Dell recently announced the release of their latest laptop series: the Inspiron R.

This new take on the Inspiron laptops comes in three sizes (14″, 15″ and 17″) and four colors (“Tomato Red”, “Mars Black”, “Peacock Blue”  and “Lotus Pink”). However, only the 14R and 15R are offered in pink (for $40 extra) and as always when you buy pink laptops from Dell, they donate $5 to Susan G. Komen for the cure.

They are not the most exciting-looking laptops we’ve ever seen (Ego Lifestyle, HP’s Vivian Tam and Sony VAIO Limited Editions get that award), but with their rounded corners and brushed metal look, they are pleasant enough to look at.

Glen Robson, Vice President of product marketing at Dell says: “The Inspiron R takes the rock solid Inspiron line and amps up the cool factor with a sexy and practical machine for entertainment and social networking along with all the usual home, school and work functions”.

One major difference between the Inspirons and the Inspiron Rs is that the customization options in the Rs are limited to color choices, warranties, 2 versions of Office and a whole bunch of gadgets. In fact, for the R series, it is not even called “Customize”; it is called “Personalize”. Oh, and you can also choose to Plant a Tree (for $2 extra) to offset your PC’s gas emissions. A true sign of the times.

What they have done instead is to create several pre-configured versions of each laptop, ranging in price from $449.99 for the most basic version of the 15R to $1009.99 for the most juiced-up 17R. However, since the 17R only comes in black, red and blue, we will leave that one out of our review.

The Inspiron Rs are not the smallest and lightest pink laptop computers currently on the market, but they are solid machines with some nice features. They all come with the Dell Dock – a bar of icons for your most often used applications (organized by category with “drop down icons” so your desktop stays uncluttered), which looks a bit Mac-inspired if you ask me.

The 15R models have a dedicated 10-key number pad, something I really like. You also have the option of choosing Intel Wireless Display, which allows you to” hook up” your laptop to your TV wirelessly, but that also requires an Intel Wireless Display TV adapter (not included with the laptop).

Here are the specs for the most basic and most upgraded options of the 14R and 15R:

This system sells for $479.99 + $40 for pink = $519.99

Processor: 2010 Intel Pentium P6000 1.86GHz (2 Threads, 3M cache)
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics
RAM: 2GB Shared Single Channel DDR3
Hard drive: 250GB, 5400rpm
Battery: 6-cell Li-Ion
Screen: 14.0″ High Definition (720p) LED Display
Size: 13.5×9.69×1.2″
Weight: 4.96 lbs

Other features include:
- An internal 8X CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
- Dell Wireless DW1501, 802.11 g/n 1×1 Half Mini Card
- An integrated 1.3 Megapixel webcam with microphone
- 7-in-1 Media Card Reader
- Integrated 10/100 Network Card

This configuration sells for $939.99 + $40 for pink = $979.99

Processor: 2010 Intel Core i5-450M 2.4Gh (Turbo boost up to 2.66Ghz, 4 Threads, 3M Cache)
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Basic, 64bit
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD5470, 64-Bit, DDR3 1GB
RAM: 6GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3
Hard drive: 500GB, 5400rpm
Battery: 6-cell Li-Ion
Screen: 14.0″ High Definition (720p) LED Display
Size: 13.5×9.69×1.2″
Weight: 4.96 lbs

The extra features are the same as for the basic 14R, plus
- Dell Wireless 365 Internal Bluetooth

This system sells for $449.99 + $40 for pink = $489.99

Processor: 2010 Intel Pentium P6000 1.86GHz (2 Threads, 3M cache)
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics
RAM: 2GB Shared Single Channel DDR3
Hard drive: 250GB, 5400rpm
Battery: 6-cell Li-Ion
Screen: 15.6″ High Definition (720p) LED Display
Size: 14.8×10.31×1.25″
Weight: 5.83 lbs

The extra features are the same as for the basic 14R, plus
- Keyboard number pad

This configuration sells for $999.99 + $40 for pink = $1,039.99

Processor: 2010 Intel Core i5-450M 2.4Gh (Turbo boost up to 2.66Ghz, 4 Threads, 3M Cache)
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD5470, 64-Bit, DDR3 1GB
RAM: 6GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3
Hard drive: 640GB, 5400rpm
Battery: 6-cell Li-Ion
Screen: 15.6″ High Definition (720p) LED Display
Size: 14.8×10.31×1.25″
Weight: 5.83 lbs

The extra features are the same as for the most expensive 14R, plus
- Blu-ray Disc Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)
- Keyboard number pad

So, as you can see, the prices vary quite a bit, but you do get what you pay for. Remember, there are several other pre-configured systems for each model if your budget is somewhere in the middle. I have to say though, that I kind of prefer the “old” way of customizing my laptops from Dell. I liked being able to see for example all the hard drive options offered on one page instead of having to go back and forth trying to figure out the differences between each configuration.

The hot pink “ripple effect” Eee 1008P from Asus, designed by Karim Rashid, is definitely a laptop that stands out. Karim Rashid is a very colorful designer with a huge and impressive portfolio. He has designed for industry giants such as Veuve Clicquot, Audi, Prada, Swarovski, Method etc. and now also for Asus. (He also designed Cie’s Skwarim mentioned in my external hard drive post). Most of his designs are bold, colorful and very modern, and this laptop is no exception.

The lid has almost a fabric pattern look to it – Asus calls it “organic Digi-Waves” that “adhere perfectly to the golden ratio”. Golden ratio? According to Wikipedia, “The golden ratio is an irrational mathematical constant, approximately 1.6180339887″.

That’s all well and good, but is it a good look for a laptop? Yes it is! While many companies have released laptops with limited edition pink designs, some really very nice ones too, I have not seen anything resembling this one before. It comes in hot pink and coffee brown (pictured further down on the page), and I have to say I like them both a lot.

So we know it’s a winner in the looks department, but what about performance? Here are the specs:

Processor: Intel Atom N450, 1.66 GHz
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium
Graphics: Intel GMA 3150 Dynamic Video Memory Technology 4.0
Chipset: Intel NM10
RAM: 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667 MHz
Hard drive: 250GB, 5400rpm 2.5” SATA2
Battery: 6-hour Li-polymer
Screen: 10.1″ backlit LED WSVGA (1024×600)
Size: 10.3×7.1×1″
Weight: 2.4 lbs

A special feature of this laptop is Express Gate, a Linux-based separate operating system, which is started with the push of a button and is intended for times when you don’t want to boot up the whole Windows OS. It loads a lot faster than Windows, and with it running, you can browse the net, Skype, browse photos, play some games, and use instant messaging.

Other features include:
An integrated 1.3 Megapixel camera
A card reader which supports MultiMedia, SD Memory, and SDHC Memory Cards.
ASUS Super Hybrid Engine (a software app which lets you adjust clock and bus speeds)

No DVD/CD drive though.

The keyboard is solid and very comfortable to type on, and another thing I liked is that the ports and connectors have little doors on them, which helps to keep dust and debris out.

I would not recommend this for people who do a lot of video editing or  intend to use it as a gaming laptop. For those who use their notebooks for browsing the net, connecting with others, school and office work, this is a good choice, albeit a bit pricey compared to others with similar specs. However, those others won’t have the uber-chic design that this one does…

Sony has done it again – created a super cute, limited edition pink laptop. I know I’ve kvetched about the difficulty finding pink laptops on Sony’s site, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy their good looks.

The Signature collection for spring consists mostly of pretty restrained colors: silver, rain white, carbon fiber and metal mosaic, so the pink really stands out.

Sony calls the color Brilliant Pink; I would describe it as a nice, metallic, soft pink with a pretty white/light pink leaf pattern. But it’s not just looks – it has some nice features as well: built-in camera, assist button, bluetooth technology, and 256MB of dedicated video RAM.

The laptop is available in both a “ready to ship” and customizable version.

Note: in the upgrade options for the customizable version, I have listed the top choices for each option – there are others, less expensive upgrades available too.

Processor: Intel Core i3-330M, 2.13GHz, 3MB cache
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 310M GPU
LCD Panel: 14-inch backlit LED
RAM: 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM at 1066MHz
Hard Drive: 500GB, 5400rpm SATA
Battery: Standard capacity

Processor: Intel Core i3-330M, 2.13GHz
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 310M GPU
LCD Panel: 14-inch backlit LED
RAM: 2GB (2GBx1) DDR3-SDRAM at 1066MHz
Hard Drive: 320GB, 5400rpm
Battery: Standard capacity

Upgrade Options (Top Choices)
Processor: Intel Core i5-540M, 2.53GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.06GHz (+$150)
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional, 64-bit (+$50)
RAM: 8GB (4GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM at 1066MHz (+$320.00)
Hard Drive: 500GB, 5400rpm (+$20) or 320GB, 7200rpm (+$20)
Battery: Large capacity (+$100)

If you added all these top choices, your laptop would have a price tag of $1,479. If you customize it to be exactly as the ready to ship version, you end up with the exact same price tag: $879. Which makes sense, I just wanted to double check it out of curiosity.

There is an ever increasing number of pink laptops available on the market, but surprisingly few pink gaming laptops. Apparently, the manufacturers think that the color pink doesn’t go with gaming. Apart from adding a skin or customization, you have only a few options to choose from.

First – What should you look for in a gaming laptop?

In general, when buying a laptop to use for gaming, you want to spend as much money as you can afford on the graphics (or “video”) card, RAM and processor speed.

Graphics Card
You definitely want a dedicated graphics card, i.e. a card that has its own memory instead of sharing it with the system memory (as integrated cards do). And the more memory it has, the better. The dedicated cards have their own processor, called GPU, which handles all the image rendering.

In the laptops I’ll be talking about today, you have the choice between single and dual graphics cards. What’s the difference? Well, the dual cards split up the chores, which in theory should make rendering images twice as fast, right? It does speed it up, but not to that extent. And two is not always better than one. Two cards consume more energy, and users have seen stuttering with dual cards from both NVIDIA and ATI.

As far as which brand you should chose, NVIDIA or ATI, that’s a tossup. They’re both great, and it’s more a matter of preference on your part. If you want more of a techie view on this, check out Tom’s Hardware, a great website for this type of info.

RAM
In order for your computer to handle all these intense graphics, it needs to have a lot of RAM (Random Access Memory). These days, most gaming laptops come with DDR3 SDRAM, and you want to get as many GB of RAM as you can afford. Dual channel is a little bit faster than single (think of it as a two-lane vs. one-lane road), just make sure they’re the same size (for example 2GB+2GB = 4GB dual channel or 3GB+3GB = 6GB dual. Don’t get 2GB + 4GB to get a 6GB dual.)

Processor
The more GHz the better, and the more cores, the better. These days, you can get quad-core processors and if you can afford one, get it. The newer games have been developed to take full advantage of them.

Screen
For gaming, larger screens are preferred, and you want to make sure that the screen you choose has enough resolution. You want at least 1440 x 900 for a 15” screen, and 1680 x 1050 or higher for a 17”.

Hard drive – HDD or SSD?
SSD stands for Solid State Drive and HDD is the good old conventional spinning hard drive that used to be the only kind available. SSDs are expensive, but worth the money. The read/write speeds are a lot faster, they consume less energy, don’t give off heat, and are much more rugged than a regular hard drive.

Now, the Laptops
If you’re fine with it not being edge to edge pink, you have two great and one ok option: Dell’s Alienware M15x and Alienware M17x, and Toshiba Qosmio X305-Q708. The Alienware machines are black, red or silver, but you can set the logo (on the lid), the keyboard, touch pad, power button and loudspeaker grills to be illuminated in several different colors (pink is one of them). It really makes for an eye catching effect, and if you get tired of pink (yeah, right!), you can just pick another color. The Toshiba has a dark red lid with pink “flames” and pink accents on the inside.

The Specs

Base Configuration ($1,399)
Processor: Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz (2.8 GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit
Graphics Card: 512MB NVIDIA GeForce GT 240M
LCD Panel: 15.6-inch WideHD+ 1600×900 (900p) WLED
RAM: 3GB DDR3 at 1066MHz
Hard drive: 250GB SATAII 7,200RPM
Battery: 6-cell (56Watt) Li-Ion

Upgrade Options
Processor: Intel Core i7 820QM 1.73GHz (3.06GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache) (+$300) or Intel Core i7 920XM 2.0GHz (3.2GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache) (+$900)
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional (+$130) or Ultimate (+$150), 64bit
Graphics Card: 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M (+$200)
LCD Panel: 15.6-inch WideFHD 1920×1080 (1080p) WLED (+$100)
RAM: Lots of choices here, ranging from 4 to 8GB and 1066 or 1333MHz. The top choice is the 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz for an additional +$375
Hard drive: 320GB SATAII 7,200RPM (+$25), 500GB SATAII 7,200RPM (+75), 256GB Solid State Drive (+$520)
Battery: 9-cell (85Watt) Li-Ion (+$100)

If you went with all the top choices, this laptop would cost you $3,744.

If you want to save a bit of money, I would say go with the Home Premium OS, the 500GB SATA, the i7 820QM processor, and the 6-cell battery (if you’re gaming, you probably want to be plugged in anyway), which would give you a price tag of $2,449.

Base Configuration ($1,699)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 2.4GHz (3MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit
Graphics Card: 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
LCD Panel: 17-inch WideXGA+ 1440×900 (900p)
RAM: 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
Hard drive: 250GB 7,200RPM
Battery: 9-cell Li-Ion

Upgrade Options
Processor: Lots of choices. The top of the line option is the Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad QX9300 2.53GHz (12MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB) (+$1,000)
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional (+$130) or Ultimate (+$150), 64bit
Graphics Card: Again, several options but top choices would be the Dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M, 2GB – SLI Enabled (+$600), or if you prefer ATI, the ATI CrossFireX Dual 1GB Radeon Mobility HD 4870 (+$700)
LCD Panel: 17-inch WideUXGA 1920×1200 (1200p) (+$150)
RAM: Lots of options again. The top choice is the 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz for an additional +$375
Hard drive: Several different options. The two top choices are the 1TB – 2x 500GB 7,200RPM – RAID 0 (+$150) or the 512GB – 2x 256GB Solid State Drive – RAID 0 (+$1,040)
Battery: Additional 9-cell Li-Ion (+$180)

Selecting all the top choices would get you a price tag of $5,294.

Again, to save money, you could go with the Home Premium OS, the 1TB HDD, the Intel Core 2 Duo T9800 processor, which at 2.93GHz and 1066MHz FSB is faster than the most expensive quad core (and there aren’t many games yet that can take advantage of the quad core anyway) and skip the extra battery. This configuration would cost you $3,524 and it’s still a great system.

If you want to go even lower, choose the NVIDIA 280M (over the ATI) and drop the RAM to 6 or even 4GB. The price tag for this config with 6GB RAM (1,333MHz) is $3,274 and with 4GB (1,333MHz) $3,089. If you went with 1066MHz for the memory, the 6GB config would be $3,249 and the 4GB $3,049. Still a great system for gaming.

Whatever you do though, don’t skimp on the Graphics Card and the LCD panel

Configuration (no customization available) ($3,199)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme Processor QX9300
Operating System: Windows Vista Ultimate, 32 or 64bit
Graphics Card: Dual NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTS with SLI technology
LCD Panel: 17.0″ widescreen 1680×1050 WSXGA+
RAM: 4GB PC3-8500 DDR3 1066MHz SDRAM
Hard drive: 448GB: 128GB SSD + 320GB (7200rpm)
Battery: Li-Ion (3200mAh)

This is a decent gaming laptop, but technology advances fast, and since it came on the market in the fall of 2008, several new and improved laptop components have seen the light of day. It is, however, pink(ish).

The main complaint when it first arrived on the market was the price (at the time, it sold for around $4,200). It is now on clearance at Toshiba for $3,199. The processor is the same as the top choice in the Alienware M17x, it has two hard drives: an SSD and a 7200rpm HDD, the memory is the same as in the base config version of the M17x, but, and this is a big but, the top choice graphics cards in the M17x are much faster and more powerful than the ones in the Qosmio. And you can’t replace them in the Qosmio either, they are soldered with the system board.

So which is the best gaming laptop out of these three? If money is not an issue, and you don’t care about the weight, I would definitely go with the Alienware M17x with all the top choices. If you don’t want to spend over $5,000 I would still pick the M17x but save on some features (as described above). If weight is an issue, go with the M15x.

Dell’s Studio 14z is their lightest and most slim Studio laptop to date, measuring 13.23 x 0.79 x 9.02″ and weighing in at 4.30 lbs. It comes in 6 colors, Promise Pink is one of them, and as always, Dell donates $5 of the sale price of their pink laptops to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

The 14z comes with some really nice extra features like face recognition and theft prevention (the full list can be found further down in this post) and has gotten rave reviews.

It comes in 3 slightly different configurations, which can all be customized. The least expensive version is $649 (+$40 to get it in pink) and features:

• Windows Vista 64-bit Home Premium Edition operating system
• 2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/1MB cache Intel Pentium Dual Core T4200 processor
• 14.0″ HD (720p) display (with built-in 1.3MP webcam)
• 250GB 5400RPM SATA hard drive
• 3GB dual channel DDR3 memory at 1066MHz
• Wireless 802.11g Half Mini Card
• NVIDIA® GeForce® 9400M G (graphics and chipset)
• 6-cell 56Whr Li-ion battery

The top-of-the-line optional upgrades available for the basic model are:

• 5GB DDR3 at 1066Mhz memory ($275)
• 2.66GHz/1066Mhz FSB/6MB cache Intel Core 2 Duo processor ($350)
• Windows Vista Ultimate Edition operating system ($150)
• 500GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive ($175)
• 14.0″ HD+ (900p) bright LED display ($50)
• Dell 1515 Wireless-N Mini-card ($25)
• AT&T built-in cellular mobile broadband ($125)
• Dell Wireless 365 Bluetooth Internal ($20)
• 8-cell 74Whr Li-ion battery ($40)
• ExpressCard Sound Blaster X-Fi Laptop Sound Card with Wireless Receiver Bundle ($130)
• Back-lit keyboard ($25)

So if you went with all the top choices for this system, you would end up with a price tag of $2,054.

One important thing to note is that these computers do not come with internal DVD or CD drives, so you have to get an external one if you want to use that kind of media.

The most expensive version of the Studio 14z sells for $799 (+$40 for pink), and comes with:

• Windows Vista 64-bit Home Premium Edition operating system
• 2.1GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache Intel Pentium Dual Core T6500 processor
• 14.0″ HD (720p) display (with built-in 1.3MP webcam)
• 500GB 5400RPM SATA hard drive
• 3GB dual channel DDR3 memory at 1066MHz
• Wireless 802.11g Half Mini Card
• NVIDIA® GeForce® 9400M G (graphics and chipset)
• 6-cell 56Whr Li-ion battery

The top-of-the-line optional upgrades available for this model are:

• 5GB DDR3 at 1066Mhz memory ($275)
• 2.66GHz/1066Mhz FSB/6MB cache Intel Core 2 Duo T9550 processor ($300)
• Windows Vista 64-bit Ultimate Edition operating system ($150)
• 500GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive ($75)
• 14.0″ HD+ (900p) bright LED display ($50)
• Dell 1515 Wireless-N Mini-card ($25)
• AT&T built-in cellular mobile broadband ($125)
• Dell Wireless 365 Bluetooth Internal ($20)
• 8-cell 74Whr Li-ion battery (lasting up to 6.5 hours) ($40)
• ExpressCard Sound Blaster X-Fi Laptop Sound Card with Wireless Receiver Bundle ($130)
• Back-lit keyboard ($25)

If you added all the top choices for this system, you would end up with the same computer and a price tag identical to the one above: $2,054.

The only differences between the two basic configurations are the processor and hard drive, and if you were to upgrade the least expensive basic model to match the most expensive one, you end up with the exact same price ($799).

Extra features on the Studio 14z include:

• 3 USB ports (one of which is an eSATA port)
• 4-watt 2.0 SRS audio (great speakers!)
• Online backup service (Dell’s own)
• Remote access (lets you access what’s on your home computer and other electronics remotely)
• FailSafe theft prevention (which allows you to erase files, lock the computer, and track the ISP location of your laptop when the thief connects it to the internet)
• Facial recognition (to prevent others from logging in)

Also, Dell offers a free Windows 7 upgrade, and as someone who has battled with Vista for a few years now, I’d jump on that offer! For more current deals on Dell (and other) laptops, check out my “Deals, Extras and Offers on Pink Laptops” post.

Click here for my post on Dell’s Mini series. Also check out my recent post on the most recent pink laptop from Dell – the Inspiron R.