Dell has been embroiled in a legal battle with web host Advanced Internet technologies for the past three years, with the latter accusing the PC maker of deliberately shipping faulty OptiPlex desktops. AIT claims to have lost business worth several million dollars as a result of the 2,000 defective OptiPlex PCs it bought from Dell. Although Dell denies any wrongdoing on its part, court documents that were recently made public for the first time in three years show that employees were aware of the defects but chose to keep them from clients.

AIT has now ratcheted up the hostilities a notch. Its latest salvo: a motion in Federal District Court in North Carolina alleging that Dell has been dishonest in sharing key documents concerning the matter, especially high-level internal exchanges, thereby violating a court order directing the PC manufacturer to produce documents written by its executives. Dell disagrees with AIT's latest accusation and hopes to file a response soon.

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Everyone knows Apple charges a bit of a “price premium” for its hardware, but just how much do you ask? Well if you consult Dell’s handy new Apples to Apples comparison chart Mac customers are paying over $1,249 more when buying a high end laptop. The chart doesn’t really point out anything we didn’t know already, but it does a pretty good job of summarizing why Apple stock has sent investors into a buying frenzy over the last few years and why Dell is in a free fall.

Nobody will argue that Apple doesn’t deserve to cash in on the niche they carved out for themselves on the high end through superior marketing, but those with an ounce of tech savvy have always known the PC is an all-around better value.  The comparison case between the Mac and a PC is stronger now than ever before with widespread consumer acceptance of Windows Live Essentials as a replacement for Apple’s iLife. Tools like Windows Movie Maker and Live Photo Gallery arguably do a better job than iMovie or iPhoto, while apps such as Live Writer for blogging have no equal in the Apple realm.

You often hear people claim they are moving to the Mac because of higher quality hardware / software, and while that argument is pretty flimsy in the Windows 7 era, we would remind them they could probably keep 2-3 spare PC’s on the shelf just in case they run into problems for less than the price of a single Mac.   

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Acer, the second largest PC vendor in the galaxy, continues to gun for the No. 1 spot (held by Hewlett-Packard), and one way to get there is to kick out low-cost models nearly anyone can afford. That seems to be the philosophy behind Acer's new Aspire X3 and M3 Series consumer desktop models, which start out at just $450.

"Our new Aspire X3 and M3 Series desktops are great all-around workhorses offering practical technology in an intuitive design," said Steve Smith, senior business manager of consumer desktops for Acer America. "Engineered to efficiently multitask and tackle digital media, these systems are outfitted with industry-leading components and make an appealing addition to a dorm, bedroom or home office."

Featuring a space-saving chassis, the Aspire X3 series plays both sides of the fence with AMD Athlon II, AMD Phenom II, Intel Core i3, and Intel Pentium E6600 processor options. Other specs include 4GB of memory (standard), up to 1TB of hard drive space, Intel GMA HD graphics, optional Nvidia GeForce 9200 graphics, up to 11 USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, and various other accouterments.

Acer's M3 series, on the other hand, come in only AMD flavors, either an Athlon II or Phenom II processor. Sporting a microtower chassis, the overall spec sheet is a little more subdued in some areas and includes up to 640GB of storage, one less USB 2.0 port, and choice between Nvidia's 9200 chipset or ATI's HD 5450 graphics.

Both new desktop series are available now.

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Oh woe are we, for yet another freeware application has grown its wings and left the nest of awesome, available software that we can all install on our desktop and laptop systems ad infinitum. In case you haven't heard, Google has picked up BumpTop--technically, Bump Technologies--leaving fans of three-dimensional displays but a scant week or so to download the company's freeware app before it all goes away.

Of course, BumpTop isn't gone for good--it remains to be seen just how Google plans to integrate its multitouch-friendly, three-dimensional desktop transformations into the company's own services. Rest assured that you'll likely see some incarnation of BumpTop emerge in the future. But whether it's coming back as a standalone download or as a part of a brand-new device is anyone's guess.

However, that doesn't mean that you're left with no way to break your two-dimensional desktop out of its existing constraints. I'm taking a look at five different 3D transformation tools in this week's Freeware Files. Don't let the (brief?) demise of BumpTop be the end of your experimentation with three-dimensional system desktops!

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