back to article Dell details 'world's thinnest' laptop

Dell has been teasing us for months with spy shots of a super-thin laptop. But now the firm has decided it’s time to officially spill the beans about the latest addition to its Adamo line. Dell_adamo_XPS_01 Dell's Adamo XPS: measures just 9.7mm top to bottom The Adamo XPS – actually the third machine in the Adamo series – …

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  1. Torben Mogensen

    Not a laptop

    I think it would rather tricky to balance this beast on your lap, so call it a protable desktop computer instead.

    Also, I think the dimensions (at least width and breadth) of portable computers shouldn't extend much past the dimensions of the screen. Why would I want a larger footprint (when closed) if I don't get any usable real estate for this? There is plenty of empty space above they keyboard, so if you want a slanted keyboard, make it bend there instead.

    Presumably, the "stand" is used to hold most of the electronics so nothing needs to be tucked under the keyboard or behind the screen, so you can reduce the thickness. But I don't really get this urge to make things as thin as possible. I would rather have less weight than less thickness.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Shoot them

    One USB port and no Ethernet, I thought Dell might have been a little more practical than Apple. But no; looks like we have another mini-laptop where the users are going to require USB port soldering on a regular basis.

  3. Greg J Preece

    Who gives a shit?

    I really like the hinge design, to give a raised keyboard. That's a neat idea. But can you name one person (who isn't an overly wealthy twunt concerned only with being flashy) who actually gives two shits about ultra-thins?

    Oooh, my laptop is so slinky! Pity I paid so much for something that ultimately can't do any more than an Eee.

    Though I am amused to see this not only being thinner than the Air, but much, much cheaper.

  4. Code Monkey

    LAPtop?

    I'd not fancy having the edge of that screen digging into my lap for more than, say, a minute.

  5. Paul_Murphy
    Paris Hilton

    Still not thin enough.

    I want a laptop to be as thin as paper, so that I can fold it and then roll it up to put it into my pocket. Also solar powered, and be able to detect my finger/thumb print when I pinch a corner so I don't need to log on with a keyboard.

    And transparant.

    and in my Christmas stocking please.

    ttfn

    PH - while I'm on a roll I might as well ask for her as well.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    A grand and no ethernet port.....

    Who really cares how thin it is? It's still the same size in your bag and not much lighter.

    <goes back to holographic screen>

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Nice

    Looks nice.

    But not quite as nice as an Air. And not quite as nice isn't good enough really.

  8. Hermes Conran
    Paris Hilton

    Supermodel Laptops

    Thin, pretty and very expensive.

    Useless for anything else,,,

  9. Jerome 0

    Laptop?

    A laptop that you can't use on your lap? Genius.

  10. Richie 1
    Coffee/keyboard

    The keyboard slopes the wrong way

    Take a look at a Microsoft Natural keyboard.

    http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/resources/2007/06/ms_desk7000_front.jpg

    See how the keys slope away from you to make it comfortable to type? Now look at the Adamo, and notice that they've got it backwards. I give you half an hour before you develop RSI.

  11. nicholas king
    Megaphone

    @greg J Preece

    dont be a hater

    http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook_air?mco=MTAyNTQwMTg

    a mac book air is actually cheaper

  12. RichyS
    Thumb Down

    Totally impractical

    At least the MacBook Air is useable.

    I can't imagine trying to use this anywhere. Certainly not on my lap. An airline seat table or train table looks equally challenging.

    I'm sure the Dell engineers thought they were being very clever in putting the big bits of electronics on the 'stand' part. But have they actually tried using this in the real world (assumption: engineers are aware of the real world)?

  13. Tony Smith (Written by Reg staff)

    Re: LAPtop?

    If you apply the name solely because of where the device will be used, my MacBook Air is the now the world's flattest desktop computer.

    'Laptop' and 'notebook' are interchangeable here, and such a machine is a laptop whether you sit it on your thighs or not.

  14. Stef 4
    FAIL

    Super thin is super cool...

    ...just ask a super model.

    When I look for a new laptop, I always take a tape measure. The thinness is paramount. I don't care about the CPU, OS, or RAM.

    And disk space is for geeks, and battery life is for wimps.

  15. RichyS

    @Greg J Preece

    I'm not sure where you get the 'much much cheaper' than the MacBook Air from. I've just checked the Apple US website, and the Air with 128GB SSD costs exactly the same: $1799. You do get a faster CPU, but only 2GB of RAM (mind you, you don't need as much RAM with OS X, and if the Adamo comes with a 32 bit version of Windows, it can only use 3GB of the 4GB anyway), and one fewer USB ports.

    You didn't make the mistake of thinking this thing would actually cost £1084 when released in the UK, did you?

    The Adamo is impressively thinner though -- if only it didn't make it look completely unuseable.

    Personally, I'm all for thin'n'light. Most netbooks have a screen and keyboard that is too small for me to do any serious work. On the basis that when I am working, I am usually carrying around a few documents and other A4 sized bits and bobs, then I need a bag that's A4 carrying sized. Therefore, I lose nothing by having a laptop of similar size; but gain on the proper sized keyboard and screen. My job currently provides me with a ThinkPad X61 which seems a pretty decent compromise -- it's faily light and thin. Still, even thinner would be better...

  16. Fuzz

    I'll stick to my Toshiba R500

    1.1Kg (even less for the SSD model) but packs a DVD writer, 3xUSB, firewire, PCMCIA and an ethernet port. I've never had a problem with it being too thick.

  17. Tom_
    WTF?

    Weird measurement...

    "It measures just 9.7mm at its thinnest part "

    My NC10 measures about 0.5mm at its thinnest part, which is the little slide out cover for the SD card slot.

  18. Charles Calthrop
    Thumb Up

    Want Want Want NEED

    that looks cool as. I wonder if the BBC news will give as much coverage to it as they did when the Macbook Air was launched as the world's thinnest computer and all of a sudden how thin something was was a measure of how good it was.

  19. This post has been deleted by its author

  20. the_madman
    WTF?

    Designed to compete...

    Sorry, but how was this designed to compete with the Macbook Air? They're not competing in price or power... maybe the only thing they care about is the removable battery...

    Or MAYBE it's competing because it's running Windows! That'll get them to separate the cash from their wallets, because, you know... it's more logical to spend a four-digit amount of cash on something less powerful then something that's £300.

  21. Tony Smith (Written by Reg staff)

    @the_madman

    It competes with the Air because they're both aimed at people who who want light, thin notebooks.

    Both the Adamo XP and the AIR have Core 2 Duo processors that are rather more powerful than the Atom CPUs you'll find in 300 quid netbooks.

  22. DrXym

    The important point here is the battery

    Put aside its take it or leave it appearance and notice that it features a removable battery. This completely demolishes the argument that batteries should be sealed in. If Dell, purveyor of cheap and cheerful PCs can produce a slim laptop with a removable battery why is it that the alleged masters of usability (Apple) cannot?

    The answer of course only reason Apple seals in batteries is to make their devices disposable so people buy new ones after a few years. It has nothing to do with looks, usability or any other bullshit excuse that the company or its legions of apologists would have people believe. I hope the existence of devices like this force Apple's hand, or better yet force the EU's hand to mandate removable batteries by law.

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @DrXym: Calm down, son.

    The Air's battery is replaceable.

    Not sure about the ergonomics of the Dell. Lack of an ethernet port isn't an issue though.

  24. Roni Leben
    Happy

    Vaio X still thinnest

    Thin maybe, thinnest not.

    The Thinnest title still goes to Sony Vaio X (13.9mm at thickest part, 780g light).

    http://www.sony.co.uk/product/vn-x-series

    http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/10/08/hands_on_sony_vaio_x/

    Ok, not a direct competition to Adamo or Air since it is only Atom powered (Z550 2GHz, 2GB RAM), it's the world's most expensive (yet coolest?) netbook...

    Vaio X does have an Ethernet port though.

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Keyboard angle - ouch

    Just looking at that keyboard makes my carpal tunnels hot

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What?

    1USB, no ethernet, no reasonable GPU, and if that battery is removable in that small of a form factor it'll be dead in under 3 hours likely... I bet the power brick is also a brick too, not to mention some clunky optical drive that would also needs its own power brick). Oh, and it's 510MHz slower than the very outdated MacBook Air (which advertises 5 hours of "wireless connectivity" and they're right about that)

    Apple will be releasing new Macbook Air with an even faster, lower power CPU, more ports, better connectivity, better resolution, at the current price (which is LOWER than this machine's price) very soon... I doubt before Christmas, but this thing won't be out from Dell until then anyway, so a January or early Feb release from Apple would be no big deal...

    Sure, the Dell may actually be more eye appealing, but it's not gonna sit on my lap, so its useless to me... and at that price?

    I really could give a flying F*** about a removable battery too... If it lasts 5 hours and charges in 30 min, wtf cares? I've had 4 notebooks with a second battery. I can count on one hand the number of times I swapped the battery after killing it where I was a) not near a power outlet b) had the battery on hand, and c) found it actually had a charge... and those were 90-120 minute batteries. 5 hours? If I used it hard enough to kill it after 5 hours and had not been around an outlet during that time, a 2nd 2.5 hour battery from Dell would still not have made a difference...

  27. ThomH

    @ DrXym

    I don't see how it can possibly demolish "the argument that batteries should be sealed in". If I tell you that I can and will close my eyes and walk into the middle of a road, have I completely demolished the argument that people should look both ways?

  28. b 3
    Thumb Up

    wowsa!

    pretty funky, like it..

  29. DrXym

    @ThomH

    That's a lame analogy.

    When the air first appeared, the apologists were all over the sealed battery claiming it had to be done that way to make the device slim enough. Clearly that was not the case, so what excuse does that leave? It certainly isn't for usability's sake. Air owners must merely undo 10 screws of various lengths to get at the battery which is considerably more effort than just opening a hatch or a clip as virtually every other laptop manages.

  30. Sharmee

    Wow!

    This is truly amazing! Looking forward to having one myself in the UK!! Have a look at Ultra-Thin: http://tiny.cc/rDIBw shows how Intel is making the Ultra-Thin laptop a reality…

  31. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Another cr@p @pple-style keyboard

    Why are those keyboards with each individual key spaced a mile apart all the effin rage? Tried one just our of curiosity and typing speed is dranstically reduced as you try to focus on accurately hitting each key rather than falling in the gap between them! It's the most stupid bit of design I have seen in ages and all the Apple copy cats are following apply like...sheep.

  32. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Dell Strikes Again

    The weird keyboard angle makes it unusable. How much money did they waste developing this thing?

  33. sT0rNG b4R3 duRiD
    FAIL

    urrrk...

    Anyone see that Asus origami ' with "thermal holes" ' lappie?

    Can anyone tell me which one is more fail?

  34. magnetik
    FAIL

    Re: Another cr@p @pple-style keyboard

    "Tried one just our of curiosity and typing speed is dranstically reduced as you try to focus on accurately hitting each key rather than falling in the gap between them! "

    If that's the case the only conclusion I can draw is that you're really shit at typing.

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