real estate, as its Desktop software — privacy concerns and all — will now come pre-installed on Dell machines. For most consumers, this deal really doesn’t mean too much, except for those of you who are really into MSN search, in which case you’ll have to take a few seconds and adjust your browser settings.

If you've been hankering to get your hands on one of Dell's next-gen gaming boxes, but can't bring yourself to fork over $10,000 for one of the company's limited edition deals, you can now order a production model XPS 700 (which looks an awful lot like the "XPS Next Generation Gaming Desktop" that the company showed off at E3) from Dell's web site -- at least in the UK. The production XPS doesn't have quite the same specs as the limited edition models (sorry, no standard quad SLI on this one), but it does have dual-core Pentium processors at speeds of up to 3.8GHz, up to 2GB RAM, dual SLI, optional Aegia PhysX acceleration and up to 2TB storage. A base configuration with a Pentium D 930 at 3GHz, 1GB RAM, dual 256MB SLI graphics and a 250GB drive runs about £1,375, including VAT ($2,581). We assume that it will go for a bit less in the US, though we still expect Dell to charge a premium for those shiny blue LEDs.

[Thanks, Gaurav]

Not that we really doubted that the specs and pictures were fake, but now we have confirmation that Dell's XPS M1210 gaming laptop is indeed real, and already on sale in Japan. NotebookReview, who's been following this 12.1-inch UXGA model ever since it was leaked onto the web last month, reports that Dell Japan is offering the M1210 in configurations that max out with a 2.0GHz T2500 Core Duo processor, a hefty 4GB of RAM, 120GB of HDD space, nVidia GeForce Go 7400 graphics, an ExpressCard slot, and the usual assortment of ports and wireless radios. Using our superior knowledge of feature sets, we had predicted that this model would be cheaper than its 17-inch big brother, the $5,000 M1710, and sure enough, you'll be able to shell out at as little as $1,189 for the opportunity to become a proud member of the XPS club.

[Via NotebookReview]

With all the hubbub around Apple's new Fifth Avenue store, Dell has decided to jump into those dangerous waters once again. Their brief foray into Sears stores in 2003 didn't last long, and they currently have 161 mall kiosks across the country, but this time Dell is doing it Apple style and opening two 3000 square foot stores. The stores are showing up in the NorthPark Center in Dallas and the Palisades Center in West Nyack, NY -- both Apple locations -- but they won't have inventory. Dell is going to stick with their direct model by offering online orders from their store, and will just use the retail store to showcase their products in action. They're still working out the details such as a Genius Bar equivalent, but we're standing by to see a few thousand Dell fanboys line up for free t-shirts and rabid fandom.

[Via AppleInsider]

It's been a long time coming, but Dell finally managed to cram an AMD chip into a system of theirs, ending years of Intel monogamy (other than their recently acquired Alienware lines). They're starting off slow, with a just a few Opteron Dual-Core processors in high end servers, but it could be a sign of things to come. Dell CEO Kevin Rollins sure played things down, mentioning "it's a fairly small category in terms of units," and that "we will still be launching this year a broad line of Intel products." But with recent AMD successes, especially in the desktop market, it's been long rumored that Dell is going to give up their AMD boycott. We'll keep our eyes peeled.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

We almost thought we were off the hook with these Latitude updates, after seeing the D520, D620 and D820 all receive Core Duo goodness fairly recently. Well Dell just revealed another Latitude in the works, the D420, which has a 12-inch screen and seems to hold up the ultracompact end of the spectrum. Not to be outdone by its larger siblings, the 420 will also include 3G data, but that’s all we know for now. The notebook, which is due in about a month, was casually revealed during an on stage conversation with Michael Dell during the Future in Review conference today. Dell also mentioned that the company is doubling its India staff from 10,000 to 20,000 over the next three years, so get ready for some (more) hilarious phone support hijinks.

Looks like Dell wasn't too displeased with the result of that limited run $10,000 XPS 600 Renegade series of theirs, since they're busting that move again with their new XPS: X-Men box based on the new system they were showing off at E3. It's just too bad you can't buy it though, since they're giving away the apparently one-of-a-kind quad NVIDIA carded and Intel Pentium 965 Extreme Edition equipped machine as a tie-in with this month's launch of that new X-Men movie. Ah well, you'll get yours built to order soon enough, but you're going to have to pay for it your damn self.

Dell’s globetrotting 2407WFP display has shown up on another international Dell site, this time in Poland. (We first caught the peripatetic peripheral on Dell’s Japan site, and the specs — but no pricing or ordering info — later showed up in the US.) According to the site, the 24-inch, 1920 x1200 display will go for 4,634 zloties, or about $1,535, including VAT. That’s roughly in line with  Japan’s ¥157,500 (or about $1,400), though what we really want to see is a US price, already. And one that’s lower than $1,400, of course.

[Thanks, Krzysiek]

If you thought you had to be at E3 to check out Dell's new gaming boxes, we've got some good news for you: Dell has launched a web site to show off the prototype models, the cleverly named XPS Next Generation Gaming Desktop and the previously revealed XPS Mobile Entertainment Concept laptop. The bad news? Dell's Flash-heavy teaser site for the boxes provides little in the way of real specs (unless you consider a statement that the desktop will include "some of the latest processors, graphics capabilities and performance hard drives" enough info). The site does, however, show off some of the desktop's external features, including an aluminum case, a choice of LEDs in 7 different colors, and -- woo hoo -- a stabilizing fin. No specs on the laptop either, natch, but we already have the goods on that one. We're not sure if Dell plans to bring either of these to market, or if they're just eye candy designed to attract gamers to existing products, like the M1710 notebook. However, we expect the desktop to show up in some form, if only so that Dell can try to say that the company's home-grown, Intel-based gear is as good as the AMD stuff they picked up from Alienware -- which, at this point, may be the whole point of keeping the XPS line alive in the first place.

[Thanks, Templedog]

src="http://www.engadget.com/media/2006/05/displayport.jpg" alt="" />Ruh roh, just when you knew for a fact you
were all settled in with the latest generation of video interconnects for your laptops and peripherals, then VESA comes
along and gets three of the most influential companies in the PC business, href="http://www.engadget.com/search/?q=dell">Dell, HP, and href="http://www.engadget.com/search/?q=lenovo">Lenovo, to rally behind its new video interface: DisplayPort. Ok,
so it’s not that new (we wrote about it last
year), but it looks like it’s finally ready to rumble starting May 8th. We called up VESA to get the skinny on the
port, and they were kind enough to hit us up with that graphic and the following deets: it’ll not be backward
compatible with with DVI / VGA (ouch), it’ll have wire-line encryption developed by Philips — that’s not compatible
with HDCP (double ouch), but has a very small plug and scales well
(eh). So why create DisplayPort when we’ve all already settled into DVI / HDMI with or without HDCP for plugging in our
plasma or LCD TVs or monitors? Well, because VESA wanted the market to have a unified, license-free video interconnect
standard that did a few things current systems don’t do, like have a standard low power, low pin count, low profile
connector for use on portable device internals and external monitors alike, or scale indefinitely to resolutions, color
depths, and refresh rates possibly yet unthought of by systems integrators. Ok, fair enough, but where were these guys
in 2001, huh? You know how we feel about nascent standards trying to butt in once we’ve all finally gotten settled on
something decent.

It might not be as snazzy as its older brothers, the D620 and D820, but Dell's new Latitude D520 manages to squeeze a 1.83GHz Core Duo processor into a $699 laptop (after $200 instant savings), for what looks to be one of the cheapest ways to get your hands on that processor short of a five finger discount. The laptop is even fairly svelte for a budget unit, measuring 1.4-inches thick and weighing 5.24 pounds. Otherwise, the base configuration is pretty weak, with a 14.1-inch XGA display, 512MB of RAM, a 40GB HDD, and a 24X CD-ROM, along with the WiFi trimmings of the Centrino spec. For $120 more you can upgrade to a 15-inch SXGA LCD, and it shouldn't be that hard to bump the ram and HDD with a little bit of part hunting, so there's still hope for making a decent system out of this thing without breaking the bank.

[Via MobileWhack]

If you've been looking to go Core Duo on the cheap then wait no longer. PCMAG just busted out their Editor's Choice award on the 15.4-inch widescreen Dell Inspiron E1505 laptop. Good reason too, since their $999 test model shipped pre-loaded with XP Media Center Edition 2005 (TV tuner costs extra), sporting a 1.67GHz Intel Core Duo, 1GB DDR2 SDRAM, 80GB (5400rpm) disk, 802.11b/g, dual-layer DVD burner, and ATI Mobility Radion X1300 graphics -- not top of the line by any means, but oodles better than a lot of those integrated graphics craptops, and more likely to run Vista with some pep. PCMAG calls the E1505 "perfect" for people on a budget who "appreciate technology" which well, pretty much covers just about everyone we know. Knocks? Sure, the battery only managed about 3 hours and you have to enter a goofy Dell E-Value code "E1505PC" when ordering if you expect your kit to ring-up with that sub-grand price tag. Righteous pricing indeed for this full featured and powerful kit.

Looks like all you Alienware buyout fear mongers officially need not worry -- for now. According to Notebook Review, the cat's out of the bag and Dell's launching (or is about to launch) their second gaming-centric laptop, but this one's a little easier on the shoulder and presumably also the pocketbook. The XPS M1210 rocks a 12.1-inch widescreen display, Core Duo processor, NVIDIA 7300 or ATI X1300 graphics, dual later DVD burner, Bluetooth 2.0, 802.11a/b/g, 5-in-1 media reader, ExpressCard54 slot, up to 4GB RAM, and an optional webcam. Should be out some time in May, but we'll know for sure when we get the official word from the gang at Dell.

[Thanks, Ben]

If you're looking for the perfect 20-inch monitor, look no further than Dell's 2007WFP 1,680 x 1,050 widescreen display, say NewsFactor, who give the LCD five out of five stars. Clearly testing a unit not afflicted with the gradient banding issues some users are reporting on forums, NF finds the 2007WFP to be a solid performer for video, gaming, and office uses alike (although the 16ms response time probably won't cut it with hardcore fraggers in a world of 1ms options), offering good picture quality, plenty of connectivity options, and an intuitive GUI in an attractive package. Especially noteworthy are the variety of ports, with four USB 2.0, DVI, VGA, composite, and S-Video inputs ensuring that only component-equipped devices will feel left out. Best of all, this $530 display -- with its HDCP-support -- will work with an HD-DVD or Blu-ray player when you decide to take the plunge, making the Dell that much more of a bargain.

[Via Yahoo]

It’s
difficult at this point to tell precisely how many people are experiencing the issue due to the intense echo chamber
that are internet forums, but a number of Dell customers have begun complaining about severe color banding issues on
their new 2007WFP. The banding, as mocked up above using a
screen shot of the issue, apparently makes normal color gradients impossible, kind of like knocking your monitor back
down to 256 colors after all these years. There a number of Anandtech ( href="http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=31&threadid=1842727&enterthread=y">1, href="http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=31&threadid=1838619">2, href="http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=31&threadid=1846432">3) and Dell forums (linked below)
threads on the topic; one user blamed the LG panel, as the issue has seemingly cropped up in some shipments of the
L2000c, their 20-inch widescreen presumably based on the same panel, while others are claiming it’s the DVI input.
Anyone here seen this issue themselves, care to share your experiences?

[Thanks, Ciber]

Dell’s
got a new 26-incher kicking around on their site, the W2607C, predecessor to their href="http://www.engadget.com/2004/09/01/the-w2600-dells-new-26-inch-lcd-tv/">W2600. It doesn’t exactly have any
standout figures in terms of specs and performance (600:1 contrast ratio, 500cd/m2 brightness, 1366 x 768 panel, 89
degree viewing angles), but this thing does have an integrated ATSC tuner, and a decidedly sizable amount of inputs for
its class. We’re talking three composite ins, two S-Video, two component, two analog coax, DVI, and VGA in a $1,049
panel (well, $1,199 MSRP, but you know Dell).

Today Dell dropped a new XPS gaming laptop in the form of the M1710. This rig hauls up to a 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo T2600, 17-inch widescreen display, 512MB nVidia GeForce Go 7900 GTX graphics, 4GB of DDR2 RAM, a 120GB SATA disk, dual-layer DVD combo drive, and an array of I/O ports including Firewire, 6 x USB 2.0, DVI and component video, S/PDIF digital audio out, hi-def sound with integrated sub, and 5-in-1 memory card reader. But this type of performance ain't cheap, son. A fully spec'd slab in Special Edition Formula Red "armor" will set you back right around $5,000. Look out Velocity, game's on cuz.

[Thanks, Micum M]