The Dell E and the Dell E Slim look set to take on the Eee PC and the Macbook Air. The 8.9″ Dell E has subcategories: the Dell E Classic, a low end computer, and the Video E or Video+, which come with more RAM, more flash storage, webcams, and even Bluetooth for the Video+. The 12.1″ Dell E Slim is 0.8″ thick and looks to compete with the Macbook Air. Although it is less endowed, the Dell E Slim is also cheaper. The Dell E is set to launch in August, while the Dell E Slim will launch in either late August or early September. Both the Dell E and the Dell E Slim run Windows XP and Linux. Amazingly, the starting price for the Dell E is $299- almost as little as the OLPC computer! Read more here from Engadget.

Dell and Blizzard worked together to create this Dell XPS M1730 World of Warcraft (WoW) Laptop.  The laptop has WoW artwork inside and out. Additionally, rare items and a backpack filled with awesome WoW goodies are included with this purchase. Other features include:

• 17″ HD widescreen
• Illuminated speaker grills and faction specific Honor Badges
• Back-lit keyboard stays awake as long as you can
• Track your stats with the world’s first built-in notebook Logitech  GamePanel  LCD
• Enhanced graphics with NVIDIA^®  SLI^TM  technology and AGEIA PhysX  Mobile Technology
• Pre-loaded with World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade and all major game patches
• Golden Ticket for a FigurePrints^TM  custom statue of your actual in-game World of Warcraft character with your actual armor and weapons
• World of Warcraft Beta Club Key Card with a key to future World of Warcraft beta tests
• World of Warcraft and The Burning Crusade Collector’s Edition Account Upgrade Certificates
• Exclusive desktop background artwork and screensavers
• Additional loot like a behind the scenes DVD, soundtrack, Warcraft novels, strategy guides, trading cards, etc

How much will avid WoW users pay to dominate the virtual world? A lot- the Dell XPS M1730 retails for $4,500.  Click here for more information!

So here’s the super secret Dell Latitude XT Tablet. It has a 12.1-inch WXGA (1280 x 800) in CCFL, Capacitive touchscreen with palm detection (which leads many to think that the XT Tablet will have multi-touch), Intel Core 2 Solo or Duo ULV at 1.06 GHz or 1.2GHz respectively, ATI Radeon X1250 UMA Graphics, 40GB or 80GB 4200 RPM drive, 120GB 5400 RPM drive, or 32GB or 64GB SSD, up to 3GB of memory, HSDPA or EVDO rev. A, Bluetooth 2.0, ExpressCard 54 slots, SD slots, biometric reader, 5 hours of battery life. The XT Tablet is 3.57 pounds heavy, and only 1″ thick! Prices start at $2,500.

Engadget seemed to note the main flaw of the Dell Latitude XT Tablet: its price. “A base price $2500 is too much. We’re sorry, we know this machine is pretty rad, but it’s true. For a grand less you can snag an X61 with more power, and, we’d wager, more of that ThinkPad ruggedness. Ordinary consumers — even many businesses — will not pay that kind of a premium for this machine.”

This is getting a little old.  Come on, Dell, just when we think your laptops are safe– one of them explodes again! Looks like this laptop exploded in Shanghai.  I must say, though, Dells certainly do go out with a bang!

Potentially affected batteries were sold with the following models of Dell notebook computers or separately as secondary batteries:

• Latitude: D410, D500, D505, D510, D520, D600, D610, D620, D800, D810
• Inspiron: 500M, 510M, 600M, 700M, 710M, 6000, 6400, 8500, 8600, 9100, 9200, 9300, 9400, E1505, E1705
• Precision: M20, M60, M70, M90
• XPS: XPS, XPS Gen2, XPS M170, XPS M1710

The affected batteries were shipped between April 1 2004 and July 18 2006. The funny thing is that it was really Sony who manufactured the defective batteries for Dell, not Dell, yet Dell is taking full responsibility for the recall.

Learn how to check if your Dell battery is affected at Dell’s Official Battery Recall Site.

Burn Mark on Table

Remembering Dell’s battery recall in 2005 (”These batteries can overheat, which could pose a fire risk.”), perhaps this Dell owner did not bother to get his battery replaced. Or, of course, it might be that there are more Dell batteries that need to be recalled for public safety.