Dell Design Studio blows it out with more than 120 new options
By Paul Miller 
posted Apr 30th 2009 11:39AM
posted Apr 30th 2009 11:39AM
posted Apr 30th 2009 11:39AM
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"a slick new way to browse through the looks"
Really? Is this what passes for intuitive in the PC world these days? I found the UI to be incredibly counter intuitive, and I was forced to use a custom control multiple times when a simple, very obvious, drag gesture would have made a lot more sense. Call me an Apple fanboy, but the PC world still really doesn't get intuitive UI's yet.
Dummy, Paul is talking about the layout on Dell's website.
hmmm... maybe Dell and microsoft are contracting the same artists? If windows 7 is installed on there with Zune running.. you might not know if you are looking at the lid or the screen...
Yeah...exactly what I was going to say.
I think it's great to have those designs for women and gay men. They're quite diva-licious. Not bad for heavy-foundation makeup on an ugly sow of a notebook.
@iphonerulez
Stop bitching around.
@Joseph
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Dude that $85 is still a choice. You're not forced to buy it. You're getting upset only because they included it as an option?
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I know of a company whose has only two models of laptops to sell, all preconfigured and no you can't remove a feature so that you could pay less.
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I forgive you for your ignorance.
Wonder how many people would spend extra $85 for an artwork.. Probably the title should be cut to 'Dell Design Studio blows'? ;)
You're still $515 under the price of a comparable Apple laptop, so it's all right.
I'd pay an extra $200 for it to be black.
--applefan
Except that $515 is partially going towards a computer that doesn't look like someone puked on it.
What a shame for Dell, black is free. :)
"You can have it any color you like, as long as it's silver." - Steve Jobs
For $85 you can get custom laser engraving. Much better value.
not i!
i think dell's design studio skins/covers are fugly as hell. have they even looked at them? i really would hate to see the person who picks these designs own house and wallpaper.
You can go to a place that makes trophies and plaques and get laser engraving for like 10 bux. Apple sheep sure are Apple sheep.
Hey there, you no-talent-assclowns. It's 85 bucks for _art_. That's it. Maybe you like to live in a world where nothing adorns your walls and you eat your colorless food on a stainless steel dining table while listening to the soothing sound of white noise, but the rest of us aren't coming over for dinner.
LOL you chump what percentage you think the "artist" gets?
@Joseph
I paid $75 extra for the design 'Red Swirl' by 'Mike Ming'. You won't understand why I paid extra.
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Mike Ming - http://www.mikeming.com/
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Red Swirl - http://www.laptopsarena.com/wp-content/uploads/new-mike-ming-dells-2.jpg
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Same way you'd never get it why people pays a million dollars for some random painting.
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And yeah... Apple's design is in no way in the same league.
@vvnraman
So your $85 appreciates in value? I 100% garantee your computer will be worth (less than)1/2 as much in 2 years. I love that you are comparing your computer to an original. You pretty much got a Gicleé on canvas. at this point you must be thinking, "Oh crap - this guy knows about art?? I am the one who doesn't?" I love your slippery slope. Because i make a comment about a black macbook :: I suddenly know nothing about art. What a tool! anyways, you're ignorant and your arguments are full of holes and poor comparisons. Way to buy a "print"! get the original and then we can talk about art.
I was just making a joke, but it was lost on your... Ignorance must be bliss.
I would pay extra for a computer that looked old school
Careful what you wish for.
Beige box computers will make a comeback like vinyl records because they have that ironic look that hipsters are dying for these days.
coz there are ppl foolish enough to pay $85 for tht....and the company us smart enough to rip them off...
i think they have been test piloting it on other displays and such. HP has even had designer netbooks and such.
Did anyone ever do a review of a Studio with artwork on the back? I'm wondering how good the quality is.
Someone give the Easter Bunny some Pepto, STAT!
$85 is nothing compared to the hidden costs of lifetime annual virus protection, system downtime, bloatware removal, purchase and installation of consumer software, etc...etc...etc...go ahead, low rank my comment - that'll sure show me!
The other arguments have their faults too, but you included "purchase and installation of consumer software"?
ಠ_ಠ
Avast and AVG are free, pick one. System downtime? What system downtime? Bloatware removal, so you mean you have to do that every other month or something? Something must be wrong with my computer because I only had to do it when I got it and even then it was only three things. I didn't know Macs would pirate and install the software for me! That would certainly save me a lot of money purchasing it and installing it myself. What? It doesn't do that? I have to do the exact same thing I would do with a PC? Oh well.
No, I'm not going to low rank you. I will just point and laugh. :)
Anti-virus is free, just like the free iAnti-virus I use on my mac
Downtime ? My mac crashes just as much as my PC, rarely
Consumer Software ? I don't use iPhoto I think its crap, any consumer PC comes with apps like this bundled depending who you buy it off.
Seems like you don't really know/remember what the windows world is like, have you tried 7 ?
"and (PRODUCT) RED designs include a $20 contribution to Bono"...
Bono's response: "I wish it was for my pocket! I still owe the McLaren!" he commented during Salma Hayek's 4 million dollars wedding ceremony, where he was hired to sing.
If they make a 13incher then I would buy it.
Seizure inducing prints, only $85!
Why is choice so threatening to iDiots? You don't have to buy any of the designs. You take color-phobia to such a heightened level you can only deal with battleship grey, aluminum and some black. You can't even stomach blu-ray. Bag of hurt my ass. Take a look at sales. And no, if you're in a pc world, it doesn't cost $85 for engraving. On sony's value line, for example, you can get free engraving.
yo folks who clamor on and on about blu-ray are a sad, pathetic minority. Who the F watches that many movies on their computers? Then on top of that you need ultra high def on your laptop? I mean, honestly. Get over it.
Ya except the iMac and Mac Pro aren't laptops. And the larger Macbook Pro is a desktop replacement laptop.
@ Greg
I watch movies on my laptop to pass the time in airport terminals or during flights and I vouched for the 1920x1080 option on my laptop so while I'm enjoying my visually pleasing bag of hurt you can be trendy with your cold unibody shell of a computer while you tweet away about your narcissistic self.
@cake
I'm glad you enjoy your movies. I wasn't saying nobody EVER watches movies on their laptops. My point is the vast majority of people who actually watch DVDs on their laptops (while travelling, for example) are probably OK with a regular DVD (or a digital copy better yet - less battery drain) and are not likely to carry around their Blu-ray collection. Blu-ray licensing is not free and blu-ray drives are in fact more expensive than regular, so based on overall consumer behavior, Apple figures it's not necessary to include it right now.
Since all PCs offer the same Windows software, manufacturers need to find "new and exciting" ways to differentiate themselves from the competition. Blu-ray is the newest way to do that. Apple feels confident they do enough to differentiate themselves from the rest of the computer market, so they don't feel the need to adopt Blu-ray right now. What's so wrong with that?
Sure Blu-Ray licensing isn't free but I think you've forgotten Apple targets the premium market. There is ZERO excuse for a MBP to lack a Blu-Ray drive at the cost it comes at even if it has to be a paid extra. Even budget laptop models have the option to include a Blu-Ray drive on CTO orders. Why is it that the top of the line Apple notebook doesn't have it? And sure there might be external drive solutions for Apples but that is a pain since its not travel friendly.
For a company that totes its displays as being the best and focusing on a rich multimedia experience it sure is slow at adopting current generation discs. Whats with the lack of HDMI and DVI? Nobody has anything with DisplayPort!
If you're going to differentiate your company from others by ignoring standards and inventing your own then you're not a very good company. Blu-Ray isn't differentiating from one another since EVERYONE is adopting it. The differentiating differences in PC laptop manufacturers is design, battery life, build quality, budget, and size. The differentiating factor for Apple? Mob Mentality and me-too-ism.
Mob mentality? I'm pretty sure 7% of the market doesn't qualify as mob mentality. Walking into Best Buy and getting a Dell because I don't know any better is probably more like mob mentality.
Me-too-ism? Apple is light years ahead on innovation. You probably bitched and mocked the Macbook Air since it lacked an optical drive and didn't have a removable battery. Wait, uh-oh! Here comes Dell Adamo with the same shit. I could go on and on. Microsoft is the biggest me-too shithole ever created. OEMs are just as bad, and you know it.
The beauty of OEM is price wars. In the end the consumer benefits. Not every class bracket can afford such a premium product or are you just going to dismiss poor people entirely? Also the Adamo sucks and its targeted towards schmucks with more money than sense. MBA, Adamo, whatever they're both novelty products with very little practicality.
Also Mob Mentality does apply here, its not just Apple computers but Apple products as a whole. Whether or not you like to admit it but the dumber (majority) of the Apple userbase are incredibly vain. Yes they make nice products but that doesn't mean anything if you're paying too much for it just because its keeping up with the proverbial Jones'. Also you can apply signal to noise ratio here, how many Windows users sound off about their product they just bought? To them its just a product. Apple users however are a small market share yet are one the loudest populations on the internet. To them its a ticket to a super elitist group. Me-too-ism does apply you just don't wish to see it.
Apple isn't lightyears ahead when they're using the same technology everyone else has which goes back to OEMs. Enjoy your Foxconn parts just like every other OEM.
Also before you tell me I don't know anything I do own Apple products and I do enjoy them however I'm not going to sit there in a collective clusterfuck and try to make myself and my peers feel awesome for the products we buy.
pretty slick. but in the end i didnt like any of the designs and would've picked a solid black colour. most designs seem to appeal to under 20 yr olds.
u still have to pay $85 for this http://customization-cdn.dell.com/customization/images/beauty/131x131/2910.jpg
Haha. And you Microsoft fools think Apple is "for showing off". Look who's talking now.
Us Microsoft fools are paying less to do it and have a lot more variety.
Who's really the fool in this situation?
I have to say, it is a neat ideal.
Thats the UGLYIST NOTEBOOK I have ever seen. I am doing my own with oak venner, some day I might even finish it all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uofHWrparaY&feature=channel_page
ART IS GAY