It has long been known that Dell was killing off its Adamo brand and that the company was planning to take its passion for ultrathin laptops and meld it with something a bit more powerful. Well, the Dell XPS 15z is that something. The laptop has long been teased and touted as the thinnest 15-inch laptop "on the planet," but it is much more than a skinny rig. Not only does it measure .97-inches thick, but it's got Core i5 / i7 processor options, NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M graphics, and the choice of a full HD display. We've got all the details you've been waiting for right after the break.
In terms of aesthetic, it's very clear that the XPS 15z is part of the XPS family. It has a flared chassis just like the previous XPS 14 and 15 and is covered in a grayish aluminum. However, while the other XPS laptops had some plastic parts, Dell is specifically saying that the entire system is now covered in a mix of aluminum and magnesium alloy. The machine measures .97-inches and weighs just 5.54 pounds. Which brings us to a very interesting point. Dell is claiming that it's the thinnest 15-inch laptop ever, however the MacBook Pro 15 measures .95 inches and weighs a very similar 5.6 pounds. There's no doubt that the system looks very trim, but that "thinnest" title seems, well, wrong. Or at least overly ambitious.
Under the lid Dell has equipped the system with a backlit chiclet keyboard and a touchpad with two dedicated right and left mouse buttons. Flanking the keyboard are two speakers, which we are praying pumps out just as quality sound as the XPS 14. However, above all we are most impressed with the 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080-resolution display option. That's right, you can jump right over the 1366 x 768-resolution option and get an honest full HD panel!
Which brings us to the specs. The system can be outfitted with your choice of dual-core Sandy Bridge Core i5-2410M or i7-2620M processors, NVIDIA GeForce GT525M graphics (there are 1GB and 2GB VRAM options), up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and a smattering of 7,200rpm hard drive options. The rig also supports Intel's WiDi 2.0 and NVIDIA's 3DPlay. Speaking of NVIDIA, we're happy to see Optimus on board here -- you know, the technology that dynamically switches between the IGP and discrete GPU. Surrounding the system, you'll find two USB 3.0 ports, an USB / eSATA combo, an optical drive, as well as HDMI, Mini DisplayPort, Ethernet, and headphone jacks. The 15z has an integrated 8-cell, 64Wh battery, which Dell claims will provide up to eight hours of battery life. That probably means closer to six hours of juice in everyday usage, but hopefully we will be able to test that soon enough.
The best part of the whole package is the price -- the system starts at $999 and will be available tomorrow in the US on Dell's website. You getting one or what?
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