Dell Adamo
The Adamo has landed. Dell unveiled its new, highly-anticipated luxury line of laptops at CES today, and it is a sight to behold. Although Dell was apparently being very coy about its new miracle of technology and didn’t answer any specific questions about the Adamo, a few gadget blogs were allowed some up-close and personal picture time with the Adamo after the press event, thusly ensuring that the public would get just enough of a peek to continue its profuse salivation over this incredibly slick product. Here’s a quick look:
There’s no question about it: The Adamo looks really impressive, and I could spend all day marveling about its build, design, colors, everything. But, everyone’s doing that (see below) so I might as well try to be a little different and nit pick something. And in my case, that’s actually a pretty easy task, because unfortunately this version of the Adamo is guilty of one my biggest pet peeves when it comes to laptops: no optical drive.
Seriously, how can you release a laptop without an optical drive ? Unlike floppy drives, which clearly went the way of the dodo a long time ago, people still very much use CDs and DVDs. I know I sure as hell do. There are plenty of thin and light laptops that come with internal optical drives; the Lenovo Thinkpad X300/301, the Samsung X460 (but that red on the lid is creepy) and even Dell’s own XPS M1330! And no, it is absolutely no substitute to get an external optical drive. That completely defeats the portability of a laptop. Plus, what a hassle to have to setup and plug in the darn thing every time you need to just copy something from a CD. I don’t get how manufacturers decide not to include an optical drive. I’ve found that in nearly every review for a thin and light with an optical drive, the optical drive is pitched as one of the big selling points. Obviously, people want them in their thin and lights. What really kills me is that the Adamo has a 13.3″ screen; plenty of real estate for watching a movie on a — you guessed it — DVD.
Still, there is a glimmer of hope. Per Neowin:
Expect more from Dell because, as previously mentioned, the Adamo is a line of notebooks and we should eventually see larger offerings while still being incredibly thin. Dell has adopted a more modern look with its latest set of laptops and the Adamo line continues the differentiation of products versus its competitors.
So, I guess there’s a good possibility that we’ll see an Adamo with an internal optical drive. That would really make my day. In other words, and Dell, I hope you’re listening: Adamo + internal optical drive = sale.
You can consume lots more Adamo coverage (and pictures) at these links:
- Dell unveils ultra thin laptop dubbed Adamo (Neowin)
- Dell Adamo revealed (Anandtech)
- Dell Adamo hands-on! (Engadget) and a second article here as well
- Exclusive hands on with the Dell Adamo (NotebookReview)
- Dell officially unveils Adamo (cnet)
- Dell Grants Exclusive Photo Shoot of New Adamo Line of Luxury Notebooks (bub.blicio.us)