Given the hideous MSRP affixed to the Adamo, we have all ideas that only a select few have chomped on what Dell's offering here. That said, we also reckon those with enough cash to buy in are quite the critical bunch, and we're interested to hear what y'all have to say. During our own testing, we were decidedly underwhelmed with the value proposition; in pretty much every meaningful way, it underperformed for the price. But hey, we can't knock the styling. Are you cool with the ho hum performance? Would you throw a different CPU in there? Lower the price? Add a little thickness in exchange for a few more frames per second? Tell all, won't you?

From the beginning, Dell's Adamo line of laptops have been anything but status quo. Starting with the company's viral "leaks" on phony fashion sites, straight on to the weird launch / non-launch at CES, and culminating with a burst of PR boasting the systems' surprisingly low-powered internals and freakishly high price-point, it's been nothing if not noteworthy. Now we've finally had a chance to see how Dell's answer to the MacBook Air (and X301 for good measure) performs in the real world. The big question? Is this beauty worth the time and trouble... and that big outlay of green? Read on for an in-depth look at what the Adamo does -- and doesn't -- deliver on.

Update: Dell pinged to let us know that the covering on the lid and screen is actually glass -- we've updated the review to reflect (no pun intended) that info.

The fine folks at iFixit and TechRepublic have teamed up to show us the innards of Dell's new thin-and-sort-of-light ultraportable Adamo. They also set the laptop up against Apple's MacBook Air to compare build quality and specifics. For instance, the Adamo packs a 11.1 volt 40 Watt hour battery, compared to the Air's 7.2 volt 37 Watt hour battery, and comprises a greater percentage of the weight of the computer than its Air counterpart -- who knew? Overall the Adamo seems to pack a good amount more technology into a slightly heavier package, and takes a small win over the MacBook for nixing the screws on the bottom, not to mention the huge win over its Windows counterparts for skipping out on the Intel and Windows stickers.

While we had a look at an early version of the Adamo at CES, we've finally gotten a chance to unwrap one from its ultra-sexy packaging and take it for a little spin. In hand, the laptop is thinner and lighter than most of this size, though it isn't quite as svelte as the Air. Its real competitor, however, appears to be the X301. We'll be doing a full review in the near future, but for now, enjoy the gallery below, and check out our video unboxing after the break.

Dell's Adamo 13 might be a looker, but the 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo, X4500 graphics, and 2GB of RAM found in the $1,999 model announced last night are fairly underwhelming, and it doesn't seem like the $2,700 higher-end configuration reported by Laptop is going blow any minds either: Dell Australia has it listed with a 1.4GHz ULV Core 2 Duo, 4GB of RAM, and a built-in 3G card. That's a lot of money for integrated graphics in a four-pound machine -- anyone taken with Dell's artsy new image enough to shell out?

[Thanks, Ed]

Read - Dell Australia page with specs
Read - Laptop post with US pricing

In another of those extra-special slip-ups peculiar to Dell, we get the unofficial announcement of a pair of new computers courtesy of Dell's own support documents. This time, it's the Dell Adamo 9 and Studio One 22. From that bit of info we can deduce a 9-inch, ultra-glam, ultra-portable laptop carrying Dell's luxury Adamo brand as well as a 22-inch version of Dell's sexy Studio One all-in-one PC. Pretty sweet by comparison to the relative heft of the just announced 13-inch Adamo laptop and the tiny display on Dell's 19-inch Studio One. Good times.

Update: Blogeee.net spotted the Adamo 9 on the compatibility list for the Dell Wireless 5530 card. In other words, the Adamo 9 will offer both internal HSPA data and GPS lock as an optional update.

[Thanks, Steve S.]

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.

Not a ton of details to work with here, but Dell's confirmed to the hometown Austin American Statesman that the 13-inch Adamo we saw at CES will indeed launch tomorrow and be priced at $1,999. As expected, the machine will be just the first in an entire line of high-end Adamo-branded machines, but we don't know if Dell has anything else in store right away -- hopefully we'll find out more soon, as the 13-inch version is due out in 24 countries including the states on March 26th. Ballsy move launching a premium line in the shadow of Apple's iPhone 3.0 event, but you know we'll bring you all the details as soon as we have 'em.

Update: Well, that was fast -- the Adamo is apparently already floating around SXSW in Austin. No specs yet, but that's a picture of the box up there. Yeah, it's hot. Check out a bunch more pics by Brian Solis here.

[Thanks, Billy]

Thanks to a fortuitous search on Google Ireland, friendly tipster Niall spotted this rather intriguing sponsored link for Dell Adamo. Instead of the vague "Learn More" promised by similar sponsored links in the States, the ad on Google Ireland says that we can "Discover the Love Story on 17/3." Dell has been pretty mum on a release date -- most details, in fact -- for this laptop, so it'd be quite the pleasant surprise to be staring at an order page for the thing as of tomorrow. Of course, the sponsored link goes to the same old splash page for Adamo we've got, so we'll probably have to wait until tomorrow to find out what this really means -- maybe Dell's planning on teasing us another few months with vague statements and flashy imagery; wouldn't that be thrilling?

[Thanks, Niall]

Ah, the teaser, this time in the form of the elusive Dell Adamo. It's all here: an ephemeral feel, robots, lasers, a fashion model, and a catchy slow-jam tugging at the bootstraps of urban cool. Sure, it doesn't tell us a damn thing more about Dell's ultra-slim, luxury laptop. But if you're in for an exquisite tease done with perfection, this is it. Click through to get it on.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

While we got some early time with Dell's super-secret Adamo prototype, it looks like we weren't the only ones -- and it also looks like we didn't get the whole enchilada: there's a wicked-sexy white version hiding in the Palms as well. Still no more details than before, but bub.blicio.us was also allowed to boot the aluminum ultraportable, so at least we know that there's chips in that box. We're actually headed back to check out the Mini 10, so we'll dig for even more (and try to get pictures in a better-lit room), but for now check these latest Adamo pictures in the gallery.

Looks like our puppy-dog eyes have served us well yet again -- we just got to spend some time with Dell's ultra-hot Adamo. It's really small, less than an inch thick, we'd say -- and although we didn't measure, we'd say that 13-inch screen rumor was spot on. "Adamo" is actually the brand, like Inspiron -- this is just the first machine that'll be out. We weren't allowed to boot it up or do much of anything except take pictures, but it's built really, really, well -- and it's a total smudge magnet, with a super-glossy display and a shiny black panel like the Studio XPS series on the lid. Expansion-wise, we spotted three USB ports and an eSATA jack, and the power adapter is crazy small, with a removable plug for international use. The design is somewhat reminiscent of the Envy 133 with its squared-off shape, but it's still very unique, and while we didn't put in any serious time on the keyboard, it felt solid enough. Here's the problem, though -- we have no idea what's actually inside this gorgeous case, and until we do, it's just another pretty face. Hopefully Dell comes clean on specs and pricing sometime soon -- we'd love for there to be some muscle under that hood. We're headed back to the trailer to up a video, check back!