Dell Finally Breaks The High End Laptop Market With Adamo XPS And Alienware M11x

Post by Sharat | March 31, 2010 | Alienware Computers, Apple, Dell Computers, Dell Computers News, Dell News, Dell Reviews, News, Reviews | Comment

For years computer manufacturing giant Dell has struggled to break in to the high end ultra chic laptop space currently dominated by Apple and Sony. Unfortunately the brand is largely synonymous with low cost, high volume 15-inch laptops.

Given that Dell laptops could be best described as your mum’s laptop manufacturer, it was a pleasant surprise that the company’s two most recent high end laptop offerings, the super slim 13-inch Adamo XPS, and the 11-inch Alienware M11x gaming netbook hit all the right notes with consumers, even if it is unlikely that the two models shift in large volumes.

Dell and its Australian Subsidiary Dell Australia have chased the holy grail of high end design laptops for years, most recently by acquiring speciality game PC maker Alienware. However its high end ambitions have largely remain unfulfilled, with the vast majority of its products entrenched in dorm room aesthetics.

Consumers have been able to order Dell products in a wide variety of designs and colours for a few years now. Its most promising offering, the original Adamo laptop, which the company cloaked in Apple like secrecy was marketed as being “a luxury-brand notebook design for the luxury-conscious consumer,” according to the company.

The final result however did not quite live up to expectations, producing a MacBook Air clone, that cost too much, and was too heavy (thought we must admit it did look nice).

With that sort of history, the expectations for Dell’s latest attempt to break the high end laptop segment were hardly feverish.

The Adamo XPS though is superb, super slim at 9.99 mm thick, it is something you need to experience in person to be able to appreciate. Its large footprint made it feel very much like a 15-inch laptop in spite of the smaller 13-inch screen. It’s only drawback was its battery life, which as you would expect for something so clearly designed for portability, did not last as long as we would have liked.

The other luxury offering from Dell is its Alienware M11x, a laptop that costs less than US$1000, but was still sleek enough to fit snugly into a messenger bag.

The M11x feels on slightly heavier than other 11-inch systems yet provides improved performance, albeit for a higher price compared to run of the mill netbook aesthetics. Compared to other 11-inch products, the M11x provides a great backlit keyboard, boasting edge to edge glass and comes with a 1,366×768-pixel display.