“At a news conference Friday, Dell executives said the company would launch a luxury line of computers under the brand name Adamo. A model stood and removed a thin, black laptop from a bag and posed ‘Project Runway’ style for a scrum of photographers. She did not turn on the computer, and Dell gave no details about what’s under the hood,” Jessica Mintz reports for The Associated Press.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s thin, but not remarkably so. See it via Gizmodo here.
Mintz continues, “Alex Gruzen, a senior vice president in Dell’s consumer product group, would not say how much the new machine would cost, but emphasized that it would be a high-end, high-performance laptop. He defended the company’s decision to launch a luxury line during a recession.”
MacDailyNews Take: How ‘luxury’ can any Dell be when they are stuck, OS-limited, with Windows? We think Dell is wasting time, effort, and money courting a market segment that’s dominated by Apple’s OS-unlimited MacBook family featuring precision aluminum unibody enclosures, large Multi-Touch™ trackpads and much more. Dell simply cannot compete. The fact is, discerning high-end buyers do not want Dells. See: NPD: Apple corners premium market; Apple’s market share of PCs over $1,000 hits 66% – May 19, 2008
Mintz continues, “In a recent interview at Dell’s headquarters in Round Rock, Texas, Dell’s vice president of consumer experience design, Ed Boyd, declared that ‘the death of the utilitarian PC has occurred.'”
MacDailyNews Take: Unsurprisingly, Dell doesn’t get it. It’s the OS and the software that matters. Apple’s industrial design is just icing on a well-baked cake. Dell can’t even compete with a MacBook Pro running Windows, let alone one running Mac OS X.
Full article here.
I called my Dell ‘a dam o computer’ years ago.
Looks like a plastic concept car at an auto show.
And I can’t believe Gizmodo has more obnoxious ads on their website than MDN!
“Unsurprisingly, Dell doesn’t get it. It’s the OS and the software that matters”
Funny, isn’t that what Microsoft said about 25 years ago? Boy how things really do come around again every 20 years or so!
You call that thin?
Hell, the model is thinner than that, even wearing clothes!
Well, at least the model is thin.
Dell, HP and others have few options besides. Developing another OS is too complex and expensive for a commodity box assembler.
@MacDailyNews Take:
I realize this is a fanboy site. However, if someone from PC world trash-talked like you, we’d accuse them of “quaking in their boots”.
We should welcome competition at the high-end. $2800 for a modern laptop is a bit arrogant, even for Apple. I don’t care how well-finished the case is…
It will, however, be interesting to see how Dell pulls it off. Will it be a true luxury model, or a Cadillac Cimarron (a low-end entry masked with a luxury badge and price)?
DELL ADAMO PICS: http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/09/white-dell-adamo-pictures-leak-out/
DELL ADAMO VIDEO: http://blog.laptopmag.com/hands-on-with-superslim-dell-adamo-what-the-voodoo-envy-should-have-been
Pretty sexy for Dell standards.
This is funny! For years, the Wincrap crowd has criticized Macintosh for being too expensive; but now that’s clear that consumers like the “high-priced spread,” Dell trots out a “luxury” model. HAH! This is like Chevy trotting out a “luxury sedan” to compete with Mercedes. Only in your dreams, turd brains.
Apple have an OS that can truly benefit from “luxury” hardware, it can also be scaled down to work on phones, music players, video devices and whatever else. Dell and others are stuck with what Microsoft give them and whatever stuff they can cobble together on top of that. Even forgetting Apple, within the Windows world there is increasingly less and less reason for a truly high end machine, sure gamers want performance, maybe scientists, rich idiots etc, but that’s a small market. Advances in technology are always welcome, but I can’t see this really helping Dell turn anything around.
Looks like Dell intends to pursue the alchemists’ age-old dream of turning shit into gold…
Isn’t this called trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear?
I do like how they’ve hinged the screen so the screen and keyboard sections can be thinner. With full height section behind the screen for cable connectors. Connectors have been a big drawback in making notebooks thinner. This is a very creative way to deal with it.
Other than that — lots of shiny lights and square vent holes!! I guess those will appeal to some.
This is probably going to benefit Apple more than Dell. Everyone says “Macs are too expensive; why should I spend X for a Mac when I can get a PC for $500”. Well, Dell will push the high-end market, probably with advertising and “OOO look how great this is” marketing.
OK Super, they are now in the same price range as Apple. Now people will say “Why should I pay $2500 for this Dell, when I can get a Mac for the same price?”
Apple doesn’t play in the cheap market. Dell’s now helping legitimize Apple’s position.
Will they use them on the Battlestar Galactico?
@other side (and anyone else of such opinion)
There is nothing remotely ‘arrogant’ about Apple’s pricing structure. $2800 may be ‘alot’, but during the last ten years, Apple has grown exponentially — ergo, people are lapping up those dastardly prices for Macs and iPods.
If you question the price of a Mac, you’ll probably be happier with a PC box and Linux (or Windows).
And remember, Apple is all about the experience of computing; iLife being the greatest example of that. Does MS give users audio/visual editing apps right out the box, for starters? (Which are also easy to use?)
As for Dell’s new luxury machines, it’s the equivalent of ‘pimping out’ a tractor. No sale.
@ plasticmd:
For Dell there pretty decent looking. What surprised me the most when watching the video is that they have backlit keyboards like the Macbooks. About 5-6 years behind but I guess better late then never. I still want a Macbook Pro though. Now they’re sexy.
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Dell just like every other PC vendor is just trying to play catch up. I’ve seen some decent attempts but they’re still not Mac.
Maybe it will have Mac OS X as Dell and Apple strike a deal to save Dell from the death spiral.
If Dell really wants Adamo to be taken seriously as a luxury brand, it needs its own marketing, like Lexus and Toyota. If it has the Dell logo on it, it’s a Dell. This is like those “gourmet coffees” from McDonalds — no one will take it seriously because of the reputation of the primary brand.
——RM
Dell can call it whatever they want, but nobody will buy it. In this shit economy. Dell is famous for being the price leader that makes junk boxes, so no matter what they do, they will be viewed as such. Just junky cheap pc’s with a bad OS.
I am sure this project was started way back when, so it’s their misfortune to introduce it now. Even in a good economy, their luxury will still be junk. That is what their reputation is, why Apple is views as an innovator who tries hard (sometimes fails), but Apple at least they have a positive reputation. After all, when Apple speaks, people listen. When Dell speaks, people don’t care.
Will you please quit it already with the os-limited remarks. The dell hardware isn’t os-limited, it’s macosx that’s hardware limited. If you think unlimitedness is such an important thing, go talk to apple. It’s their decision to limit macosx to apple hardware only, not dells.
gayest name ever
FUGLY!!!!!!
DELL’s marketing:
The Adamo line!
If you think a kit-car body on a Lada frame, with a Ford V8 engine squished inside is a great idea, then you’ll love our new, high-priced Adamo laptops!!
From DELL – the name synonymous with luxury, quality, and elegance.
I’ve heard of luxury cars, luxury apartments, luxury hotels, but never luxury computers. Does the Adamo come in satin?