There was a time when laptops were filled with compromises. They were slower and had crappier screens than their desktop counterparts. But times have changed with mobile tech now pervasive and laptops sporting powerful performance, high-end specs and some of the best screens you've ever seen. Each year, the bar is raised a little higher. So, what's the best laptop of 2018?

Dell's notebook department has been kicking goals for the last few years, with the latest XPS 13 refresh easily the Windows 10 ultrabook to beat. The company was also doing well on the budget gaming front, thanks to its Inspiron 7000: 15-inch IPS display, 7th-gen Intel CPU and GTX 1060, all for under $2000 (often much less, thanks to regular sales and discounts). Except this flavour of the 7000 has disappeared, replaced by something inferior.

Dell's spiffy Developer Edition notebooks are a product of the company's "Project Sputnik", an "open-ended exploratory project to identify what developers wanted in an ideal system". Unfortunately, despite being widely available in the US and Europe, you can't get them in Australia (the exception being the Precision 5520). So, why do we miss out?

Friday afternoon is the time when work winds down and you start thinking about how to spend this week's pay cheque over the weekend. You can check out some sweet deals and feed your techno-lust with some sweet deals. Here are six of the best.

After announcing its brand new consumer and gaming range earlier this month, Dell has now announced its new Latitude, Precision and Optiplex machines, as well as a P-Series of monitors. Aimed at the commercial sphere, these new rigs literally mean business. Here's how much they'll set you back.

Last week Dell dropped a product bomb, announcing new laptops, PCs and monitors. It was enough to make my eyes glaze over, and try to find out how much the new goodies would cost us here in Australia.

Gaming notebooks that don't compromise on price, weight or performance are growing increasingly more common. Dell's managed to secure a place as one of the better options if you're considering such a laptop, with its Inspiron 15 7000 the best contender. Right now, you can grab the budget powerhouse for less than $1400, an amazing deal considering it packs an NVIDIA GTX 1060.

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VMworld, VMware's main customer and partner event, is on at the moment in Las Vegas. I was meant to be go but, alas, other commitments prevented me from attending. I've been keeping track of the news from VMworld. Here are a few of the main announcements.

Over the years I've spent a lot of money on various bits of tech. But as the reliability of hardware has improved and performance of hardware has moved along, I find that I no longer need to buy the latest and greatest gear in order to get hardware that does what I need. That's led me to looking more closely at used and refurbished equipment.

The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 is the second computer I'm looking at in my quest to find a new portable computer. This road test involved a few days at home and a road trip to Las Vegas. On paper, the XPS looked to be a great option. Although the price is over my budget, I was prepared to consider it as it offered a lot of benefits over my minimum spec.

While building a PC from scratch from parts you've bargain hunted is the best way to go, it's not always the most practical. Perhaps it's for a friend who isn't the most tech-savvy, or you just can't be arsed doing all the legwork, just to save a few bucks. In these situations, going pre-built isn't the end of the world, especially when you find deals like this one from Dell.

Whether you're away on business or going on a holiday, hauling around extra heavy luggage is a pain. But so is leaving your tech behind. Laptops have come a long way in the last few years and you no longer have to compromise convenience for comfort. There is a plethora of ultra thin models to choose from that you can take to the beach and the boardroom.

Work is becoming a lifestyle with a lot of young professionals.

With more people taking work home, telecommuting, contracting and travelling, they want laptops that can be used for both business and pleasure. Why switch machines when you can have something that is easily portable for work but still powerful enough to game and watch streamed videos in HD?

Fortunately, the industry is listening. Whether you like to play games or simply hitting the 'play' button on your screen -- there will be something here for you.

How I Succeeded is a regular series on Lifehacker where we ask business leaders for the secrets and tactics behind their success. Today: Karen Clarke from Dell.

Slate tablets are becoming a niche product in the business space and 2-In-1 computers will become the preferred mobility device many workplaces, according to Dell. With that in mind, the computing vendor will be discontinuing its Venue Android tablets range. Here are the details.

Apple recently discontinued its standalone Thunderbolt display, which sucks because it was one of our favourites. To soothe the wound, here are some of the best monitors we've found to replace Apple's dearly departed display, most of which offer similar features without the price tag.

The CSIRO has teamed up with Dell to deliver CSIRO's newest high performance computing cluster (HPC), named Pearcey. The Pearcey cluster supports CSIRO research activities in a broad range of areas such as Bioinformatics, Fluid Dynamics and Materials Science.

One CSIRO researcher is using Pearcey for the modelling work behind the development of an improved nylon mesh for use in pelvic organ prolapse (POP) surgery, which has the potential to benefit the one in five Australian women that have surgery for the condition at some point in their lives.

We've spoken about keeping an eye on Dell's refurb sales before, but if you haven't visited in a while, it's time to pop in as several models of the company's great UltraSharp displays are currently available at greatly discounted prices.

Exploit kits have been around for years and cybercriminals are constantly working to make them better and faster at taking advantage of security vulnerabilities so they can infiltrate computing devices to do all sorts of nasty things. The sophistication at which exploit kits now operate at is alarming. Today, we take a look at just what modern exploit kits are capable of and steps individuals and organisations can take to avoid falling victim to them.