New potential challenger to Air announced today - The Dell Adamo XPS at 9.99mm thin!!

[Jobsian]

Last week Sony announced its contender, the Vaio X, which is uber thin at 55mm and almost HALF the Air's weight - see here Macrumors Vaio X thread, the specs of which have not been finalised (but people predicting an Atom processor given its thinness and enclosed in carbon fiber. Specs though have not been finalised for this yet, the display models so far are not final spec.

Well Dell today announced a "9.99mm" thin laptop:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/dell-teases-new-ultrathin-adamo-xps/
http://www.adamobydell.com/xps/choose-language.html

Again, no specs at all at this stage, beyond the thinness. 9.99mm is truly incredible! As Engadget mention, that's thinner than the iPhone!

I just seriously hope it's not an Atom processor, otherwise my interest in it would almost instantaneously evaporate.


Sony and Dell's cards have been (partially) dealt. They both appear impressive at this stage so far. Enter Apple. I can't wait to see what Professor Jobs has under his sleeve... exciting times for premium ultraportables!

 

[Gadgetman99]

Last week Sony announced its contender, the Vaio X, which is uber thin at 55mm and almost HALF the Air's weight - see here Macrumors Vaio X thread, the specs of which have not been finalised (but people predicting an Atom processor given its thinness and enclosed in carbon fiber. Specs though have not been finalised for this yet, the display models so far are not final spec.

Well Dell today announced a "9.99mm" thin laptop:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/dell-teases-new-ultrathin-adamo-xps/
http://www.adamobydell.com/xps/choose-language.html

Again, no specs at all at this stage, beyond the thinness. 9.99mm is truly incredible! As Engadget mention, that's thinner than the iPhone!

I just seriously hope it's not an Atom processor, otherwise my interest in it would almost instantaneously evaporate.


Sony and Dell's cards have been (partially) dealt. They both appear impressive at this stage so far. Enter Apple. I can't wait to see what Professor Jobs has under his sleeve... exciting times for premium ultraportables!

"Potential" is the key word. So far they are just vaporware, nothing real. I have all kinds of ideas for awesome PC hardware, but making them reality is always the hard part

 

[bloodycape]

Sony and Dell's cards have been (partially) dealt. They both appear impressive at this stage so far. Enter Apple. I can't wait to see what Professor Jobs has under his sleeve... exciting times for premium ultraportables!

I think in Sony's case its just giving back an answer to Apple, which gave the Air as an answer of sorts to the Sony X505 of back in the day.

 

[NT1440]

Isn't this exactly what they did with the original Adamo?

Wait for the actual details, then we'll see.

 

[thegoldenmackid]

Meh. The Adamo made the Air look like a good value. MSI has provided some competition. Part of what sales the Air is the genius marketing and Apple OS.

 

[bloodycape]

Isn't this exactly what they did with the original Adamo?

Wait for the actual details, then we'll see.

Beside the looks(which is a subjective thing), the Adamo wasn't as good as Air, except for the fact it more ports and 3G support. It was using the lower power intel SU line of CPU, vs SL line, which made it not that good of deal at that price.

 

[still in school]

I still havent seen the adamo in person.

 

[NeverhadaPC]

The difference is:
Apple came out with the Air in EARLY 2008. Technology does not last very long, but the Air has been on the market for more than a year before it sees competition.

The New MacBook Air will be OLED touch-tablet --- AMAZING!

OK, just kidding on the last bit, but possible nonetheless.

 

[Zorn]

Knowing Dell this will use an Atom CPU, or at best a ULV processor along with Intel GMA X3100 graphics, effectively making it a performance dog. Pretty though.

 

[coldmack]

The difference is:
Apple came out with the Air in EARLY 2008. Technology does not last very long, but the Air has been on the market for more than a year before it sees competition.

The New MacBook Air will be OLED touch-tablet --- AMAZING!

OK, just kidding on the last bit, but possible nonetheless.

I looked it up Sony apparently has a device that has the power of a MBP(15in in speed and 13in in video card), but the weight of a MBA. Same with LG in Europe they got a 13in with MBA weight and lack of optical drive but some how has the same video card as the MBP 15in.

Knowing Dell this will use an Atom CPU, or at best a ULV processor along with Intel GMA X3100 graphics, effectively making it a performance dog. Pretty though.

The Adamo had the newer 4500HD which has HD support and encoding power. I doubt they would be going backwards, unless its using an atom then it maybe the GMA500 with basic HD support. Then again the first gen MBA had the x3100 and that can't even do blu-ray while with the nvidia 9400 it can and so can a device with the 4500HD. Just saying.

 

[Qusus]

I looked it up Sony apparently has a device that has the power of a MBP(15in in speed and 13in in video card), but the weight of a MBA. Same with LG in Europe they got a 13in with MBA weight and lack of optical drive but some how has the same video card as the MBP 15in.

Can you show us the links to these computers? The Sony VGN series weights a little more than an Air but has a lot more power, but that's sold in the United States. I'd like to see the ones you're talking about though.

 

[tim2006]

The difference is:
Apple came out with the Air in EARLY 2008. Technology does not last very long, but the Air has been on the market for more than a year before it sees competition.

The New MacBook Air will be OLED touch-tablet --- AMAZING!

OK, just kidding on the last bit, but possible nonetheless.

Whats up with apple? When will they put a glass trackpad on this thing. The macbook pro line looks great and preforms great. I know the air is not going to preform like a pro but how about a real update. It looks odd with the all silver bezel.

 

[sanPietro98]

It's not a serious challenger if its still running Windows.

 

[jdechko]

I hope that this and the VAIO X are competitive to the Air in both price and specs. According to the Sony Rep, the X should come in at less than $2000 (base, I'd assume). If there's competition, the Air will improve faster than Apple would otherwise.

 

[Jobsian]

I hope that this and the VAIO X are competitive to the Air in both price and specs. According to the Sony Rep, the X should come in at less than $2000 (base, I'd assume). If there's competition, the Air will improve faster than Apple would otherwise.

Completely agreed, I can't wait to see Apple's response to this dual-pronged onslaught

 

[bloodycape]

Can you show us the links to these computers? The Sony VGN series weights a little more than an Air but has a lot more power, but that's sold in the United States. I'd like to see the ones you're talking about though.

I think the person is referring to the Vaio Z(same device you are), which is sold pretty much all around the world(granted in each country the model number is different, it is still called the Z though). It weights about 1.45kg with the hdd, not sure what it weighs with the SSD though. So its about 150-200 gram difference, but the Sony is thicker and has more ports, which I find to be impressive. Now, if Apple tried to go a bit lighter with the Air, let say 2.7lbs, now that would make it a bit more competitive, and differentiate it more form other 13in with similar form factor. As note the 12in Toshiba R600(and I think older R500), weights 2lbs with no optical drive and SSD and about 2.5 with a dvd drive(and I think hdd).

 

[Scottsdale]

Completely agreed, I can't wait to see Apple's response to this dual-pronged onslaught

I really hope Jobs stays involved with his tablet device and agrees to let the MBA stay in its current form factor while increasing power in CPU, GPU, and RAM, ETC ETC...

 

[Cask]

It's not a serious challenger if its still running Windows.

Do you know that is actually a pro for some people???

 

[jdechko]

I really hope Jobs stays involved with his tablet device and agrees to let the MBA stay in its current form factor while increasing power in CPU, GPU, and RAM, ETC ETC...

Agreed. There is a point where "world's smallest/thinnest" thing goes too far and usability suffers. I would even go so far as to submit that the Revision A MB Air falls into this category. I'm not saying that Apple shouldn't look to make the form factor better (to accommodate a bigger/better battery or to deal with heat, maybe even lighter), but it shouldn't sacrifice the progress it's made just to recapture the title of "world's thinnest".

 

[Jobsian]

New pics! Still no specs

New pics! Still no specs

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/07/dell-announces-updated-adamo/

Monstrously thin

 

[jdechko]

It looks horrible!!!! No wonder the only shot we'd seen so far was from the front. And based on that picture, it'll probably look ugly once it's opened up too. It looks like a (for lack of a better term) scissor design, and that the base of the display elevates the back of the keyboard.

 

[MacModMachine]

It looks horrible!!!! No wonder the only shot we'd seen so far was from the front. And based on that picture, it'll probably look ugly once it's opened up too. It looks like a (for lack of a better term) scissor design, and that the base of the display elevates the back of the keyboard.

indeed, sure its thin...but its long...very long.....and looks like trash from those pics.

 

[Consultant]

No specs
No price
No release date

 

[nick9191]

The Air is currently the best value premium ultraportable out there. The current Adamo is a joke.

 

[thegoldenmackid]

No specs
No price
No release date

The original Adamo focused way too much on form and none on function. Sure the Air is not necessarily a powerhouse, but the Adamo was slow as a mule and expensive as a thoroughbred. People will pay a premium for form, but only to a certain extent.