News Bits: Tech Support Survey, Widescreen ThinkPad T Series, Dell Sued in China, Laptops on UK Flights

Widescreen Lenovo ThinkPad T-series later this year

LaptopLogic is reporting that Lenovo will be introducing a widescreen ThinkPad T-series notebook later this year. In the past, the T-series were only offered with a standard-aspect display. The Z-series are the only ThinkPads right now that have a widescreen display.

Lenovo is in a tight spot right now, facing the low prices of Dell and the established presence of HP. A widescreen T-series should compete well with Dell's widescreen Latitude D620 and D820. Lenovo has the pricing down pat, now they simply need to remain competitive and maintain the legendary ThinkPad quality.

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Tech Support showdown

LAPTOP Magazine tests and rates the technical support is from major notebook vendors. They based their analysis off of two user-created problems:

The first challenge was easy. We shut off each notebook's Wi-Fi connection using either the system's Wi-Fi power switch, if there was one, or the Function-F2 key combo. Then we would call and complain that we lost Wi-Fi service and ask for help getting back online.

The second challenge was a tad harder: We added some memory-resident applets whose icons appear in the Windows System Tray and then complained that our laptop booted up abnormally slowly.

Before calling, they tried using the non-phone support methods (company-offered FAQ pages, knowledge base online systems, chat services, manual and software download pages).

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Dell sued over false ad campaigns in China

Dell is facing legal action in China over allegations of false advertising. Apparently, Dell has been sued because its laptops contained a different, cheaper processor chip than was advertised. At least 20 lawsuits have been filed against Dell so far.

Dell admitted and apologized for the error on its Direct2Dell website. Dell said it contacted customers and explained the difference between the chips, and offered a full refund for those still not satisfied.

A spokeswoman from Dell now says that the error was due to the fact that Dell switched the chips used in certain laptop models before the brochures and order forms were updated. Most of the problems are associated with the 14" 640M (also sold as theInspiron e1405) laptop. According to Dell promotional material and published specs, it was equipped with a T2300 processor, but Dell began fitting it with the T2300E model. The difference between the two is that the latter does not support virtualization, or the ability to run multiple operating systems at the same time.

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Alienware Aurora m9700 SLI laptop review

TechSpot is running a review of Alienware's dual-video card Aurora m9700 SLI notebook. It features the fastest Turion 64 ML-44 (2.4GHz/1MB) CPU, dual 100GB 7200RPM SATA hard drives running in a RAID 0 configuration, and the all-important feature, dual Nvidia GeForce Go7900GS 256MB video cards. Costing around $3,700, this isn't a machine for those with a budget, but if you have a serious need for speed, this could be your ticket.

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Baggage advice for UK passengers

The UK Terrorism threat level has recently been downgraded from "critical" to "severe", and as a result, there have been some security changes at UK airports.

Each passenger is allowed to carry one item of cabin baggage through the airport security search point. Liquids still aren't allowed (with few exceptions), but laptops are. Laptops and other large electrical items must be removed from the bag and put on a tray so they don't obscure the bag.

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Power Support announces back-to-school essentials - accessories for MacBook and MacBook Pro

August 14<SUP>th</SUP> - Power Support today announced MacBook and MacBook Pro accessories for the back-to-school season, including the Wrist Rug and Track Pad Film Set, as well as Crystal or Antiglare Films.

The Wrist Rugs are designed specifically for Apple laptops. They cushion palms from the metal base of the laptop with a soft, suede-like feel, and protect the metal finish from scratches. The TrackPad Film enhances accuracy and permits more fluid motion while protecting the trackpad. TrackPads will be offered in black, white, and metallic, and start at $19.95.

The Antiglare films help reduce radiation emitted by the display by up to 70%, reducing eye strain. It is available in a variety of colors and sizes, retailing about $30-$40. The Crystal Film has a glossy finish to protect the display from scratches, and enhances images with more vibrant colors. It also reduces eye strain. Retail prices will range from $30-$40.

The products mentioned above will be available for purchase in August at popular retail and e-tail locations throughout the US, and also available from the manufacturer's website, www.powersupportusa.com.

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lol, that customer service test is quite funny reading. Seems Toshiba and Acer need a little work...

Kudos to Apple, Lenovo and Fujitsu for the seemingly first class work

 

Toshiba's rating made me laugh a lot.

 

Glad that the security has been loosened at least a little in England. I can't imagine getting on a plane with no book, no laptop or newspaper. You'd be forced to read those awful airline magazines.

 

The customer service test was quite funny, I can't stop laughing at Toshiba's service.

 

I am quite disappointed as to why Lenovo would push the T-series (which is a business oriented laptop) to have a widescreen. More and more people are being forced to have widescreen which means that, they are paying more money than they should for LESS screen space.

example:

Widescreen = 1280 x 800
Standard screens = 1280 x 1024

 

Too bad there is not survey for hardware support. I would like to see that. It would be nice to know who fixes notebooks the best.

 

Toshiba's issues just keep bothering me more and more. I remember a few years ago, Toshiba was a great brand to buy. Their notebooks lasted a while and the website was at least marginally useful.

Now, they seem to have all but fallen apart. They really need a new manager to come in and whip them back into shape.

 

Wow if the T series is becoming a widescreen there wouldn't be a difference between the Z series and the T series. Wonder what lenovo's gonna do about that.

 

Oh, thanks a lot for saying what I wanted to say. lol.. just kidding.

Seriously though, the only thing that differs between the Z series and T series is widescreen and stand aspect display. Why not just merge the two series or discontinue the Z series altogether?

 

As a Toshiba owner I can tell you why they couldn't find any mentioning of fn+F2 in the manual .

Thats because most of it are warnings , alerts and disclaimers .

 

FYI, reports are coming out all the baggage handlers are nicking laptops and mobiles, as they have to be put on the belt to be scrutinised

 

Apparently the security measures Chaz has stated have been loosened a little. You can now carry one small bag into the flight. BAA announced this morning.

http://www.heathrowairport.com/

I'm quite frankly shocked that Dell got a C rating in Customer Service Quality . 6 years ago, I thought they were perfect. Seems like that superior quality has gone down the drain. Is the XPS Customer Serivce Quality equally as bad? Don't tell me it isn't!

 

As a rather frequent flier between US and UK, this is great news to me. I was never really concerned, though, as it was clear that the "Nothing On Board" kind of restriction came out of fear and would not hold up. People would not adapt and eventually choose another airline.

Now I wonder if I can take my PSP...

C.