After months of teaser shots and cameo appearances, Dell has officially announced pricing and other details for the revamped Dell Adamo XPS laptop. Without setting a specific date, Dell says it expects to "begin taking orders and shipping the Adamo XPS in time for the holidays." The ultrathin luxury laptop starts at $1,799.
We had a chance to take a quick test drive with an Adamo XPS earlier this week, as well as capture some hands-on footage on a Flip handheld video camera.
Our initial impressions of the Adamo remain largely the same after getting to handle it at greater length. The system is ridiculously thin, especially for a 13-inch laptop. Unlike the 11-inch Sony Vaio X, which weighs next to nothing, the Adamo feels slightly heavier than it looks, even with an solid-state hard drive. Dell says the Adamo starts at 3.2 pounds, which is nearly twice the weight of the Vaio X.
The Adamo opens in an unusual way, with the lid shut tight until you swipe a finger on a heat-sensitive strip centered on the front edge. Then the lid lifts up, tilting the screen back and lifting the keyboard on its unusual inset hinge.
At least on the nonfinal version we played with, the lid opening action wasn't as smooth as we would have liked. When using one hand to lift the lid, at about the halfway point the front of keyboard tray itself started to lift off the table, requiring us to hold it down with our other hand.
Dell's new Adamo XPS has an unusual inset hinge.
(Credit: Dan Ackerman/CNET)When fully opened, the keyboard sits at maybe a 20-degree angle. It's an unusual setup, but one that provides a more ergonomic typing experience than the average flat laptop keyboard. We also liked the keyboard's metal keys and the reasonably large touchpad.
The system's components seem to be located behind the screen, as the ports (two USB, a headphone jack, power connection, and mini DisplayPort) are on the side edges of the lid. The screen itself is a 13.4-inch LED, with a 1,366x768 resolution. The Adamo's lid has a larger footprint than the lower half, and when closed, the keyboard essentially fits inside the inset lid.
With a 128GB solid-state drive and a 1.4GHz Intel ULV processor, we have high hopes for the system's battery life, which Dell claims is up to 2.5 hours with the default battery and a bit more than 5 hours with an optional extended battery (which we haven't seen in person yet.)
While the new Adamo has a much more radically unique design than the original MacBook-like Adamo, the high starting price means it's still likely to be relegated to coffee shop curio status, along with other luxury laptops such as Sony's Vaio X and HP's Envy 13. Not that there's anything wrong with that; high-end concept-car-like products like these invariably trickle their technology developments to mainstream systems down the road.
We're waiting for a final shipping version of the Adamo XPS to arrive, at which time we'll run it though our standard battery of benchmark tests.
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(Credit:
Dell)
More information has trickled out about the Dell's Adamo XPS, the notebook with an eating disorder we showed you video of Thursday.
The highly abnormal machine sports some decidedly normal specs. Though nothing is official just yet, the XPS will reportedly sport either 1.4 or 1.9GHz dual-core Intel processors, 128 or 180GB SSD, integrated X4500MHD graphics, and 4GB of DDR3 RAM, sitting under a 13.4-inch WXGA LED-backlit screen.
Batteries are slated as 20Wh or 40Wh for two and a half or four hours of life respectively, but owners will need to keep an eye on their juice, as the unique heat-sensitive opening mechanism won't work when the Adamo's batteries run out.
This story originally appeared on Gizmodo.
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Gizmodo)
The Dell Adamo XPS isn't only ridiculously thin, it opens like no laptop ever seen before. Its propped-up keyboard can only be opened by sliding a finger on the lid's heat-sensing strip. See it below to believe it...
Did your mouth drop? Because mine did. All I know is that rubbing that strip illuminates it and unlocks the aluminum lid. I also got to hold the system for a bit and it is really really sturdy. I thought it would be more flimsy, but it has strength.
I can't tell you much more, other than it will be officially announced in November and production is scheduled to ramp up soon. As for what's inside, I can sleep soundly now that I know that there isn't an Intel Atom processor (like the Sony Vaio X), but rather will use an Intel ULV chip of some sort.
Now back to your regularly scheduled Windows 7 programming.
Related story:
Dell teases with new Adamo shots
This story originally appeared on Gizmodo.
Even though consumers are flocking toward low-price Netbooks and other budget-friendly laptops, there's still room for the latest and greatest technology in Dell's lineup. The company is introducing three systems that use Intel's new high-end mobile Core i7 CPU (four, if you count the new Alienware m15x).
Here are spec details on the newly revamped 15-, 16- and 17-inch systems from Dell, featuring the 1.6GHz Intel Core i7 720QM.
Dell's Studio 17
(Credit: Dell)- Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz
- Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit)--eligible for Windows 7 upgrade
- 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650
- 4GB shared dual-channel DDR3 at 1,066MHz
- 250GB 7,200rpm hard drive
- Slot load CD/DVD writer (DVD+/-RW)
- 17.3-inch HD+ (1,600x900) WLED display with built-in 2.0MP Webcam
- JBL-branded 2.1 audio solution with subwoofer
- Full-size keyboard with separate keypad
- 9-cell battery
- Black chainlink exterior color
Dell's Studio 15
(Credit: Dell)- Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz
- Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit)--eligible for Windows 7 upgrade
- 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570
- 4GB shared dual-channel DDR2 at 800MHz
- 250GB 7,200rpm hard drive
- Slot load CD/DVD writer (DVD+/-RW)
- 15.6-inch HD (1,366x768) WLED display with built-in 2.0MP Webcam
- 6-cell battery
- Black chainlink exterior color
Update: Dell original told us it was waiting until Thursday to reveal the third Core i7 laptop. However, the info is already widely available online, so here's the Core i7 version of the XPS Studio 16:
Dell's Studio XPS 16
- Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz
- Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit)--eligible for Windows 7 upgrade
- 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4670
- 4GB shared dual-channel DDR3 at 1,067MHz
- 250GB 7,200rpm hard drive
- Slot load CD/DVD writer (DVD+/-RW)
- 15.6-inch HD+ (1,600x900) edge-to-edge WLED display
- Built-in 2.0MP Webcam and facial recognition security software
- 7-watt audio solution with subwoofer
- Full-size backlit keyboard
- 9-cell Battery
- Obsidian black high gloss finish exterior
It's tempting to write off efforts like AMD's Dragon platform as hollow marketing. After all, building a Dragon platform PC requires that the CPU, the chipset, and the graphics card all come from AMD. We actually find some value in the AMD OverDrive Utility that comes with a Dragon-qualified system, such as the Dell XPS 625, as it gives you a fairly intuitive and safe means to overclock your PC.
Dell's AMD-based XPS 625 gaming PC
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET Networks)Even if we like what Dragon has to offer, we're only lukewarm on the Dell XPS 625 due to its price. Our $1,499 review unit did well enough in the lab, and boasted some impressive expandability. But then we found two comparable PCs for $1,250: one that offered almost the exact, overclockable AMD-specs, another powered by Intel's Core i7 chips that offered comparable performance, if not the overclocking.
That left Dell the XPS 600-series case, a 750-watt power supply, and Alienware's LightFX light customization software as its primary advantages among other midrange gaming PCs. We can give or take the software, but we like the case well enough, and the 750-watt PSU gives more breathing room for upgrades than its competition. But given that Dell wants an extra $250 for those features, we'd rather put that money toward a second graphics card and a larger hard drive.
Get the full low-down in our review of the Dell XPS 625.
If you liked last year's Dell XPS 420 media-centric computer but decided to wait for something a little lighter on the digital video end, you might find a mate in the XPS 430-121B. You can consider it a younger cousin to the 420, maybe even once removed from some of the unnecessary add-ons that pushed it over the top.
This new model takes away the Windows SideShow LCD and instead adds a host of components like a dedicated graphics card, a TV tuner, and a quad-core processor that's sure to satisfy even the most insatiable media monger. You'll have to read our entire review to get the full scoop, but I'll whet your appetite and tell you that almost all of the benchmarking tests are skewed in Dell's favor.
One caveat, though: if you're a PC gaming enthusiast, you might want to save a bit of money and look into the Gateway LX 6810-01; our full review of that machine will go live toward the end of this week.
Watch Dell grind the competition into hamburger meat in our full review of the XPS 430-121B.
Updated at 11 p.m. PST with information about Apple.
Dell is doing its part to usher in the age of the super-sized solid-state drive. For the first time, Dell laptops can be configured with the newest large-capacity SSDs from Samsung.
Back in the day (last January), laptop buyers were stuck with a Henry Fordesque choice: order any solid-state drive you want with your laptop as long as it's 64GB.
What a difference a year makes. On Friday, Dell quadrupled this to 256GB. The Samsung SSD is now available as an option on Dell's XPS M1330 and M1730 laptop lines. Apple announced a 256GB SSD option on its MacBook Pro on January 6.
Dell added a 256GB solid-state drive option to its XPS M1330 and XPS M1730 laptops
(Credit: Dell)Upgrading from the base XPS configuration with the 256GB SSD will add $400, Dell said Friday. And Dell said the SSD will "be available on additional laptops in the coming weeks."
Dell has also added a 500GB hard disk drive option that will add $150 to the base configuration price.
Solid-state drives are generally faster at getting data than hard-disk drives (and in some cases, much faster), but pricing is a hurdle for consumers. SSDs still command a premium, but that premium is shrinking. SanDisk said last week that it will begin offering a 240GB SSD for $499. SSDs with this kind of capacity had been priced well over $1,000.
Hands-on pics of the Dell Studio XPS 1640
While we're still pretty unsure of what Dell was up to when it combined its midrange Studio and high-end XPS laptop lines into the new (wait for it...) Studio XPS line, at least it means we're finally getting a true 16:9 16-inch laptop from Dell, in the form of the Studio XPS 1640.
More details on specs and price to follow (being a Dell, expect tons of configuration options, including Blu-ray), but in the meantime, click through for some new photos that highlight the backlit keyboard and smart-looking leather trim.
Update: Dell's gone ahead and popped this guy up for sale online immediately. CPU options include the P8400, P8600, T9400, and T9600, all from Intel's Core 2 Duo line. While it starts at $1,199, for an extra $250, you can upgrade to a full HD 1920x1080 display. Graphics are limited to an ATI Mobility RADEON M86XT chip. There's also a 13-inch version, called the Studio XPS 1340.
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Read the full post at CNET's CES 2009 blog.
Dell's XPS One 24 joins Apple, Sony, and HP in the large screen all-in-one category Thursday with a new 24-inch model. Starting at $1,699, the new XPS One 24 will come in regular and (PRODUCT) RED versions. Each includes a 2.3GHz Intel Core 2 Quad E8200 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a variety of multimedia-friendly features.
Dell's new XPS One 24 all-in-one.
(Credit: Dell)We're concerned that the new XPS One 24 has only the 32-bit version of Windows Vista. We've seen $500 desktops with 64-bit Vista (from Dell, no less), as well as other all-in-ones, like Sony's Vaio JS190J, so its absence here is troubling for those interested in using this system for memory-intensive tasks, like digital media editing.
The press release also promises a Blu-ray drive, but it's only available in the RED version of the $1,999 baseline model, the link for which is buried on Dell's Web site. Dell informs us that it's working on making it easier to find.
The rest of the XPS One 24's baseline features check out for both the $1,699 and the $1,999 units. The hard drive starts at 320GB, with a 750GB upgrade in the higher-end $1,999 model. The pricier model also includes a GeForce 9600 GT graphics chip, making it a credible gaming PC. 802.11n Wi-Fi, built-in Bluetooth, and a wireless mouse and keyboard come standard in both versions.
Dell has also upgraded the speakers from the old model to a set of JBL stereo outputs, with a subwoofer unit built into the body of the unit. We can't vouch for the quality of those speakers, but they can only get better compared with what we usually find in all-in-ones.
We're interested to review this system, and we hope Dell will provide us with a unit soon. We also have a 24-inch Sony all-in-one on deck, as well as HP's 25.5-inch TouchSmart all-in-one on its way. Smells like a roundup to us.
To give credit where credit is due, Dell's recent reveal of its new Latitude E-series business laptop line was the first new laptop announcement in a long time to not completely leak a few days or weeks early. (There were some photos and rumors a few months ago, but overall, it was a successful launch.)
The same cannot be said for Dell's consumer side -- every new product is leaked, usually with detailed photos and spec sheets, leaving little actual news for the system's launch day. Case in point -- these new photos and details (purportedly from an internal PowerPoint) of something called the Dell XPS Studio line.
We're familiar with both the XPS and Studio brands, and we're curious to see if this new hybrid is the beginning of the end of one or both as a standalone. These slides, from notebookreview.com, show slot-loading Blu-ray drives, edge-to-edge glass displays, hybrid SLI graphics (that's a GPU and the motherboard's integrated graphics working together), and backlit keyboards. In addition, the 16-inch model is shown with some cool-looking wood accents on the lid.
According to the leaked docs, you can expect the Studio XPS 13 and 16 sometime in November. Check out the purloined PowerPoint slides after the break. ... Read more
