Dell's 13-inch Adamo Admire dropped to $999

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Dell has quietly dropped the price of its 13.4-inch Adamo notebook to an unseen low. The Adamo Admire carries a price of $999, and specs start with a 720p WLED display, a 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and 256MB GS45 graphics, 2GB of DDR3 800MHz RAM, a 128GB SSD, a webcam and mic, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, Gigabit Ethernet, three USB ports (one eSATA combo), five hours of battery life, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

There are two upgraded Admire configurations called the Entrepreneur Package and Jet-Setter Package, which cost $1,199 and $1,349. They both add an external DVD burner and one year of Adamo Premium Service, and the Jet-Setter also throws in a carrying sleeve as well as Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007.

Beyond that, the Adamo Desire starts at $1,799 and includes a 2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, mobile broadband, and also has Entrepreneur and Jet-Setter packages with the same additions priced at $1,999 and $2,149.

Call me crazy, but at $999, the base Adamo is more appealing than all the tablets we've seen to date -- Apple's iPad included.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/37761-dells-13-inch-adamo-admire-dropped-to-999.html

 

[Cueto_99]

I agree with you Matthew, although the ipad costs 500 bucks less than this Adamo, we have to remember that it might be only for the 8-16gb version, which seriously limits its storage. I would guess the 64gb ipad version will cost around the same as the Adamo, and, if that's true, then it's a no-brainer, the Adamo is a hundred times better without loosing the style and elegance of the ipad...

 

[slh28]

At $999, this is only a few hundred $ more than the top spec ipad, has twice as much storage (which is SSD as well), just as portable, runs a real OS and proper applications (maybe even more than one at the same time), has good connectivity. But enough of the ipad bashing, it's nice to see a laptop with an SSD at an affordable price

 

[compdata]

slh28 said:
At $999, this is only a few hundred $ more than the top spec ipad, has twice as much storage (which is SSD as well), just as portable, runs a real OS and proper applications (maybe even more than one at the same time), has good connectivity. But enough of the ipad bashing, it's nice to see a laptop with an SSD at an affordable price

Anyone know what type of SSD it comes with? I have tried in vain to figure out what type most of the dell/hp laptops ship with, but they guard that very well. I really just want to make sure it is one based on the jmicron controller, but based on their secrecy my guess is that it might be.

 

[Guest]

It is a mistake to compare this to the iPad. Try holding this up to read a book etc etc. (for a wimpy 5 hours).

This is a netbook - and a tres expensive (though chic looking) one at that.

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

I'm not necessarily comparing the two units as much as I am simply saying I'd much rather put money toward an Adamo than an iPad. Opinions vary, naturally. The iPad certainly has a few benefits, but there are too many drawbacks to make it a justifiable purchase for me.

I wouldn't "hold up" the Adamo anyway -- I'd let it sit on a surface like it's supposed to. I've seen some odd things, but I've never seen anyone physically hold their laptop in the air while using it.

Also, I'd argue that the Adamo is more of an ultraportable notebook than a netbook. I see sites calling the Alienware M11x a netbook though, presumably because of its 11-inch display, so I suppose the line between notebook and netbook is open to interpretation now too.

Either way, the Adamo is fairly priced considering the specifications.

 

[9Nails]

slh28 said:
At $999, this is only a few hundred $ more than the top spec ipad, has twice as much storage (which is SSD as well), just as portable, runs a real OS and proper applications (maybe even more than one at the same time), has good connectivity. But enough of the ipad bashing, it's nice to see a laptop with an SSD at an affordable price

You missed one obvious and important comparison, the Dell Abdominal, err Dell Abdulla, err the Dell computer has a real operating system whereas the iPad (easier to spell, harder to say without vomiting just a little bit) has a candy OS. (A candy OS looks sweet, has little substance. Like, they can't multi-task or install drivers to manage peripherals.) At $500 more than the most affordable Apple tablet, I'll take something meatier. And less than a MacBook Pro (even without the $400 extra Apple charges for a solid state drive) the Dell seems to be the victor.

 

[Guest]

The MacBook Air is a better choice $ for $ than this underpowered overpriced Dell. Underpowered CPU, underpowered GPU, underpowered battery (5 hours is only with the extended battery), arguably crappy OS. The MacBook Air beats it in every department accept the SSD (which will likely change soon).

iPad is for readers, gamers, surfers, and emailers mostly. A different concept really and it looks like a lot of fun though I'll wait for it to get Multitasking, 4G, a bigger SSD and GPS.

 

[slh28]

Guest said:
It is a mistake to compare this to the iPad. Try holding this up to read a book etc etc. (for a wimpy 5 hours).

Let's face it, nobody who reads books is gonna get an iPad and nobody who gets an iPad is gonna use it for reading books. If you wanted to get something for reading, you would get a Kindle or something with e-ink, looking at the iPad screen for more than an hour will almost certainly make you myopic (or even more myopic).