Dell adds WiMAX option to notebooks, vows LTE
updated 08:25 am EDT, Wed May 6, 2009
Dell WiMAX Studio Notebook
Dell this morning said it had added a WiMAX choice for three of its higher-end home notebooks. The Studio 15, Studio 17 and Studio XPS 16 will all have a $60 or less upgrade that offers 4G speeds on either the Clearwire or Sprint 4G networks in Atlanta, Baltimore and Portland. In peak conditions, this lets the portables connect at up to 13Mbps downstream and 3Mbps upstream. Typical speeds are still faster than 3G with downloads between 2Mbps and 4Mbps.
The option also provides an automatic upgrade to 802.11n Wi-Fi for any system that doesn't already have it pre-installed.
Additionally, the company said it's investigating 4G wide-area wireless through the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. The PC builder doesn't have any definite plans, but the networking itself should be available through Verizon from early 2010 and should produce real downstream speeds of as much as 60Mbps.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2007
Big win for Dell...
in some ways. The main problem is that I doubt if there are many WIMAX networks around. The "n" upgrade is a nice plus.
I guess Apple won't be putting any WIMAX in until late next year. I hope it comes as an upgradeable feature, but I doubt that.