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If Dell’s Vostro V13 was Batman’s laptop, it looks like the new Vostro 3000 series might just be Bruce Wayne’s. They’re portable, powerful, and sleek rigs for professionals. But are they a value play, or a luxury item?

That’s the big unanswered question right now, though we’ll know soon enough; they go on sale today in the US. If the pricing is in line with the V13, though, these could be worth a closer look. The Vostro 3300, 3400, 3500, and 3700 range from 13-inches to 17-inches, and all offer Core i3 and Core i5 processor options. For true juiceheads, the 17-inch Vostro 3700 even includes a Core i7 Quad Core option. Even better: a discrete graphics option. You can add an Nvidia Geforce 310M 512MB graphics card to the 3300-3500, while the 3700 has an optional Nvidia Geforce GT 330M 1GB card.

You even get an optical drive, a rarity these days on an SMB laptop, but something that I’m sure at least some people will be happy to see. You can also order the 3300 without, if you’d prefer to save yourself the extra quarter of a pound that the optical drive adds.

Other specs—including up to a 9 cell battery, 500GB hard drive, and 6GB memory—are in line with the Vostro’s competitors. We’ll just have to wait and see if the pricing is as well.

Dell Celebrates Entrepreneurial Spirit with New VostroTM Laptops

Vostro 3000 Series Offers World-Class Security, Services and Reliability to Help Small Businesses Succeed

ROUND ROCK – MARCH 09, 2010 – Following the successful launch of the ultrathin and light Vostro V13, Dell is offering business customers even more choice with the stylish Vostro 3000 series – a range of new thin, lightweight and durable laptop computers. Featuring powerful processors, high-end graphics and built-in security, the Vostro 3000 series is designed for small businesses that require robust mobile computing solutions.

Today’s SMBs and entrepreneurs want notebooks that are powerful and attractive, and the new Vostro 3000 series was designed to meet and exceed both those needs. For the most demanding tasks, the Vostro 3000 series sports the latest powerful Intel® Core™ processor technology, including, the optional, Core i7 Quad Core processor available on the Vostro 3700. For those that demand portability and productivity, the Vostro 3300 is one of the industry’s thinnest commercial 13″ laptop with an integrated optical drive. For those that can’t afford to be chained to their desks, the 14″ Vostro 3400 offers a full day of mobile productivity with up to 8 hours[i] of battery life with an optional 9-cell battery.

“To succeed, small businesses need simple, reliable and affordable technology solutions,” said Alex Gruzen, SVP, Consumer, Small and Medium Business, Dell, Inc. “These entrepreneurs want technology that makes them more productive and helps them compete, and the Vostro 3000 delivers in a package they will be proud to show off in the airport or the boardroom.”

“Dell continues to sharpen its focus on SMB customers with the new Vostro 3000 series,” said Ray Boggs, VP of SMB Research at IDC. “Small and mid-sized firms are returning to the PC market after a year in the recessionary wilderness, and they are ready for the kinds of capabilities, including Microsoft Windows 7, that will get them to the next level of productivity.”

“As the first PC brand designed exclusively for small businesses, over the last year, Dell has introduced several new Vostro laptops and desktops to serve their distinctive needs. Ranging from our recently announced, super dependable Vostro 230 or future-proof and powerful Vostro 430 desktops, or the ultra-thin Vostro V13 laptop, Vostro products are designed for small businesses helping them stretch their budget and protect their data, and come with dedicated small business services and support to keep a small businesses moving,” added Gruzen.

Worry-Free Business IT

All of the Vostro 3000 laptops have embedded webcam and microphone for collaboration through videoconferencing, while the Vostro 3500 and 3700 offer the option of high definition WLED screens and the 3700 offers the option of up to 1GB of NVIDIA® GeForce® discrete graphics to help ensure one of the best visual experiences. With the built-in HDMI port, users can even make high definition presentations to clients when required.

These new Vostro notebooks are also backed by a dedicated and specially trained small-business sales and support team of experts, which is a key pain point for small businesses that typically have little or no IT support. Inclusion in Dell’s FastTrack program enables select configurations of the Vostro 3000 series to ship within 48 hours of ordering[ii], further removing worry from buying a new laptop.

Durability is another feature more customers are demanding from their laptops. The Vostro 3000 series laptops sport durable hinges and are encased in aluminum for extra protection while away from the office. Shipped with a 30-day return policy[iii], the Vostro 3000 notebooks also feature a suite of customizable service and support solutions to keep business data protected and business moving at an affordable price.

Vostro 3000 Series: At a Glance

* Stay in Touch: With the integrated webcam and microphone[iv], users can make Internet calls, conduct video conferences and remotely exchange files to help increase productivity.
* Always Be Connected: Users can go wireless with a full range of connectivity options: 802.11g/n wireless LAN, Bluetooth, and WWAN mobile broadband[v].
* Memory to Spare: Run Windows® 7 effortlessly while performing everyday tasks quickly with support for up to 6GB[vi] of DDR3 SDRAM memory[vii].
* Protect Your Work: Keep your critical data under lock and key with optional finger print reader and full-data-encrypted hard drives.

· “Set & Forget” Online Data Protection: Easy, secure and automated Dell DataSafe online backup protects and helps recover business-critical data.
* Coverage Now and Later: Users can extend their basic Limited Hardware Warranty[viii] from 1-3 years to stay covered into the future.
* Remote On-Call Support: Small businesses can get help when they need it with DellConnect[ix], which allows tech-support agents to troubleshoot and help resolve system issues remotely.
* ProSupport to Simplify IT: Businesses can choose their own level of 24×7 IT support with optional Dell ProSupport™[x]services.

Available in the US and parts of Asia starting from today and available in Europe and Latin America and other geographies from March 16. Visit www.dell.com/vostro for additional information.

Yesterday someone expressed sorrow about forgetting to pack books when he moved to a new city and I felt my heart break on his behalf. I can’t imagine life without being surrounded by shelves of books. But should I?

Globe and Mail’s Russell Smith wrote a piece entitled “A Lament for the Bookshelf,” and in it he contemplates how it appears that books are slowly taking a similar path to the one CDs once took—from racks of plastic discs to libraries full of digital files. More and more people are reaching for ebook readers and sending books through email, IRC, torrents, or gifting them in the form of links.

Does this mean that old-fashioned bookworms like me a dying breed? Was it weird to head to Amazon and place an order of essential books to be shipped to my fellow book lover’s doorstep? Should I have sent ebooks instead? [Globe and Mail via NYT]

Scientists have developed a new type of semiconductor structure—using microscopic crystals called magnetic quantum dots—that could more than double current hard drive storage capacity. That’s just for starters.

The crystals themselves aren’t new; they’ve been around for over a decade in computer chips, solar cells, and LEDs, according to CBC News. This particular application, though, is unprecedented:

The new work, reported today in the journal Nature Materials, describes a class of quantum dots that not only control electrons, but also have good magnetic properties allowing them to read the electron’s spin.

The research team claims it’s the first successful synthesis of magnetic quantum dots above room temperature.

The breakthrough came after two years of research, when the team was able to get the right concentration of manganese combined with the germanium matrix of the quantum dot. Makes perfect sense! But however high-level the science, the end result is clear: a new breed of semiconductor could be on the way, bringing with it speed, efficiency, and storage increases bordering on the exponential. The only question now is how long? [CBC News]

According to Microsoft, Pivot’s “a new way to browse and arrange massive amounts of images and data online,” enabling “spectacular zooms in and out of web databases, and the discovery of [invisible] patterns and links.” According to me, it’s awesome.

Pivot allows you to create and access data collections made from massive amounts of web information in a visual way. It keeps the same interface independently of the content of the collection, allowing you to dive in the data with ease, zoom out, reorder the collection in any way you want, filter data with one click, and establish relationships between different data sets with ease.

To do this, it uses meta-information within an open XML structure to make those collections—which vary in complexity. Then it allows the user to manipulate the data view using Seadragon, a display technology specifically designed to move around titanic amounts of data and graphics in real time.

Like Windows Phone 7 or Natal, Pivot shows that Microsoft is using those research doublons in creating truly amazing stuff these days. Download and try it in your PC now. Unfortunately, there’s no Mac OS X version yet. [Microsoft Pivot]

There have been allegations that someone’s been supplying online retailer Newegg with fake Intel Core i7 processors and then proceeding to threaten anyone who reports on the issue. Here’s what Newegg has to say:

Newegg is currently conducting a thorough investigation surrounding recent shipments of questionable Intel Core i7-920 CPUs purchased from Newegg.com.

Initial information we received from our supplier, IPEX, stated that they had mistakenly shipped us “demo units.” We have since come to discover the CPUs were counterfeit and are terminating our relationship with this supplier. Contrary to any speculation, D&H Distributing is not the vendor that supplied us with the Intel Core i7-920 CPUs in question.

Newegg’s top priority is to proactively reach out to all customers who may have been affected to ensure their absolute satisfaction. We have already sent out a number of replacement units and are doing everything in our power to resolve the matter promptly and with the least amount of inconvenience to our customers.

We have always taken pride in providing an exceptional experience for each customer, and we apologize for any inconvenience to our valued customers. We take matters like this extremely seriously, and are working in close cooperation with Intel and the appropriate law enforcement authorities to thoroughly investigate this incident.

Kudos to Newegg for handling the entire matter so well and apparently taking good care of the customers affected.