Exclusive hands on with the Dell Adamo

Erh. Is that good looking? Perhaps in real life.

 

any more words on specs yet? it really looks like a higher resolution screen which would be finally the right step, dell.

 

+1, or maybe it'll have 1 of the new nvida GPUs. Perhaps the G110M.

I've been looking for a notebook for over a month, thank god i waited this long.

 

If it's not as expensive as it looks, this is a winner. It looks impressive for a Dell.

 

the best thing that has happened to dell is the return of michael dell. nice simple clean design. now onto the bad... (1) suffers from giant bezel syndrome. look at all the space around the screen that could contain pixels? (2) poor choice of display hinges. nearly everyone in industry moving to a hinge that pushes the display deeper depth-wise, rather than higher and closer. this keeps the open screen profile lower, allows for using larger, sturdier hinges, and gives you some depth distance between your keyboard and hands.

aluminum is really a nice medium for mid-high end notebooks, because the case is the heatsink, and it is recyclable. poly carbon plastics and carbon-fiber are not currently recyclable. if we are going to build 160M+ of these things to pitch in landfills in 3 years, the least we can do is use recyclable materials were available.

 

Congrats on getting hands-on access to this sleek new machine when some of the "big guys" only got to see it from a distance!

After eagerly anticipating my first view of this new product, my initial response was surprise/disappointment on two counts: 1) the hinge placement and 2) the squareness of the design. After further reflection, I have come to see the design wisdom of both.

The hinge is located at the true back-end line of the computer. What is mounted behind it should simply be thought of as an integrated port replicator. When viewed in those terms, the hinge placement makes perfect sense.

While the Adamo is more "squarish" along the front and sides than the MBA, it is also more functional. The greater vertical height can actually be used to house some electronic internals. The thin edges of the MBA are sort of like the fins on a 1959 Chevy - stylish for the moment - but neither useful nor necessary.

Don't get me wrong. I truly love the visual effect of the MBA. But the layout of the Adamo is more practical, and it just might allow Dell - at some point in the future - to squeeze in an optical drive as these units slim down further.

 

awesome would be an understatement for thin netbook/notebook....whichever it is
love the clean design,brushed aluminum,etc
DELL please keep this one cheap and release the specs as soon as possible

 

In response to the dude who speculated the battery was not replaceable: IT IS. This thing has form *and* function -- it's not from Apple, afterall.

There's a video here that should give a better idea on its size and proportions:
http://blog.laptopmag.com/hands-on-with-superslim-dell-adamo-what-the-voodoo-envy-should-have-been

I see no problem with the hinge design and the "hump", in terms of screen position. However, someone has a good point about how hard it'll be to remove the dust and loose threads under the hinge.

 

dysonlu, +rep for the link. I think I might get one of these if the price doesn't nauseate me.

 

Just want to say, it's definitely not a 1280 x 800 resolution screen, comparing it to my own.

It's probably either 1366 x 768 or 1440 x 900. That's my guess.

 

The design WOULD have been really nice if they could have resisted the UGLY two colored lid. Why do they always f*ck a nice design up? WHO would actually choose the tow-colored lid, if they had the choice between just aluminum and two-color?? Nobody! Everybody likes a simple design.

They could sell loads of these. But instead they choose to f*ck it up.

 

Also available in black.

 

No.

First of all, we'll agree to disagree: I think the two-tone treatment, at least on the white, looks awesome. I'd hate to see an all white top.

Secondly, if you seriously think that *that* is the only reason why people wouldn't get one of these, then I don't think you realize how popular other design choices are. It certainly looks a lot nicer than some of the lids Dell and other manufacturers offer.

 

Obviously enough people liked the design for it to be manufactured. I like it myself as I am sure do many others. Ideally companies don't intentionally produce products that are ugly and people won't buy. I doubt these will be the only styles offered as Dell likes to introduce new designs over the life of the product.

 

Although I think this notebook looks fantastic, I'm very disappointed that it doesn't have an optical drive, and I don't see this as true competition for the MBA without one. It's not impractical for a thin and light to have an internal optical drive; Dell's own XPS M1330 and the Lenovo Thinkpad X300/X301 are good examples.

I understand that this is a new line of laptops, though, so hopefully we'll see some future models with an optical drive (or maybe Dell has done a fantastic job of tricking us into all thinking that this pre-release model doesn't have one, when in fact it does? Given how they've been marketing this thing, anything's possible, right?)

 

I honestly like the lack of optical drive. For me it just saves weight. If I want to watch a movie on a plane or something, I rip the DVD the night before. I'm also sort of hoping (though Dell has never done this before) that this will come with a docking station with an optical drive and more USB ports, a la the Lenovo X60s (my current machine). It's really nice to be able to place a laptop on a device that hooks it up to a big monitor after one gets home.

 

Yet again another brilliant post from you judging million dollars engineering.
Who are you to say they screw up the design? Care to share an idea?

 

Thanks for the response. I agree the lack of an internal optical drive saves on weight, and that's definitely a selling point for a lot of people, but I think the added convenience of having the optical drive far outweighs the benefit of saving on a couple tenths of a pound. What if I need to reinstall my operating system (or any program that comes on a CD or DVD?) What if I've backed up a large amount of digital pictures on DVD and I want to transfer them to my laptop? Deciding not to include a media slot because it's fallen out of use (e.g., floppy disk drives) is one thing, but you certainly can't say that's the case with optical media.

In any event, I have to admit, the Adamo is sure one good looking laptop.

 

I'd love if they made a 11" version of this.

 

I think the Adamo looks great

Also i know a lot of people arent fans of the hinge placement but it looks to be a rather good design move from dell as having it there means they can include the ethernet port (which im assuming would be too large if the hinge was right at the back of the machine)(true for the Voodoo as they had to include it in the power brick). It will also mean better access to the ports by the looks of it.
I actually quite like the hinge design in a weird way anyway, definately different to competitors and it has a retro look to it. Kinda like a futuristic concept from the late 90s!

Hopefully this new phase in dells life will continue akin to fords "kinetic" design direction. Bringing together a company styling people will recognise.

Great info though!

 

The Macbook Air doesn't have an optical drive either...

The optical drive, which you probably rarely use only adds thickness and weight. The only thing that sucks is if you need to install your OS.

 

MBA enthusiasts... blah blah blah

 

While I agree that an optical drive is important, I'm glad this thing doesn't have one. I only very rarely use the one on my laptop, and am thinking about switching it out for another hard drive or battery. They're obviously going to release a USB optical drive in case you need to reinstall the OS or watch a movie or something, which takes care of the main reasons for having one. I mean if HP can put a Blu-ray drive in a USB form factor for the new dv2, I think Dell will figure something out.

 

Thanks, J.R...

This is sweet, very nice looking. I'm glad Dell is finally stepping up..and expanding on models, etc.

I can't wait for the release on this!


Cin

 

I think the omittance of an optical drive is a good move, personally. I'd hardly think you'd reinstall the OS in a bus or on a flight. You'd probably do it at home, but then what's the point of having an internal drive when you could just plug in an external? Plus, it allows room for more hardware. Look at the LG P310; they've managed to squeeze an nvidia 9600 in that thing, and they offer free external drives to compensate for the lack of an internal one.

 

I would buy one if it had hdmi

 

Yeah, I would much rather have an HDMI output than Displayport -- most HDTV's have HDMI and most good LCD monitors have HDMI as well as displayport.

It's annoying that Dell only gave a release date of 1H09 -- hopefully they release it sometime in March.

Looks like a winner if they don't skimp on specs like the Macbook Air and if they don't charge a massive premium like the Envy or Vaio Z

 

That was my point. If the Adamo is supposed to compete with the MBA, including an optical drive would be a big distinguishing factor, at least for someone like me who is obviously stubborn about having an optical drive.

I suppose I'm too much of a laptop purist, but I've always believed that having to plug in an external optical drive defeats the portability of a laptop. What if I am reinstalling my OS with the external drive and I need to move to a different room - I have to move two pieces of equipment instead of one. I'd be less picky about this if the lack of an optical drive were a universal trait of all thin and light laptops, but it isn't (see the Thinkpad X300/X301), so in my book, that means you can make one without sacrificing size and weight.

My response above addresses most of your post; an internal optical drive is far more portable than an external one, and I'm happy to trade a little bit of weight and thickness for added portability. But, I'm obviously stubborn about this. And of course far be it for me to refuse a free optical drive with the Adam if they offer one! That said, if the is going to be a line of laptops and Dell has a slight larger Adamo planned with an optical drive, I'd have to jump on that bandwagon.

Thanks for the responses, everyone! I haven't seen too much (really any) discussion about the Adamo's lack of an optical drive in all the reviews, so I'm glad I could get a discussion going.

 

Based on the type of notebook that I am looking for;
+ Size
+ Touch pad
+ Screen Size
+ No optical drive
+ Well Built
+ Style

- If it has non-removable battery
- Release Date

 

Meh, it's just an Apple knockoff. Dell can't do anything original. Sheesh, they stole Apple's idea of the backlit keyboard, black shiny screen bezel, thin aluminum look and white power adaptor. Sorry you Dell lovers, this is an idea that's already happened years ago in the Apple world. WHY CAN'T DELL BE INNOVATIVE???

 

I don't know how else one can design a laptop that does not look like its competitors.
Perhaps adding rear wing on it for better grip in corners would be a worthy addition?
I mean seriously if you were asked to design a wheel for a bike or car how would you make it so it doesn't look like all the other wheels?

 

Smells of a troll in here. Hope people won't feed the troll. (Sorry that this post
is off topic.)

 

This Adamo looks better than the junk coming out of Cupertino, CA lately.

The hinge is better than the deeper one found on the MBA. The Adamo looks like the screen can be tilted 180 degrees, instead of the pitiful tilt found on my 1st-gen MBP. Sure, the screen is higher up, but I would rather trade functionality over supposed "aesthetic" improvements.

That translates into you loving this notebook but you are in denial because you are a blind Apple fanboy/tool.

Hopefully companies will take Dell's lead in the design department so annoying Apple tools can shut their pie-hole about their God, Steve Jobs.

 

Wow, they just gave up and copied Apple directly?

The two-tone look means they screwed it up to.

 

Really? This looks nothing at all like the Macbook Air. Careful, your fanboy is showing.

 

I really like the design of the adamo.

Way to go dell

 

Umm, Intel developed the prototype for this laptop. Just because it's thin doesn't mean Apple invented it. Besides innovation is overrated, there is nothing wrong with taking something that exists and using it if it's good. If the copier improves on it, even better...

 

Doing some pixel interpolation on the photos show that the horizontal resolution probably is 1366 (what actually came out from my calculation was 1365). 1440 (or higher) had been so sweet...

 

What many people here fail to see is that the PC manufacturers will still be churning out boring whiteboxes if Apple didn't come along and change the game with their streamlined, elegant designs. You have to admit that Dell (or any other PC company for that matter) will not (or could not) even develop the Adamo in 2009 if Apple hadn't brought the MBA to market.

 

Dell probably has a secret facility they use solely to study apple hardware and rip off ideas from it. Apple is light-years ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to technology because they have a secret contract with the aliens that landed in Corona NM; they actually work for apple in an underground base at an undisclosed location, sharing technology from their home planet. The only downside of coming in contact with the technologies supplied by these beings is that it turns the user into a complete tool who can no longer recognize when they are paying too much for a product that can be had elsewhere for much less - sans fruit logo. Alas, to some this fruit logo and the perceived betterment of one's self through use of the product is worth all the money in the world... Poor unknowing fools.

 

*blinks* It is a beautiful machine. That being said, please stop comparing it to the Apple. I remember about 8 years ago when Apple used to make those butt ugly desktops you can find all alone in the corner of your local library computer room. Laptops are luxury goods, so it isn't all that surprising that pretty much every laptop manufacturer is upping the ante when it comes to style.

 

You have no proof to back that up.
It's a matter of sooner or later, not because of anyone is innovative. What makes you think none of the engineers at Dell doesn't think about thinner notebook before Apple???

 

If Dell is truly innovative in design, it should have pushed the boundaries and released something like this prior to the MBA, considering the size and capacity of Dell. They may well have toyed with the idea, but they didn't seem to want to take the risk, to their loss. Apple knew there will be a market for its elegant, minimalistic designs and dared to push the boundaries. Credit has to be given where it's due.

 

Right. All Apple did was create their version of the 2004 Sony VAIO X505. Whats so innovative about that? Apple has taken many ideas from Sony VAIO's yet all these Apple fanboys give credit to Apple not Sony.

 

Was it really innovative?
Here is your answer

 

the Adamo looks definitely more classier then the MBA the question is at what price?

 

I visit http://adamobydell.com/ everyday in the hopes of one day finding the answers to those questions!

 

The Voodoo envy 133 is the envy of the MBA, Adamo, or any ultra lite Just too bad it costs an arm and a leg...

Big Picture

 

I don't know...in my opinion that's mostly speculation. And its not that apple accomplished an absolutely ground breaking thing...at least in terms of the thin profile of the machine....Mitsubishi released the pedion, thinner than the MBA way back in the 90's. And lets not forget the Sony in 2004.

That being said, I think competition always drives innovation and Apple did manage to market it in the right time and did manage to make a relatively successful product. All I say is more exciting products for ME!

 

I'm looking forward to it's release...but even more for reliable *specs* and starting price points!


Cin