Dell confirms shocking truth: Adamo to rival MacBook Air

In a confusing timeline of events that only Charlton Heston could love, Dell confirmed today that it already has touted its soon-to-be-unveiled "Adamo" as a rival to the MacBook Air in a blogvertisement that posed itself as a rumor that Adamo would do just that:

"Rumor has it that Dell is coming out with a computer called Adamo that will rival the MacBook Air. At press time, the company was keeping the product tightly under wraps, but PC users rejoice - word on the street is that something cool is coming your way."

The adblog appeared on a "luxury internet magazine," and was noticed by The New York Times Bits Blog, who bounced the copy off Dell, which confirmed it as an ad: "We did this to wake up the personal computing category and create some buzz." This further confirms (or perhaps pre-confirms) what we've heard about Adamo, but we're looking forward to the actual unveiling of this laptop and forming our own real, factual opinions on the thing.

[KAIKAI @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:25PM]

if it has more than 1 usb port AND a optical drive and a couple franklins less than the air = instant win :D :D

[John @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:28PM]

I think they call that an Inspiron.

[KAIKAI @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:29PM]

*disclaimer*
in about the same size :P

[jakem @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:30PM]

Surely an optical drive isn't really necessary in an ultraportable. Why add extra weight to include a drive that will rarely (if ever) get used?

There are plenty of problems with the Macbook Air but the missing optical drive isn't one of them.

[KAIKAI @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:47PM]

are you saying that optical drives are obsilete
O.o
i think this mofo can see the future
just to far ahead
i still find
dvd's quite useful for certain tasks
so they are completely done....yet....:)

[ethana2 @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:50PM]

As long as a machine can boot off USB, I'd very much prefer it to have an external optical drive.

[Patrick @ Dec 23rd 2008 7:08PM]

but can it cut cake???

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Dec 23rd 2008 7:57PM]

Optical drives are absolutely not obsolete. The question is whether you really need one in smaller laptops/netbooks/etc. Some do, some don't. I'm in the latter category, but too cheap to buy an Air/Vaio type laptop. Standard MacBook is small enough for my purposes. Who am I kidding, I'm too cheap to buy a laptop of my own when I can just use my Thinkpad from work now and again when I need a laptop :)

[Michael LaFramboise @ Dec 23rd 2008 8:25PM]

@ethana2

Booting from an external HD has nothing to do with the hardware. The only limitation is Windows if you choose to use it since its currently the only OS on the market which can only boot from internal HDs (and eSATA, but thats basically just regular SATA). Every single other OS out there, every single distro of Linux and OS X can, and could boot from external disks, be they USB or Firewire, for years and years now.

So to answer your question/statement, as long as you're not using Windows, yes you can boot from an external HD.

[mabhatter @ Dec 23rd 2008 9:58PM]

Dell.... meanwhile Apple Sells actual Macbook Airs for obscene amounts of profit!!!!


Seriously, had Apple not been stingy with the external drive on the Air, they'd have made many more people reconsider a small external drive in their bag for a "that much smaller" notebook. I have an Aspire One and have only missed a DVD once.. and I was able to copy the files to a 4GB flash drive or 8GB SD card... I'd say there's momentary inconvenience but like I said, if Apple had loosened up that drive for the Air, everybody would have one!!!

[jakem @ Dec 24th 2008 4:36AM]

@Michael: I believe ethana2 was referring to being able to boot from a USB optical drive. That's the easiest way to reinstall your OS on a laptop with no optical drive.

I'm not sure why ethana2 is being low ranked either because this is quite important on a laptop with no optical drive.

[Ahmed Alzayani @ Dec 24th 2008 6:11AM]

Optical drive will not make the laptop as thin as the Air and it will take big of much needed space.

[OneLove @ Dec 24th 2008 10:24AM]

Battlestar galactica FTW!

[Brian @ Dec 24th 2008 10:57AM]

There is no need for an internal optical drive. If you're still watching movies off those "DVD things" (I think my grandpa told me about those), you're not tech savvy enough to deserve an ultraportable like this.

[gonintendo @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:26PM]

Darn it, rick rolled again.

[John @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:28PM]

So it will be the same specs and same price as the Macbook Air, but it will only be able to run Windows instead of both Windows and OS X?

[jakem @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:33PM]

Most people don't need to have an entire second OS wasting space on their HDD but if you real had to I'm sure you could install OSX on it. Additionally, the design of the Macbook Air can easily be improved upon.

[3rdSideOfTheStory @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:34PM]

Wow... buzzkill much?

I would not need or want to be able to run OSX on this laptop.

[Mobius_1 @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:43PM]

Ubuntu Dells FTW.

[ethana2 @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:48PM]

It is no rival to the MBA without a decent OS pre-installed.

System76 > Ubuntu Dell, but also more expensive.. and it seems system76 machines are slightly physically uglier than Dells, but I've never actually seen one close up so I can't say definitively.

[Saad Rabia @ Dec 23rd 2008 7:16PM]

Well John, it's always the Mac user that needs some Windows.

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Dec 23rd 2008 8:00PM]

Saad,
True, it usually goes that way, since there are more Windows-only apps. However, this is a function of Windows marketshare, nothing inherent about the OS itself.

Personally, I have no need for Windows apps for personal use or for work, so I don't use it in a dual-boot setup, virtualized, anywhere.

However, when I'm stuck using a Windows system I sure do wish there was an effective way to work with Unix systems. The available tools for Windows are utterly pathetic.

[John @ Dec 23rd 2008 9:13PM]

Low rank me all you want, but I can't think of a single time that Dell has ever improved upon any of Apple's designs.

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Dec 23rd 2008 11:20PM]

Oooh, ooh, I want to play too. Low rank *me* all you want, administering a Unix machine from Windows is about as convenient as rebuilding an engine thru the exhaust pipe.

[Boyprodigy1 @ Dec 24th 2008 2:36AM]

@ John
How about that time that they actually made a mid end configurable gaming tower. Oh and i would like to see you find a mac that is as fast at anything as the new dell core i7 offerings.

Pwned.

[dan @ Dec 24th 2008 7:23AM]

@UnixSystemsEngineer - surely administering a Unix system from Windows is 'about as convenient as' just opening up a secure shell...

[ZeroCorpse @ Dec 24th 2008 12:21PM]

First-- "pwned"? Seriously? Are you TWELVE?

Second, in case you hadn't noticed, there are people in the world who don't need a super-powerful gaming rig, but DO need an OS that won't crap out on them when they're trying to get some work done, and hardware that doesn't look like a child's toy. If you consider gaming the primary selling point of a computer, then you're not in the market for a computer-- You're in the market for user-configurable gaming console.

Finally, just because I can't slap the newest video card in my MacBook doesn't mean that I can't play some games. I'm running Oblivion with Open Cities on Medium-High settings just fine. I run City of Heroes in OS X without a hitch. The 9400M in the MacBook does a pretty good job of handling games, and the only bottleneck in my MacBook is that Windows XP is too stupid to recognize my full 4GB of RAM (32-bit OS, and it's still better than MS's 64-bit Vista). City of Heroes actually runs better in OS X, due to the full use of my system's memory, than it does in Windows XP.

BTW, I also have a game console, which plays more hardcore stuff without needing drivers updated every week. I'd suggest you invest in one instead of spending thousands on a PC and subsequent video card upgrades. I used to do that myself, and do you know what it gets you? A lot of old video cards and lost hours in upgrading.

[Mr Spencer @ Dec 26th 2008 9:22PM]

@ZeroCorpse

> If you consider gaming the primary selling point of a computer, then you're not in the market for a computer-- You're in the market for > user-configurable gaming console.

Which are called computers, or Windows PCs, if you will.

> I'm running Oblivion with Open Cities on Medium-High settings just fine.

Wait. You're running a nearly three year old game on Medium-High? How much are MacBook Pro's again?

> I run City of Heroes in OS X without a hitch.

Wait. OS X can handle a four year old game, "without a hitch"? Might not look like a toy, but sure sounds like it.

> and the only bottleneck in my MacBook is that Windows XP is too stupid to recognize my full 4GB of RAM

Any 32-bit operatingsystem is "too stupid" to recognize a full 4GB of RAM. Since 32-bits can't be used to address any more memory than 4GB, your RAM can't be fully utilized because it needs to reserve addresses for your powerful graphics card, etc. So I guess OS X is 64-bit then, because if it isn't, your 32-bit operatingsystem is even more stupid, and it's lying to you.

> City of Heroes actually runs better in OS X, due to the full use of my system's memory, than it does in Windows XP.

...

[Fernando @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:29PM]

Man rick rolling is kinda played out

[Papytendo @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:34PM]

What the crap are you people talking about? It's Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat from Clone High!

[Levi @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:34PM]

I just need to know: Is it worth putting on a friend's desktop on loop? I mean, we've all seen scatt swap in our circle of friends, so I need to know if it's gross enough. If it's at least as bad as 2 girls, I'll totally put it on loop on my friend's PC.

[wootman @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:35PM]

Did the ad actually say "now with more truthiness!" or is that a shop, (i think i can tell from some of the pixels and seeing quite a few shops in my time, etc) because i would totally pic up a colbert themed laptop.

[KarlW @ Dec 23rd 2008 7:00PM]

This is pretty confusing (and Engadget makes it worse by using words like "blogvertisment" - seriously, what does that mean?)

If I understand correctly, Dell created an ad which talks about rumours, and UptownLife posted it as a blog post by mistake. If so, what has happened to Dell that they have to advertise rumours about their products?

[chambo622 @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:37PM]

Last time I checked OS X runs on nearly all hardware just fine. Ever tried it?

And we've already heard that the Adamo could be as much as $400 less than the Air.

"Thinner than Air." That sounds pretty cool.

[ethana2 @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:47PM]

I did try it. It doesn't have hardware support worth crap. 'course, that was JaS, I don't know what the 'best' one is.

[Neha @ Dec 23rd 2008 7:09PM]

Kalyway and iATKOS are the easiest hackintosh distro's to install. I got Kalyway 10.5.4 running on old Dell Dimension 3000 for the folks to have in their den. Didn't take much at all and its not even the vanilla kernel which you can run on later model PC's.

I chuckle every time I hear an iBoi tout the fact that they can run Windows on a mac and not vice versa. That and them unknowing admitting their precious Novelty OSX isn't Nirvana.

[gonintendo @ Dec 23rd 2008 9:11PM]

how much ram did that dell have and what cpu? I am thinking of installing it on my old hp. google turns up a 2.4ghz celeron d and 256mb ram.

[gonintendo @ Dec 23rd 2008 9:25PM]

for yours, that is, i have 512 and a 2.9ghz celeron d on my old computer.

[Nicholas @ Dec 23rd 2008 11:58PM]

Thinner? Can't say I'd like thinner. Sometimes I wonder if I should be holder it by the corner.

Given that they've had a year on Apple, let's hope that Dell can make some kit. I use OS X, but love to see the tech when it's cool. Personally, I'll never buy a Dell again, but YMMV. Ship them the hard drive! Ha. I just bought $4000 laptop and you want me to ship you your dead drive before I get one! Nice.

Now a nice thin tablet! That I'd like to see. But people don't seem to be into the tablets any longer...

[Zuwxiv @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:40PM]

Say what you want, but it seems like Apple has the standard for desirable technology. A music player is advertised as an "iPod killer," all-in-one desktops are "iMac designed," and ultra-portables are a Macbook Air rival.

I personally don't want to pay those sort of prices just to get something very, very thin - I'm typing this on my MacBook, which is plenty portable for me (and quite a bit more powerful than most of these ultra-portables, the MacBook Air included). My brother has the Air, and he seems to love it, but so long as you pay a premium just to get something thinner, I'm not that interested.

Still, I am very interested to see what this will look like, and the specs it will have. More competition is always great in the technology market, especially for the consumer. But if this has the specs of a netbook for the cost of a high-end laptop, I think I'll pass.

[Wiizer @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:41PM]

I can't take these increasingly thinner and thinner laptops!

I almost shipped my Macbook Air to Abu Dhabi in its manila envelope casing!

[Saad Rabia @ Dec 23rd 2008 7:18PM]

I live in Abu Dhabi. :D

[Cybergypsy @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:42PM]

Might be nice then again love my MBA

[Ogo @ Dec 23rd 2008 7:03PM]

You have a masters of business administration...sweet.

[Charles Knight @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:43PM]

They have named their new top product after a Belgian pop singer? I see...

[ED @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:43PM]

youtube.com/watch?v=yPOWcdKHs-M
This is my anti-rick!

[ED @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:45PM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPOWcdKHs-M
epic hyperlink fail :(

[charliex @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:45PM]

So where is this luxury internet ?

Is it where google isn't evil, apple lives up to its marketing hype, microsoft launches on time, comment systems are upgraded, facebook is actually more than a glorified address book ?

[Mobius_1 @ Dec 23rd 2008 7:49PM]

Is it one where iEye and CLAK don't exist?

[El Taco @ Dec 24th 2008 1:15AM]

Is it one where everything can play Crysis, so we don't have to ask?

Is it one where there is no first comment?

Is it one where Engadget writes less about Apple than TUAW?