Workaholics take note: HP just did the impossible, cramming 24 hours of battery into a laptop, and destroying Dell’s fresh 19 hour record in the process. The HP EliteBook 6930p combines advances such as an LED backlit display and Intel’s 80GB SSD, a new HP BIOS and Intel graphics driver, and of course an “Ultra Capacity Battery” — a 12-cell, $189 option, which weighs in at a hefty 1.77 pounds — for a net approximate 24 hours of work time. The standard 6930p only weighs 4.7 pounds, though, so you’re not looking at a backbreaker, and configurations start at $1,199 without SSD.

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Here’s the thing: Sony’s VAIO Z series of ultraportables doesn’t get to be a part of the X300 / Envy 133 / MacBook Air / X360 club. We like it, it’s a great laptop, but it’s just too chubby to count as a cake cutter. So that said, there’s really little point in comparing this thing to that sort of computer — we’ll just have to judge it on its own merits.

The VAIO Z is the latest in Sony’s long heritage of ultraportable computers, but lands itself decidedly on the beefy end of that spectrum. With discreet NVIDIA 9300M graphics and a Blu-ray drive, this is a full-fledged laptop (we’ve been testing out the $3,600-ish VGN-Z591U SKU). There’s WWAN, SD and Memory Stick card readers, ExpressCard and an HDMI plug, and even the 16:9 13.1-inch screen is on the upper limit of Sony’s ultraportable heritage. There’s plenty of SSD inside, with dual SSD RAID option that makes no bones about this being a performer.

Gallery: Sony VAIO Z: The Engadget Review

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Dell doesn’t take its site down when it introduces product unlike some laptop peddlers. The result, however, is shots like this of early pre-release gear like the Inspiron Mini 9 netbook as Dell spins the product up for retail. $449 fully spec’d just like we heard with 8GB SSD, 1GB memory, Bluetooth 2.1, Windows XP, and a 1.3 megapixel webcam. We still expect to see a lesser spec’d $349 model running Ubuntu. Shipping on the 16th of September in your choice of white or black though white will cost you a $25 premium. Dell hasn’t officially announced the product yet but we’re sure they’ll get that sorted out in a few hours. For now, happy URL hacking as we dig for more details.

Update: Here’s the $349 model running Ubuntu — the Inspiron 910u. The top-end $449 XP configuration pictured after the break.

Update 2: Starts at £299 in UK and €369 in Germany.

Update 3: Oops, looks like someone broke a press release embargo making all the specs and prices listed above extra, super official and in sync with the exclusive we had back in June. In addition, the take home price also includes a free, basic Box.net plan offering 2GB of remote storage. See the full release after the break all you tweens and tweeters.

Update 4: Direct2Dell — Dell’s official blog — says you can get the Mini for just $99 with the purchase of a Studio 15, XPS M1530 or XPS M1330. Offer ends Tuesday, September 9th. Not bad if you’re already gearing up for a back-to-school Dell anyway.

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[Thanks, Shon]

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A USB shuffle here, a logo swap there and here’s what you get, the MSI, uh hem, LG X110. Sporting a fairly obvious MSI Wind base, LG’s X110 is making its first appearance in Berlin. Prices will range from €399 to €499 (about $590 to $738) which takes home an 8.9-inch display, 120GB disk (6GB SSD option), 1GB of RAM, and choice of built-in 3G HSDPA and GPS modules. Yes, XP running atop a 1.6GHz Atom processor, too. On sale in Europe at the end of September.

Gallery: Hands-on with LG’s X110 netbook: HSDPA, GPS and a price to match

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Newsflash, Samsung: your (previously rumored) new X360 laptop isn’t actually lighter than air. Also newsflash: it’s still pretty special. Samsung shouted a resounding “me too!” today with its new X360 13.3-inch ultraslim / ultralight / ultraportable laptop. Weighing in at 2.8 pounds and measuring as thin as 0.66-inches (1.2-inches on the fatter end), the laptop is based on a Centrino 2 ULV processor and is built to compete. 1GB of RAM is standard — there’s room for up to 4GB — and you can pick a 64GB or 128GB SSD, or opt for a 5400RPM 120GB HDD if you’re feeling boring. Graphics come from X4500 integrated graphics, and the screen runs at 1280 x 800. The best and worst news comes with the inputs and outputs; Samsung didn’t integrate an optical drive, but did find room for a 7-in-1 card reader, three USB ports, PCI ExpressCard/34, HDMI, VGA, LAN and a docking port. There’s naturally WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR and a 1.3 megapixel camera. Battery life is specced at 6 to 10 hours, but we’re guessing the upper end of that spectrum will add considerably to the weight. No word on price or availability, but as far as we know Samsung hasn’t gone backsies on its “no computers for those dirty Americans” policy, so it looks like we’re stuck with the other dozen or so similarly specced laptops out there.

Gallery: Samsung X360 press shots

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Fujitsu’s looking to keep its typically small and light P-series alive by dumping the wee P1630 into the FCC’s oh-so-capable hands. Based on the filed documentation, the unit will possess a 8.9-inch 1,280 x 768 resolution display, a 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo SU9400 processor, Intel’s GMA X4500 graphics set, up to 2GB of RAM, a fingerprint reader, WiFi / Bluetooth, Ethernet and a smattering of ports including SD, VGA out, USB (x2) and PCMCIA. The 2.2-pound lappie doesn’t have any sort of official price or release date, but eager LifeBook fanatics can rest assured that it’s closer to commercial release today than it was yesterday. Er, before it hit the FCC. Never mind.

[Via jkkmobile]
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We’ve already seen some nice and polished images of Wibrain’s Atom-based i1 MID / UMPC, but the company’s now finally let the device out on the trade show circuit, and the folks at Pocket-lint thankfully managed to grab a few shots of it at IFA. As we had heard, the device packs either a 1.1GHz or 1.3GHz Atom processor, along with 1GB of RAM, a 30GB or 60GB hard drive or 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB SSD (no 64GB option, it seems) and, perhaps most notably, tri-band UMTS / HSDPA and quad-band GPRS / EDGE connectivity. There’s still no word on a price or release date, unfortunately, but Wibrain sure is taking a rather, um, interesting approach to marketing the device, with one of its leaflets boldly proclaiming, “Sorry, Blackberry. We provide you a real free mobile life – full browsing internet plus the complete functionality of Outlook, of course all MS Office documentation anytime, anywhere”. Oh, snap.

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