Dell Launch Event – Adamo, Alienware and mobility…Pt III

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The crowd is then led to a exhibit by the moving of the presenter and the luminescent leading of the spotlight, which shifts to land on a Vespa motocycle which is being used as the centrepiece in that corner. I didnt quite get the details,  (my bandwidth must be getting buffered by all this launching) but its a laptop with the form factor of netbook -I guess they are drawing an analogy to the fast and svelte form factor. If it aint small nowdays, than its either the new Nintendo DS, or the Apple iPad, both which seem to be looking to find that intermediary form factor in the void that miniaturization and mobility seem to have left behind. The presentations are going along smoothly though, and each product highlight is kept to a small bitesized presentation – easily digestible like the apertifs that were soon to be delivered around the dimly lit room.

Mr Ian Chapman Banks (Mr C-B) than returns to the centre of the room, and draws attention to the obvious fact that he lacks the credibility to effectively present the next piece of hardware, a chap named Prasad who is from Team Titans, one of the premier gaming organisations in Sout East Asia and in the top ten gaming teams in the world steps from the wings. Prasad is here to lend some credibility to the highlight of the launch, Alienware‘s M11x.

The M11x  tagline is ” Phenomenal gaming power in a itty bitty laptop” and comes with a a 1.3GHz Pentium SU4100, 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GT335M, and 500 gb harddrive memory within the dimensions of 11.3 inches 4.5 pounds.

Prasad is unconvincing though, its like hes tired and robotic from the marathon LAN sessions hes been playing non stop the night before.He finishes his spiel with the distinctly non-emotive phrase “we believe Dell has found the solution”.

At that point, the apertifs come out and the assorted wash of attendees are encouraged to peruse the exhibits and products. The M11X is also surreptitiously brought out to sit on the cocktail tables. It has a nice neon red backlight to the keys and keyboard, however, the Streetfighter that is being played as a demo is herky-jerky.

I didnt have time to stay for the remainder of the presentation (paying work calls) which was probably a demo of the M11x in action. However the takeaways from the short hour there were;

1) the M11x; if its as powerful as they say, could finally capture that “gaming on a laptop” market, which from what I understand, still hasnt really gotten off the ground. Its either desktop or x-box/PS3/Wii. It starts at SGD$1699 for a basic model, which is ok.

2) The Adamo is nice. Very  nice. The name though, doesnt slide off the tongue so well. But its nice. Mommy, what is an Adamo?

3) The apertifs werent that digestible and only so much fruit punch can be drunk.

4) Dell has some nice stylings and form factor in the partnership with Alienware. Seems like they are targeting specific niche markets, rather than breaking new ground. All the more power to them though – if they had actually come out with the Adamo earlier than Apples thin laptop, they could have captured alot more buzz.

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Dell Launch Event – Adamo, Alienware and mobility…Pt II

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Image via CrunchBase

The AsiaPac chap comes with the customary quips and starts moving between the exhibits, whilst the gaggle of bloggers, media and press follow him like a slathering cluster of techno-geese-geeks. Hes smooth though, and directs the audience to the first highlight of the night, the Adamo XPS. Designed with design in mind, the machine is a beauty, super slim (claim its the thinnest in the world at 9.99mm). Its uniqueness stems from the fact the keyboard folds into the display when closed, meaning one single dimension, instead of a sandwich form factor. Nice. Metal keycaps. Nice.  Whether its a mid-life crisis or just techno-lust, this baby is sleek, sits well and is for the fashionista/executive. Reading off the press kit, which I finally managed to get ahold of,  it also has a customer replaceable battery , – take that, Apple.

Flowing from the Adamo, which remnants of geeks are still pawing at, bossman takes us to the next exhibit, which is really just a highlight that the Inspiron Dell range can come in a range of different covers and artist created designs. Not a real attention grabber for me. Less a highlight, and more a middle-light. Show me the tech. Bossman moves on to a mock living room across the way.(Just realised, if the Bossman didnt have his doublebarrelled sirname, it would be the same sound name as the famous author of the “Wasp Factory” – silly conclusion, yes. Relevant – no.).

In the fake couch and lounge set up, the Inspiron Zino HD, is connected to a TV, with a wireless keyboard and mouse, showing off movie trailers (Prince of Persia) in high def. Its a compact mini tower PC, optimised for entertainment with HDMI connectivity, integrated ATI graphics and other features. This is a evolution hardware, just a upgrade of specs and a reduction in form.To the right of the lounge on a counter top is also the Inspiron One 19 (Touch), which, with a stand and without keyboard apparently saves up to 44% space (how do they calculate that stuff?)

Two more exhibits to follow, which includes the Alienware highlight…

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Dell Launch Event – Adamo, Alienware and mobility…

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I’m here for the Dell unavailing of a few devices, however, my impression of Dell these past few  years, is mostly their selling of computers online and the cow inspired branding. Dell = Solid but not flashy, it’s a background murmur to the more glamourous brands which continually scroll through my RSS feeds day to day… Google- glamourous, Microsoft magnificent or Apple awe-inspiring. To short term popular memory, to date it’s just Dell… delivered. My semantic connections with Dell have obviously been off the boil as the event showcases a few nice items and some ho-hums just to keep up with the Joneses.

The event is being plugged as “Dell, Yours is Here” and how they have been heralding mobility and that Dell has been listening.

We are ushered into a dark room for Dells collection showcase, there are a series of tall cocktail tables and a little exhibit at each corner of the multimedia infused room.

Ian Chapman Banks, gen. manager for Asia PAC is brought to the limelight and highlights that this is the first time in 2 years Dell has showcased their products. He states that the event is being Live Tweeted (followed by 1.5 million people) and broadcast on facebook.
The gathered gaggle of media and bloggers wait in patience, devices clicking away as Ian makes his pitch….