Dell Adamo announced: 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo, $1,999

After months of drawn-out buildup, the Adamo endgame has played out pretty damn fast: we had pricing and box pictures leak just about an hour ago, and now Dell's officially announced the first machine in the Adamo line, the 13.4-inch model we saw at CES. Sadly, it sounds like beauty is only aluminum-skin deep here: that hot little case holds a 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo U9300 with integrated Intel X4500 graphics, 2GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD, and it all weighs four pounds -- a pound more than the MacBook Air. Not exactly a barnstormer, especially for $1,999 -- it looks like you're spending the majority of that cash on high-end design flourishes like a magnetic cover that hides the Microsoft-required Windows authenticity sticker. Hopefully this thing will be joined by some higher-powered siblings when it arrives on March 26th, keep your fingers crossed. Two videos and the full release after the break.

Update: Looks like CNET scored one early -- check out their hands-on here, and a pic of that magnetic cover here.

Dell Adamo

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ROUND ROCK, Texas, March 17, 2009 - Style-minded people who place a premium on precision craftsmanship and design can now add Adamo to their list of must-have items for 2009. Dell today unveiled the world's thinnest laptop as a kick off to the new Adamo by Dell brand.

Adamo, derived from the Latin word meaning "to fall in love," will serve as a flagship in a line of products created to disrupt the personal computing space with the combination of new design, aesthetics, personalization choices and sought-after technologies.

The News:

Adamo is the pinnacle of craftsmanship and design and features:

· A chassis milled from a single piece of aluminum featuring precision detailing and a scalloped backlit keyboard

· Striking high definition edge-to-edge glass display

· Fully connected with WiFi, Bluetooth(tm) and optional integrated mobile broadband* and full complement of connectivity ports with no compromises

· Cool, quiet and robust solid state drives

· Available in Onyx and Pearl colors with a broad range of complementary accessories

· Price starting at $1999

Quotes:

"Great design needs to be timeless and evoke emotion in people", said Alex Gruzen, senior vice president of Dell's consumer products. "While a premium computing experience was assumed for Adamo, the intent was for people to see, touch and explore Adamo and be rewarded by the select materials and craftsmanship you would expect in a fine watch."

"Dell continues to signal a commitment to design and personalization across its entire product line and has made significant strides forward in the past year," said Rob Enderle, Principal Analyst, Enderle Group. "The Adamo laptop is a showcase for this commitment and a flagship product that will draw buyers to the brand."

People who choose Adamo will be offered a unique color matched collection of Adamo by Dell branded peripherals and accessories including, in the U.S. an exclusive line of bags from TUMI. Choices will include:

· External storage option with 250GB** or 500GB** external hard drive.

· External DVD+/-RW or Blu-ray disc drive.

· 8GB** USB drive.

· Connectors and cables including DisplayPort to HDMI, DVI, and VGA.

· Adamo Premium Service (US Only):

o 24/7 access to Dell's best trained technicians

o Consistent communication with a dedicated personal team

The Adamo by Dell brand is being supported by innovative and new approaches to marketing and promotion for Dell. Designed to challenge people's perceptions of what a computer is, the Adamo by Dell brand was inspired by fashion, luxury brands and timeless design.

Dell has looked beyond traditional approaches to reaching computer shoppers and launched a provocative campaign featuring:

· A stylish worldwide print campaign shot by acclaimed British-based photographer Nadav Kandar and featuring high-fashion models that reinforces the "fall in love" positioning. Kander, whose work is celebrated in galleries worldwide, also shot the moving portfolio, "Obama's People," which appeared in The New York Times Magazine earlier this year.

· AdamoByDell.com , the centerpiece of the campaign and a highly stylized site where viewers can learn about Adamo, register for updates and, beginning today, place orders. Since its launch last month, AdamoByDell.com has attracted nearly 800,000 unique visitors from around the world and more than 1 million page views.

· Artful packaging in which the product arrives "floating" in a clear box with minimal clutter - a beautiful experience for a sophisticated product.

Product Specifications:

· Intel® Core 2 Duo processors with Intel® Centrino ® technology

· DDR3 system memory

· 13.4-inch 16:9 HD display

· Draft-Wireless N

· High-performance solid state drives standard

· Bluetooth 2.1

· Mobile Broadband* option

· Up to 5+ hours of battery life (preliminary)***

· 2 USB ports, 1 USB/eSATA combo port, Display Port, RJ-45 port

· Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1, 64-bit

Available for pre-order today at www.adamobydell.com and shipping worldwide starting March 26, 2009, Adamo will be available online for purchase in 24 countries including U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, U.K. France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, ANZ, China, Honk Kong, India, Korea, Malaysia/Singapore, Japan, and Indonesia.

[EI Posted Mar 17th 2009 3:36PM]

Ordered one. Estimated ship date..


4/29? What the ****!?

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 17th 2009 5:16PM]

Something that Paris Hilton would buy.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 17th 2009 11:45PM]

As an actual owner of a MacBook Air, I can offer some insight about why the Adamo will not be a success with its current specifications.

The original MacBook Air, which I had for a year, was just adequate with its 1.6 GHz processor and integrated graphics. It tended to stutter or give up when playing video more than a few minutes long, for example. I've had the new, second generation MacBook Air for three weeks. The addition of the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics chip and a better processor makes a significant difference. The MacBook Air is now five times faster in graphics oriented tasks, including playing video. Its write speed beats the MacBook Pro in some tests.

The Adamo is guaranteed to be a laggard compared to even the first generation MacBook Air. Its 1.2 GHz processor is already obsolete. And, no, the SSD is not enough to make up for a slow processor. In addition, less of a SSD drive is actually useable for data, because 10 to 20 percent is held in reserve for failed cells. So, the buyer is getting more drive with the 120 GB hard drive in the current basic MacBook Air than with the Adamo's 128 GB SSD.

Someone said the MBA is Apple's worst selling computer. But, based on what I've learned, the MacBook Air is actually selling better than Apple expected. I suspect it sells better than the Mac mini and the low-end MacBook.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 18th 2009 5:08PM]

Only half a pound lighter than a regular Macbook, less upgradable than a Macbook, uglier than a Macbook, more expensive than a Macbook, half the speed of a Macbook. And lets not even get on to the Macbook Air, which ways less, costs less, and is still far more powerful.

What a heap of junk. Still it's nice to see Dell caring about design and actually taking pride in their products.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 17th 2009 5:53PM]

I rather buy a MacBook Pro.

[xtasi Posted Mar 17th 2009 6:45PM]

While I have never owned an Apple product, nor do I intend to own one for the foreseeable future. I do appreciate what they've done for consumer devices. Industrial design is good. Remember the older Dell laptops? Hideous... I'm glad they are finally hiring designers with style.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 17th 2009 9:58PM]

The advertisement is just bad. The designer does a terrible job explaining his design logic (he just wanted it to look like a watch, or a stereo, or other products like that - WTF?); the guy touting the laptop looks like he filmed his portion of the ad on a random weekend, hunched over in a bad armchair and greenscreened (very weird) into some random model home. Combined with the music and the random lady grinning foolishly at the laptop and it looks like some weird attempt at soft porn. This is bad advertising at its worst, hacked together from random, disparate sources. Good job, Dell!

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 17th 2009 11:53PM]

The Fujitsu LifeBook S6520 is 3.9 pounds with a larger 14.1 inch screen, a 2.4Ghz P8600 processor, optical drive, etc,
Around the same specs, the Samsung X460 at 4.2 pounds has a 14.1 inch screen but with a regular 2.26 GHZ P8400 processor and Nvidia graphics (and a cheaper model with one notch slower cpu). Current street prices would add a decent SSD to those and be competitive pricewise.The samsung x360 is a 13.3 inch laptop which weighs 2.8 pounds with similar specs to the adamo.

[grumbles Posted Mar 18th 2009 2:43AM]

A lot of you are forgetting how Dell pricing works.

A $1999 MSRP does not mean that you will pay $2000 for this laptop. Dell always has 15-20% off coupons, or $500 off laptops over $1500, etc etc, so expect to get it for less than the actual MSRP.

In fact, has anyone ever paid MSRP for a Dell product? I highly doubt it.

[danvan21 Posted Mar 19th 2009 1:40AM]

isnt this a little early for april fools day?

[To Hell Posted Mar 20th 2009 1:19AM]

F this S!