Now, before you burst a vein pointing out that I’ve repeatedly said I’d never purchase an iPod, you’re absolutely right. I’m not thinking about the iPod nano now, nor will I ever in the future. I do think it’s impressive that Apple finally bothered to give a crap and add an FM tuner to one of its iPods (a feature which has been on the market for years now, but which Apple was apparently to cool to bother to acknowledge) but I still just can’t stomach these things. So, the iPod is out.

The Zune HD is intriguing. In fact, I can safely say I’d probably buy this device, if it supported Ogg Vorbis. I know there are many out there who consider this a dead or dying audio format, but the truth is that it’s still technologically a superior codec to MP3 and, most importantly, a lot of my music library is in vorbis! Yes, I could undertake the monumental task of re-digitizing my collection, but that would be a huge headache and not worth the effort, because there are many other players on the market which are just as sleek as the Zune HD that do support vorbis. So, Microsoft, I wanted to give you a try, really I did, but you’re missing that one last intangible, immeasurable quality of “chemistry.” Don’t fret though; you’re getting my money on Windows 7.

So, where does that leave me? Well, certainly visiting Anything but iPod a lot, for sure. I am intrigued by the Cowon i9. It seems seems slim and light, supports a lot of audio formats (including vorbis!) and looks kind of neat. I can’t tell whether it’s actually going to be released in this country though, or how much it might cost. There are those who swear by Samsung; the M1 and R1 look interesting, but it’s not clear whether the US will ever see the M1, and the R1 hasn’t even been released yet. This is going to be tricky.

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)