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Behold: Dell's XPS 420 revealed

ryan block
Updated ·1 min read


Should anyone be wondering what Dell's got up its sleeve with its next-gen XPS system, here's the scoop: the XPS 420 will be appropriately bigger, badder, better equipped, and even have fun features like a hardware MPEG-4 encoder and SideShow display up top.

  • Core 2 Duo, Extreme, or Quad (up to 8MB) processor options

  • Intel X38 Express chipset, DDR2 800 (up to 8GB)

  • MiniView LCD 3 x 2-inch QVGA display (runs SideShow on the front, picture after the break)

  • Dell Xcelerator - dedicated media coprocessor for transcoding video streams to MPEG-4 formats. Can cut encode time on a 2 hour HD movie in half and use far fewer CPU cycles.

  • SATA II (with RAID 0 or 1 support)

  • PCI Express x16, gigabit Ethernet

  • (2) front USB, (6) rear, (2) internal; one front and rear 1394; one eSATA, frontal audio ports

MiniView shot and details after the break.




Some MiniView display modes

  • Default - shows time, date, month calendar, and system stats (including number of users connected)

  • PC monitoring - Shows detailed system stats like CPU speed / temp, available RAM, fan speeds, and other info like Service Tag (so you don't have to keep that memorized anymore)

  • Audio, video, or picture mode - controls media access and playback (duh)