03-07-2011 om 13:33 geschreven door brandnewbattery  

05-06-2011 om 06:24 geschreven door brandnewbattery  

Already in its nth edition, Dell releases the Dell Studio 15, and promptly equips it with the most current hardware in light of the Intel Core i5 launch. In plain text this means a Core i5 520M at 2.4 Ghz and the Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) HD graphics chip integrated onto the processor. Find out in this review whether this new combination confirms the suspicion of a price/performance champion.

Dell Studio 1557 is the specific appellation of the, until now, current version of the fancy multimedia specialist from Dell. On offer is/was a notebook with a Pentium Dual-Core, Core 2 Duo or respectively the high-performance Core i7 chips from Intel. A certain systematic application of performance was chosen to your whim or respectively as far as your pennies went. The entry-level configuration was around 479 Euro (plus delivery), equipped with an Intel T4300 CPU (2.1 GHz) and integrated Intel GMA 4500M HD graphics chip.

A pre-sample of the new Studio 1558 underlies the following review, equipped with a combination of the brand-new Intel Core i5 520M CPU and the just-as-new CPU-integrated Intel GMA HD graphics solution. Therefore the laptop appears in the entry-level range of the series and shouldn’t cost much more than its predecessor of a comparable configuration. As seen in the Core i7 architecture, you can count on an enormous performance leap in the Core i5 dual-core CPUs, and a whole range of new features are carried over, which only recently catapulted the i7 chips onto the tops of the CPU charts.

Case

A quick peek at the case confirms our first observation: nothing much has changed on the case of the Studio 1558. Apart from a blue display lid(“Midnight Blue micro-satin surface) the laptop at hand can’t be told apart from the already reviewed Dell Studio 1557. Oh well, the Intel Core i5 sticker is new, but on first glance it’s a spitting image of the i7 sticker.

Regarding the case there’s nothing more to say, apart from pointing to the relevant passage of the Studio 1557, to which the current device corresponds. The key points to mention here are consequently the customisable case (display lid), but also weaknesses concerning the stability of the display lid.

Connectivity

Along with the case, the notebook’s ports on offer are the same. The connections are limited to the sides of the case like before; the front and rear of the notebook remain free from interfaces.  As for the number of offered interfaces, no hairs will be on end; the Studio 1558 sports 3 USB ports, HDMI, eSATA and Firewire ports. However, the positioning of these ports needs some getting used to. The location of the Expresscard Slot is just over the card reader, which isn’t optimal by any means, and left-handed users have to make do with a wide phalanx of connections when using an external mouse.

Input Devices

Once again it suffices to refer to the existing review of the predecessor, Dell Studio 1557. When it comes to the keyboard unit basically nothing has changed, with the exception that in the sample at hand a keyboard with English layout was used. The single-row enter key is nevertheless omitted in the German layout, as usual, and you can delight in the double-height enter key.

The touchpad is embedded in the wrist rest area making it almost flush and  it offers pleasant gliding qualities with good reaction behaviour. A soft gap towards the outer edges characterises the input device and facilitates navigation.

Display

The last time that we refer to the existing review of the Studio 1557 regards the display. In the pre-sample of the Studio 1558 we also found a LED displaywith a 15.6-inch TrueLife panel, that is, a reflective glare surface. The maximum resolution adds up to 1366×768 pixels in the 16:9 format and thus supports the playback of HD media.

The measured results we obtained regarding display brightness correspond to those of the Studio 1557 with a possible deviance of up to around 15%. Reasons for the difference could be manufacturing margins, haziness with the measurements, or different panel types could be used. In the notebook at hand there was an InnoLux 156GW01 panel. In the already reviewed Studio 1557 the specific panel type could not be read.

You’ll have to come to terms with reflective display surfaces, because the alternative Full HD display with WLED illumination also has the same finish. Outdoor use thus becomes rather problematic, as you have to deal with strong reflections in unfavourably bright surrounding light, which can even appear in average, bright indoor rooms.

Intel Core i5 CPU

The deployed i5-520M CPU is manufactured in the 32 nanometer process and offers two physical computing cores and can respectively simulate a total of four threads via Hyper-Threading. The chip has 3MB cache and supports 1066MHz DDR3 RAM. With a Thermal Design Power – TDP of 35W the CPU is on the level of the hitherto existing Core 2 Duo Txxx chips. Through a range of features the energy consumption should nevertheless turn out to be very low on the whole.

An important feature concerning this would be the possibility to completely deactivate a core, as long as the core isn’t used. In a conventional dual-core, both cores idle along. An excellent solution is presented by Turbo-Boost technology in order to unite performance and energy efficiency. The CPU can be flexible in terms of clock speed according to the required performance. In the case of our test sample’s i5-520M the basic clock speed varies from 2.4 Ghz up to 2.93 Ghz, always bearing in mind the cooling performance of the system that’s available.

An important point is of course the price of the new chips. The i5 520M CPU is produced by Intel with a market price (1000k units) of 225 US Dollars. For this reason the chip ranges between the hitherto existing P8400/P8600 and P8800 processors ($209) and the T9400/T9550 ($316) in terms of price.

In terms of performance, Intel speaks of an increase of up to 34% in multi-tasking (PCMark Vantage) and a productivity increase of 20% (Sysmark 2007) when comparing a P7550 Core 2 Duo CPU at 2.26 Ghz with the Core i5 430M at 2.26-2.53 GHz. As both cores deal with dual-core architectures with the same basic clock speed, this is a thoroughly respectable increase.

Intel GMA HD graphics chip

Apart from the improvements mentioned above, the new Nehalem architecture has another fundamental difference to the existing Penryn chips. Intel now integrates the graphics chip directly onto the CPU unit, which is also visually similar to the first multi-core CPUs.

The integrated graphics chip is now called Graphic Media Accelerator (GMA) HD and is manufactured in the 45 nanometer process. It’s also here that Intel makes an enormous leap in the downsizing of the assembly, which is only allowed by the integration onto the CPU unit. As communication with the graphics chip (and the memory controller) via Frontsidebus no longer takes place, together with the new architecture of the GPU, a clear performance leap is seen.

Intel names several new features, like “switchable graphics”; the possibility to change between a more powerful dedicated graphics card and the energy-saving GMA HD, which is already existent on each i5 chip.
As a highlight the possibility of Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Audio is also cited.

Generic benchmarks

We begin with the CPU benchmarks for rating the processor performance of the Intel Core i5 chip. In the well known SuperPi Benchmark for the computation of the number Pi to a preset precision (millions of decimal places) the Core i5-520M reached an excellent 854 seconds in the 32M test. Therefore the chip is on the same level as the Core i7-720QM CPU that reaches a value of 857-839 seconds (fewer=faster=better). For this reason the middle-class CPU can even outperform former dual-core heavyweights like the Intel Core 2 Extreme X9100 CPU (906 seconds).

The Cinebench Rendering Test is also exciting. It simulates rendering an image with support of not only a single core but also with the help of all cores available. In the Single Core Rendering Test the Dell Studio 1558 with Intel Core i5-520M reaches a respectable 3067 points (32bit). Thus the chip is in the ranks of high-performance Dual-Core chips (X9000, P8700, T9600).
This level also remains in the Multi-Core Rendering Test. At 6585 points, the processor is to be found in the region of the aforementioned processors or respectively above these. Also strong T9900 chips are to be found just above the i5-520M CPU. The quad-core Core i7-720QM is actually ranked considerably higher (performing up to +50% better).
Thanks to the 64-bit operating system the Studio 1558 is also open to the 64-bit variant of the benchmark test. At 3724 and 8116 points respectively in the Single/Multi CPU Rendering Test a clear improvement of the results can be found.

The PC Mark Vantage benchmark test offers the possibility to classify theoverall performance of the system, and also evaluates the respective test system in terms of the whole spectrum of individual tests.
To get straight to the point: the result of the Dell Studio 1558 with Intel Core i5-520M is impressive. We chose to compare the system with the Inspiron 1545and the Thinkpad SL510 which are above all two office entry-level machines. We did this in particular to judge the performance of the GMA HD in comparison with the hitherto existing 4500M HD. The “gaming suite”, of the GMA HD, onto which of course quite a lot of weight on graphics performance is put,  exhibits more than double the performance compared to the 4500M HD.

Our test configuration was no less imposing in the other subdomains. Evenstrong multimedia notebooks like the mySN MG6 with a T9800 CPU and HD 4650 graphics cannot keep up, apart from in the gaming test and the HDD test, which is limited by the hard disk. Only the Dell Studio 1557, that is the predecessor of our test sample, equipped with a Core i7-CPU and potent ATI HD4570 graphics, can top the results of the i5 GMA HD combination in many places. The unusually good result in the communications suite was on the whole striking, where the system performed almost twice as well compared to miscellaneous comparable devices.

Here the new Crypto-unit of the i5 CPU could get its chance, as AES Encryption is a basic component of the communication test of PC Mark Vantage. This feature is new and even hasn’t been used on the i7 processors. The Studio 1558 outperforms its more high-performancepredecessor, the 1557 in the overall rating, and a good part of this can be accounted for by the unusually high communications rating.

11-01-2011 om 08:15 geschreven door brandnewbattery  

The Dell Latitude D620 is a 14-inch widescreen business notebook equipped with the latest Intel Core Duo processor. The D620 replaces the D610 and provides quite an overhaul in both design change and internal components. The new industrial charcoal grey and black look of the D620 conveys its strong build, which Dell calls “Road Ready”, and with a slew of available built-in wireless communications this notebook is road ready in more ways than one.

Configuration
Here’s the actual configuration I purchased. I just copied the relevant things directly from the invoice.

Design and Build

The D620 is most interesting in that it adopts a widescreen format, a feature that hereto date really has been pushed more in the consumer channel of notebooks.  Dell reckons that business-types will prefer this format too though.  After all, a widescreen (available in WXGA and WXGA+ resolution) does allow you to more easily have two windows open next to each other at the same time.  Side-by-side comparison of documents, web pages or spreadsheets is an example of common business tasks more easily done on a widescreen.

The only major hardwares feature I opted out of was the fingerprint reader on the touch pad and the integrated 3G data card. The fingerprint reader looks like a neat feature to toy around with, but for $100 I really don’t have a need for it. Same goes for the 3G card. It’s a cool feature for them to offer, but I have no desire to drop down the cash for the card or the serice fees for this.

DisplayAs I mentioned in my “Laptop Hunt” article, the display resolution is what won me over on this machine. Admittedly, this is not the most impressive screen I have seen. Some of the “glossy” HP displays look a bit nicer. This seems to have more of a “matte” finish, to further the analogy. However, the screen looks completly clear and crisp running at it’s native 1440×900 resolution. The picture really doesn’t do it justice, but here it is anyway.
It has a built-in ambient light sensor that can “auto-adjust” the brightness of the display. So far, it seems to set it dimmer than I like. I usually just manually set the brightness, which does get pretty bright.
As far as the graphics card, it also supports extending the desktop across multiple displays, which is nice when I need it. From what I’ve read if you’re looking for gaming, this is not the machine to get. You would probably want something with a dedicated graphics card like the nVidia Dell offers on the D610 (but no widescreen.) This D620 has the integrated Intel 950 chipset.Intel 3945 WLAN (802.11a/g) mini CardAbsolutely no trouble setting up the wireless connection. The supplied driver supports WEP, WPA and WPA2. The icon in the task tray lets you enable or disable the radio. I suppose a hardware button would have been nice, but I wouldn’t want to give up with WiFi Finder for it.

KeyboardI read somewhere in another review that the keyboard seemed a little weak. I know what they were talking about now. The keys don’t feel super “solid.” I guess it’s all just preference. Maybe I will get used to it. I wanted to provide this picture of the keyboard so you could see the actual layout. I know some people are really picky about where certian keys are placed.
WiFi Finder

Another nice feature is the integrated WiFi finder. With the PC turned off you can find out if there are any access points in the vacinity. Basically, you just slide the switch, the little light blinks, and then stays lit for a few seconds if it finds a hot spot. The whole process is pretty quick and is very handy.
When the PC is turned on, sliding the switch brings up the device driver’s site survey list.
Smart Card ReaderThe D620 comes with an integrated Smart Card Reader. This is part of their “Trusted Platform Module” (TPM). By default, it’s turned off in the BIOS and needs to be enabled. The instructions are provied in an link in the TPM Program group. I started to go through the setup for this, but decided I really didn’t want to turn all of this security on. It looks like a good feature for those looking for a good security option. The basic premise is that a smart card would replace the login procedure.This also goes along with the optional fingerprint reader I mentioned above.
BluetoothThe Bluetooth interface worked without a problem. I did just a simple test of connecting up with my Dell Axim X30 and transferred a file to the laptop. That whole process was pretty easy if you’re already comfortable using Bluetooth devices. In general, I’ve always thought connecting Bluetooth devices has been more difficult than advertised, but that’s another issue I won’t get into.

DVD+/-RW DriveNo problems with the drive. It works just as anyone would expect. However, I wasn’t completely happy with the design/workmanship of the drive bay. There is a gap between the bottom of the drive and the casing (shown in the picture.) It seems Dell could have designed this with a tighter fit, giving better overall quality. Again, not a deal breaker, but I would have expected a better design for the money.
Port Replicator

I was a little disappointed with the port replicator. Everything on it technically works just fine. However, there’s no way to line it up when putting it on. In the instructions they even say:
“Lower the computer and move it slightly from side to side until you feel it seated on the alignment posts.”
It would be nice if it also had a side stop, but this really isn’t a deal-breaker. After docking for a few weeks, I can get it right on, but over the long term I don’t know how this problem wears on the bottom of the machine.
Taking it out is really easy. Just push the “Undock Request” button and wait for the eject button to turn green. Having Windows aware of the docking station is really nice. I’ve used a Compaq laptop with a port replicator before and Windows doesn’t know it exists. This causes all kinds of headaches with adjusting the screen resolution.

Which brings up a good point, in that the notebook automatically switches screen resolutions as needed when docked or undocked. My desktop monitor is set at a higher resloution than the native laptop display supports. The display driver takes care of remembering what resolution to use in each mode.

De-Crapifying

In a twisted way, I was hoping that the system would be loaded full of trialware so that I would have the opportunity to enhance my Dell De-Crapifier script. However, I was both pleased and disappointed to find no such trialware on my machine. My theory is that since the Latitude notebook is their business line, they don’t want a bunch of ticked off corporate customers. Also, while waiting to pull the trigger on this purchase I could not find a single coupon code that would apply to this laptop. So, they probably make a little more profit on these machines. However it was on “special” for $400 off.

There was one option during the customization of the machine to add the McAffee trial version. So, it was nice to see the option to turn it off.

Security

Being a business notebook Dell has pulled out all the stops to make the D620 secure and provide as many options as possible to the end user for ways to keep their data secure.  Laptops are highly popular targets for theft; they’re indeed the weakest link in any enterprises IT security solution, because in the end it’s up to the end user to be smart about keeping an eye on their laptop and keeping it locked properly.  Here’s a list of some of the security features the D620 comes with:

User Authentication

• BIOS passwords & Port Disablement
• Integrated Smart Card reader -Smart Cards provide strong user authentication using the “2 factor authentication”, something I have (Smart Card) with something I know (password).
• Smart Cards can be used in conjunction with a PKI environment via Windows XP & Vista.
• UPEK Finger Print reader: An optional Biometric reader can be added to the D620 palm rest, providing an additional third factor authentication (something I am) to passwords & Smart Cards.
• Pre boot Authentication: Enables user authentication prior to OS log in with Smart Card or fingerprint reader

System Authentication

• System Primary Password: User password needed to boot system
• Administrator Password:Administrators or service technicians access to computers for service or repair.
• Hard Disk Drive Password: Data cannot be accessed without the original hard disk drive password.
• TPM 1.2: Integrated on the D620 motherboard Trusted Platform Module can be used to store and generate “on board”encryption keys.

Confidential Data Encryption

• Microsoft Windows OS File & Folder Encryption
• Wave EMBASSY Trust Suite by Wave Systems
• Optional Credant Technologies Mobile Guardian

Battery

The 9-cell extended life battery sticks out a bit at the front of the D620

One thing I really like about this Dell battery is the Express Charge feature.  The Express Charge means that you can quickly charge to 80% capacity in about 40-minutes or 100% capacity in about an hour of charging (those numbers are stated assuming the notebook is off).  If you have a layover at an airport or limited time to plug-in a notebook before you have to be pulled away from a wall outlet again, this can be a life-saver.  At other times it’s just really convenient.

The D620 also has a nice 5 light LED display to show you how much battery charge is left without having to boot the notebook.  Push the battery icon on the battery and it will light up with each light representing 20% charge.

Conclusions

The Latitude D620 is a very welcome upgrade to the D610 offering many improvements, especially in terms of performance and security, and the look and build quality are also much improved.  The widescreen approach is interesting for a business notebook, I think it makes sense and probably will be well received.  It’s very apparent that Dell is excited about this new line of Latitudes (D620, D420 and D820) and have gone out of their way in regards to testing the notebook and getting feedback from customers on what they want.  So thumbs up on the D620, if you’re a business worker or just someone that wants a notebook for productivity purposes and don’t need a bunch of bells and whistles media features, the D620 is a very well built and good option for you.

Pros

• Very good overall performance, snappy with the Core Duo and availability for large amount of RAM (up to 4GB) and a very clean Windows install without a ton of unwanted software means better performance
• Nice new industrial look
• Excellent build and construction via the all over mag-alloy case
• Widescreen format offers greater viewing area, easier to view side-by-side documents especially with WXGA+ format
• Great security via Smart Card, biometrics and security software suite
• Super connectivity, especially with option for EVDO or HSPDA cellular broadband built-in

Cons

• Would have been nice to have a seperate Express Card 54 slot for future proofing
• Multimedia card reader or SD card reader would have been nice to have
• No S-Video or DVI-D ports, but not exactly expected for a business notebook
• Screen is slightly washed out and slight amount of backlight leakage at the bottom
• Battery life with 6-cell battery is under 3 hours with wi-fi on and medium screen brightness, would have been nice to see it over 3 hours

Related Batteries:

Dell Latitude D505 Battery

Dell Latitude D830 Battery

31-12-2010 om 08:03 geschreven door brandnewbattery  

The Dell Latitude D610 battery charging system used in a wide range of DELL laptops has caused quite a bit of frustration among it's customers. Top ranked is the "AC Power adapter not recognized" warning with DELL D620  laptop batteries not being charged. This alone has triggered a quest for information in many Internet forums mainly because DELL has not come forward with a reasonable explanation into the cause(s) of the problem. So here's info about the architecture and a bit of background of the dell d630 battery charging system used in DELL laptops.
 

The Smart Battery System

Based on the schematics of the DELL D610 Latitude, DELL has chosen to adopt theSmart Battery System architecture. The system is apparently introduced by Intel and Duracell for accurate power management for applications running on rechargeable dell d500 batteries. The initiative has it's own forum with a list of implementors on which DELL, among several chip manufacturers, is listed as the sole end-user / consumer system manufacturer. It's seems a bit odd, because most likely there are more laptop manufacturers who have used the Smart Battery System idea.

The Smart Battery System itself seems like a plausible concept and it appears the supporters have invested quite a bit to get the concept implemented. Also Maxim is part if the implementors which also produced the ID chip in the DELL AC Adapter. Page 9 of theSmart Battery System Specification V1.1 - December 1998 shows the block diagram of the battery charging system found in the schematics of the DELL D610 nattery. Most strikingly, the 1-Wire communication line with the AC - DC Adapter is not mentioned. It seems DELL has decided to walk alone on this. It doesn't sound like a smart thing to do, as the consequences already have shown.

Most components in the Smart Battery System are System Management Bus - SMBUS connected, the communication system invented by Intel® Corporation in 1995.

The DELL D820 laptop battery with Smart Battery System implementation
 

The Smart Battery System implemented by DELL

The implementation of the SBS in the DELL Latitude D610 showcases the following components:
 

Quite a sophisticated bunch to charge 6 Li-Ion Dell Latitude D830 battery pack. Now the SMSC LPC47N354 - MacAllen III - Ultra IO controller is quite a chip. Unfortunately there's little public information available but it seems this chip executes POST and BIOS functions using a 8051 based micro controller. The latter is a highly popular multi-purpose embedded CPU capable of doing quite a bit of work in the lower dungeons of the D610 laptop.

The Smart Battery Host, the SMSC LPC47N354 - MacAllen III, can talk "1-wire" with the DELL AC Adapter. The Smart Battery Host initiates battery charging over the SMBUS after finding a valid AC adapter.

The Smart Battery Charger, the Maxim MAX1535B , is in control of the method of charging while the micro controller inside the battery merely executes the SMBUS charging commands.
 

The Smart Battery Selector circuitry handles the presence of a double battery DELL D620 Latitude. The media bay where normally the CD/DVD sits can also hold a dell latitude d630 battery, doubling dell d620 battery capacity.
 

Charging DELL Batteries the software way

Based on the above what are the possibilities of getting a Dell Latitude D600 Laptop battery charged using an DELL Adapter with a dead ID chip inside using only a software solution?

A few options;
 

1. Change the DELL BIOS / Controller firmware to disable the ID chip check
    
2. Getting access to the SMBUS and initiate Dell Latitude D800 battery charging through 8051 based routines

At this point in time both are not simple exercises and require quite a bit if knowledge and skills to accomplish the task. Nonetheless it's an interesting task - who knows what comes to surface after a little bit of thought?

Now - starting with an interesting observation:

How can a powered down DELL D610 detect the AC Adapter?

It must be through embedded 80x51 software executed by the SMSC LPC47N354 - MacAllen III - Ultra IO controller once the AC adapter is connected. 

01-12-2010 om 04:22 geschreven door brandnewbattery  

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06-11-2010 om 00:00 geschreven door brandnewbattery