Dell has been teasing us with shots of its sleek and fashionable Adamo ever since CES, but the notebook is now finally available for preorder - starting at a steep $1,999. The machine will compete in the "luxury" laptop segment along the ranks of HP's Voodoo Envy 133 and Apple's MacBook Air with a 13.4-inch widescreen display and measuring just 0.65-inch thick.
In contrast with most Dell notebooks which are highly customizable, however, the Adamo is only available with two spec configurations. On the inside, the base model comes with an Intel Core 2 Duo 1.2GHz processor with integrated Intel X4500 graphics, 2GB of DDR3 memory, a 128 GB SSD and Windows Vista 64-bit. The top end version will set you back a whopping $2,699 for a 1.4 GHz processor, 4GB RAM and an AT&T 3G WWAN card. Both models, like the Air, lack a standard internal optical drive - a separate one will cost you $120.
Connectivity includes 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and an Ethernet port, plus two USB ports, a combined USB/eSATA port for high-speed storage devices and an external display port. All in all, Dell's Adamo is undoubtedly the most serious effort so far to challenge Apple in its design department - it even uses a similar unibody design - but those willing to pony up upwards of $2,000 for the Adamo should know that as with other high end ultra portable laptops, they are paying mostly for aesthetics, not top performance. Pre-orders will begin starting today, and the first units will ship on March 26. More pictures available here.