Dell Studio Hybrid Desktops

Those are very nice. I particularly like the bamboo one. lotsamystuff: I had the same reaction to that Lenovo. I thought it looked like a piece of industrial test equipment I might find in the lab at work, only not quite so elegant. These Dells, OTOH, are the sort of thing you definitely wouldn't mind having in your living room.

whats interesting is that you can get a blu-ray and it has hdmi so it might just make the perfect home theater PC and a great advanced media center extender.......

@jeffhex "Is this the Dell version of the Mac Mini?" Not really, you actually have a lot of configuration choices here including some modern components. (The Mac Mini is WAY overdue for some updates) And if you configure the Dell down to be the same specs as a high-end Mac Mini (Vista Home Premium, 2GHz Core2Duo, 2GB RAM, 160GB Disk, keyboard, mouse, no monitor) it's 40% less expensive. $629 for the Dell vs $1047 for the Apple.

Their Studio laptop lines is where its at.. Inspiron vs XPS used to be no brainer...not so anymore. Can't wait to upgrade.

The picture of the back panel shows a 1394 firewire port. A tiny BT USB adapter would seem to fit well in the one of the 3 USB ports. I dunno guys, but if it performs well with Vista, this seems like a good deal for the kids, since I can use a bigger screen of my choice. I'll wait until they are a little older to pick what they want, but if I need a replacement for one of their computers, this would be a contender for a Mac mini running Windows for them.

@WebGuy3000 802.11n is in the Wireless Networking configuration panel. It's $70. 5 USB 2.0 ports (3 back/2 front) and a IEEE 1394 port (the non-Apple name for Firewire) are standard as is Gigabit Ethernet, Digital audio out, analog audio in/out and an 8-in-1 card reader.

Very slick looking, and a nice range of connectivity offered. It would be nice as a desktop as well, though I have a feeling dual-monitors are not supported (can't live without it now...). Wish they had UWB for wireless video--that would make for a very sweet setup.

Much nicer looking than the Lenovo StinkCentre. Those IBM/Lenovo desktops have always been hideous looking My only question is how is Paul going to review this???? In the Lenovo review he dropped this Apple bash.... "Yep, this is a real computer, not an overpriced glorified notebook like a Mac mini". This Dell is uses notebook parts, newer than the Mini in a few respects (video, wireless N), which is to be expected since its just coming out now.

"Remember that Firewire is Apple's proprietary name for IEEE 1394 as is Sony's i.LINK. You won't see it called Firewire except on Apple products and you won't see it called i.LINK except on Sony products but they're all the same thing." I guess Apple figures they can call it whatever they want since they invented it. ;-) Mike, you're wrong that you "won't see it called Firewire [sic] except on Apple products". Apple licensed the FireWire name back in 2002. From the press release: "The 1394 Trade Association (TA) and Apple® today announced that the FireWire® trademark, logo and symbol have been adopted as a brand identity for the IEEE 1394 connection standard in a no-fee license agreement between the TA and Apple. In addition, Apple has granted the TA the right to sub-license the FireWire Trademark for use on products, packaging and promotion of the standard." Ten seconds of research will lead to plenty of products displaying the FireWire name and logo. I'm assuming DELL's FireWire is of the "A" variety. Does Vista support 1394b natively yet? I know that it didn't at its introduction (and FireWire support was dodgy at best. Supposedly this has been fixed with SP1, but I can't find anything that indicates if "b" speeds are natively supported.). All I could find (I gave up after 15 seconds of research) was this: http://unibrain.com/Products/DriverAPI/ubcore.htm

Another MoDT design. Not a bad shell, but I build systems with these motherboards: http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/motherboards/DG45FC/DG45FC-overvie... ....in a similar style of system. There are some key benefits though: namely, better graphics, desktop processor support (no Quad or Extreme support though, but faster speeds all around), support for 5 internal SATA drives if installed in an appropriate chassis (and desktop drives too...what? no 7200rpm HDD support Dell?), RAID options, and is quite a bit cheaper. Still, Dell has them in pretty colours....

"support for 5 internal SATA drives" should say 4. typo on my part.

@lotsamystuff You typically will NOT see the FireWire(R) or i.LINK(R) name or logo on computers not made by Apple or Sony. While the two logos and trademark texts can be sublicensed from the trade association (Note, NOT the IEEE) upon passing separate certification processes for each logo including recertification on any change, that is not needed to just use of the IEEE standard compliance statement. Also note that even this wasn't even possible between 1995 (when IEEE 1394 became a public standard) and 2002 when the trade association was allowed to sublicense the use of the Apple branding in some cases. Of course, by that time USB 2 had effectively won the 1394/USB war and became the much more common standard in all but specialized cases. (Whether that's good or bad is a different issue.) So, effectively, the rule still applies. Sony = i.LINK Apple = FireWire Everybody else = IEEE 1394

"While the appeal of such a device is probably lost on the white-box DIY set, I suspect a lot of consumers will rather like it." You'd be surprised how many people will find non-upgradeable systems much less appealling than appliance systems - even those that don't upgrade. Constrained hardware platforms make the user feel the same way. Look at most of Apple's products and you'll know what I mean. This is a niche product. Just like the Macbook Air. Just like the Eee PC. Now this one is at least more full-featured than either of those, but still, history has shown that products like these don't see mass adoption.

Q.E.D.

How much is it to add sound to this little system Mike?

@ Waethorn "Nobody cares about 1394b on Windows anymore with eSATA having replaced it." People who use Windows and have halfway decent video cameras care very much about 1394 and 1394b.

SnakeDon'tCareWhatTheTopicIsIWantInDoctor1 The point is that people often see IEEE1394 and don't know it's the same as FireWire. Or vice versa. It makes it confusing for people comparing Apple computers with everyone elses. (For the few people who use FireWire in the first place)

@DRWAM there are many pages on MS sites that require IE only.............WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE......as Paul would say. Many of their products work best with IE, not because IE is better, but because they want to keep the IE/MS lockin. (Exchange OWA/Sharepoint...etc) One of the many reasons they are so loved and have an excellent image.

"People who use Windows and have halfway decent video cameras care very much about 1394 and 1394b." People who have halfway decent video cameras and are even halfway serious about video editing will buy a Mac anyway. "The point is that people often see IEEE1394 and don't know it's the same as FireWire." Usually it has both monikers. I just checked, and every FireWire peripheral I own (including several hard drives, a hub, and four video cameras) had the name "FireWire" and the FireWire logo on the box or packaging*. A couple of the cables even have the logo imprinted on them. Go figure. YMMV, as I'm sure you'll point out. "For the few people who use FireWire in the first place" I'm sure that in certain camps (including basement computer shops in Canada, and some cubicles in Redmond), FireWire is largely irrelevant. Certainly, Vista's dismal support for the standard requires the good WinJihadist to dismiss it as such. * Yes, I do keep the packaging. And the (non-Apple) FireWire hub I use has the logo imprinted directly on the box itself. Even the FireWire PCI card had it on the packing, IIRC. Certainly, it was called "FireWire".

I've seen more Firewire camcorders than USB 2.

That is honestly an amazing looking computer and an inspired design. Looks like Dell is taking a page from the Apple playbook in a very positive way. Awesome work.

@jp - "Looks like Dell is taking a page from the Apple playbook in a very positive way." Why not end your comment with the first sentence. This PC has nothing to do with Apple or any of their designs. No need to plug Apple in every post. @waethorn - No need for a snide response from you on my question to John, either. --tayme

"People who use Windows and have halfway decent video cameras care very much about 1394 and 1394b." I said specifically 1394*B*. Show me a consumer camcorder that supports it exclusively and we'll talk. "eSATA...eh 100% hardrives only and buggy between vendor products right now." You're smoking crack. "I've seen more Firewire camcorders than USB 2." Not I. 1394 is used mostly exclusively on aging DV tape camcorders (ie. MiniDV and the few Digital 8 tapes left). MPEG-4 camcorders (MicroMV, flash, HDD, Bluray, etc) and DVD camcorders use USB because they set the camcorder up to look like a drive letter or require special drivers or capture software. 1394 was designed for streaming pre-compressed MPEG-2 DV streams without in-line processing. Since newer camcorders don't use MPEG-2, and USB is more prevalent, manufacturers have chosen it as the connection of choice for consumer models.

"Dell has hired moron-hack-hall-of-famer Rob Enderle of "the Enderle Group"..." I thought you were joking. Really. But no, it's true! From the Wall Street Journal: "Rob Enderle, an industry analyst whom Dell hired to consult on the new entertainment strategy, said he is still discussing with Dell whether profits would come mainly from the subscription service or from devices tied to it." That's astonishing. Michael Dell must have a screw loose somewhere. It could be a good thing, though, in the sense that it might shut down the "Enderle Quote Mill" that consistently spews out the most incorrect propaganda the Interwebs have ever seen. Who's going to go to him now? If he's on the DELL payroll, how can he pretend to be objective in his "anal-ysis"? Enderle. DELL. BWAHAHAHAHAHA

I must say that this Dell does also demonstrate the limits of Apple's upgradability with the Mini. Wouldn't it be great if you could get a mini that's more powerful with more ram and disk? This speaks, once again, to Apple's lack of a mid-range headless tower. Not a gaming PC, since who cares about that on a mac, but just a powerful desktop not tied to it's monitor. It's a hole in the lineup given that the Mac Pro is a workstation-class monster that can only be honestly compared to Boxx systems or Precision workstations (and compared very well at that). The PC world beats the mac on choice. This we can't deny. As for firewire vs. USB vs Firewire 800 vs. eSata... Come on people. USB is the consumer platform. No question. Apple, has dropped firewire from the ipods for that very reason. Firewire 400 outperforms USB 2.0 in harddrives. That's simple, indisputable fact. Firewire 800 beats both of those and has connectivity on all pro macs, but virtually no PCs, making it less useful for PC users but awesome for Mac users. Now, given that Macs are very strong in content creation, and massive drives are eaten up in large part by content... firewire 800 actually has a quite large and sustainable userbase. Still, it's not as fast as eSata, which offers native speeds, but I'm unaware of any mainstream PCs or notebooks that ship with eSata ports... making it's userbase likely smaller than Firewire 800. But it's a great standard that's in heavy use among Mac pros for low-cost RAID solutions in pro content systems with miniSAS enclosures and cards like the Rocket Raid. Firewire is undisputably the digital video interconnect standard for tape. Still, we are moving to solid state where that matters less. I've been shooting commericals with the Red camera to compact flash cards for crying out loud. Of course, the fastest compact flash card reader is.... firewire 800 from sandisk. I tell everyone I know to buy tape-based camcorders for their home movies. I have the Canon HV20. It's great. And those tapes aren't going to crash and lose all the video I've taken of my son growing up. Tape still has it's place (even though I hate it). Tapeless consumer cameras + low rates of consumer drive backup = a horrible nightmare of digital memories lost forever. Still... None of the connectivity stuff is worth even a moment of hemming and hawing. Pick the connection that works for your hardware and enjoy. I have Firewire 800 drives and can cut 1080P full raster 10bit HD thanks to Final Cut's amazing prores codec. I could do the same with eSata but it would require an third party card (as it would on most PCs). Whatever. Use what works.