The biggest news this morning in notebooks is the introduction of the new Dell XPS 15z, a new MacBook Pro competitor from Dell which starts at $999. The Dell XPS 15z lifts many features and looks from the MacBook Pro, but adds in a collection of ports to try to differentiate from the MacBook Pro. Also, having spent the last 5 months working in a coffee shop 3 to 5 days a week, I share my tips for getting things done in a mobile office and we have a handy Mac App for anyone who uses multiple monitors on a Mac.

The Dell XPS 15z is the first in a series of new notebooks from Dell which focus on design without an inflated base price. The Dell XPS 15z is a very thing 15.6″ notebook, which Dell is claiming to be the, “thinnest 15″ PC on the planet.” Pay attention to the PC part of that statement since the XPS 15z is thicker than the MacBook Pro by .02″. Xavier has posted his hands on impressions and photos over at Notebooks, but the XPS 15z can be summed up in this statement;

If you’re a Mac fan, there’s nothing about the XPS 15z that’ll hasten a switch over to Windows. But if you’re looking for a solid 15″ notebook that looks a lot like a Mac, the XPS 15z might be for you.

The Dell XPS 15z is available from Dell.com today starting at $999, and we’d recommend the 1080P HD screen upgrade which runs $100, if you buy the XPS 15z.

Given our increasingly mobile lives, we often find ourselves working from coffee shops, cafes and airport lounges. I spent the last 5 months working 3 to 5 days a week out of a local coffee shop and share a collection of tips to help you stay productive while working from a mobile office. Check out our tips, tech and favorite apps for working on the go without giving up on getting things done.

We also have a look at MenuEverywhere which adds the Mac menubar to your external displays. This is a must have app for multi-monitor Mac users.

Morning Wrapup: Notebook News For May 24 – Dell XPS 15z and Mobile Productivity is a post by Josh Smith from Gotta Be Mobile.

These days most of the projects and stuff I’ve got swirling around my brain is being organized and stored in MindManager 8. I love the program because of the way I can creatively organize buckets of information around how I think and work, and how it lets others organize around how they think and work. Since they sell both PC and Mac version, I can keep working on the same map across both platforms.

Here is a sample of my current “Stuff” map. I normally operate in the “Now” bucket. The “Now” bucket are things of the highest priority or things I plan on accomplishing within the next day or two. When I’m finished, I’ll mark   them as done (normally by using the Strike Through font treatment), then move them to Finished. I’ll then drag things up from the “Next Up” bucket to the “Now” bucket in order of priority. Stuff in the “Later” bucket are several weeks to several months out.   I’ll do general brainstorming in the other categories and then move them around as I need to focus on them.

How do you keep on top of all the stuff floating around your head so you don’t lose track of all that you have / want to do?

How Do You Keep Track of The All Stuff You Have to Do? is a post by Rob Bushway from Gotta Be Mobile.

MindJet’s Michael Deutch and Mobile Musing’s Alan Yoshioka both have some fascinating articles on integrating MindManager, Gmail, and Google Docs in order to stay productive and get things done. Highly recommended reading!

From Michael Deutch:

I created a map to quickly test MindManager 8′s integration with the following Google applications:

• Gmail
• Google Docs
• Google Presentations
• Google Spreadsheets
• Google Reader

What I like most about these Google Doc examples is that they are all collaborative. In other words, you not only link files to your maps but other members of your team can access and update the files too. Think about the possibilities! Updated progress reports, project status, finanical summaries, etc

Getting Things Done With MindManager, Gmail, and Google Docs is a post by Rob Bushway from Gotta Be Mobile.

The new year is all about getting your act together and staying on top of those emails, to-do lists, and more. Here are a few software products to help you along the way:

• MindJet’s MindManager – a very popular application for brainstorming, managing projects, managing to-do lists, and integrating with Outlook. They also make a Mac version
• Outlook 2007 – The To Do list in the side bar is a great way of staying on top of emails that you’ve flagged or tasks you’ve created. To ways to keep tabs on an email: drag it to your Task List button to create a task from the email; or, flag it for follow up so it shows up in the To Do list
• Create a to-do template in OneNote 2007
  
• Franklin Covey’s PlanPlus for Outlook
• Create an on-the-fly To Do list in Windows Journal

What other tips or software would you recommend?

Working On That New Year’s To-Do List? Here are Some Tips is a post by Rob Bushway from Gotta Be Mobile.