Dell AX-3600GSL Adamo XPS 13.4-Inch Laptop (Windows 7 Home Premium)

#1: Dell AX-3600GSL Adamo XPS 13.4-Inch Laptop (Windows 7 Home Premium) Reviews!

I purchased the Dell Adamo XPS about 2 months ago after debating between the raw performance of an Alienware laptop versus the thin-and-light Adamo XPS. I am glad to have chosen the Adamo XPS.

Unpacking the Adamo XPS, you'll see it comes with a 20 WHr battery, a mini-display port to DVI adapter, USB ethernet adapter, cleaning cloth, and power adapter with extension cord. The laptop itself is a mere 9.99mm thick and weighs 1.6 lbs with battery installed. The laptop comes with an Intel ULV processor, 128 GB solid state drive by Samsung (PM800 model if anyone wants to look at its specs), 4 GB of DDR3 RAM, Intel GM45 graphics, GPS and Skyhook wifi triangulation, light sensor, webcam, 802.11abgn, and bluetooth. The 13.4" widescreen is LED backlit and has a maximum brightness of 300 cd/m2 (translation, pretty freaking bright!). It also has a SIM card slot on the lower left corner of the chassis, but I cannot find any information as to whether it has WWAN built in or not.

Physically, the laptop has a very finished and svelte look and feel to it. After swiping your fingers over the capacitive sensor at the lid of the screen, the locks disengage using a current sensitive metal that warps when a charge is applied to it. When open, there is no flex at the joint, which was a concern of mine as it seemed like a weak pivot point, even when pushing down with the palm of my hand at the keyboard, there is no noticeable flex. As part of the design, the processor and memory was placed above the keyboard area, which cleverly allows for air ventilation below the laptop and when used on your lap, prevents your legs and wrist from getting warm. The keyboard is chiclet styled, made with metal rather than painted plastic. Two speakers are hidden underneath the R and I keys on the keyboard, while a third downward facing speaker is on the bottom of the laptop.

Now that introductions are out of the way, I'll give you some of my observations on the laptop.

- The solid state drive allows the laptop to boot fast, 15 seconds fast! After pressing the power button, it only takes the laptop 15 seconds to get to the windows login screen.
- It is very comfortable to use on the lap. This was a concern of mine as the unconventional style looked like it would dig into my lap. I was pleasantly surprised that this was not the case, and in fact was more comfortable overall, especially when compared with my Macbook Pro (which is akin to using a clothing iron on your lap). The Adamo XPS weighs only about 2 lbs overall, which really is no heavier than a paperback book, and since Dell placed the highest heat generating parts (memory and CPU) above the keyboard where it is furthest from your lap and wrists, my lap stays nice and cool. I am continuously amazed at how it feels like I am typing on thin air while I am using the laptop on my lap.
- The paint Dell chose to use to label the keys on the keyboard is annoying. It feels terrible when my nails slide over the key labels on the metal keyboard. It is like sliding your nails from a smooth glass surface to a surface made of sandpaper. It also makes me concerned that the labels will scratch off over time.
- For touch-typists like me, the lack of ridges on the J and F keys is another added annoyance.
- The buttons on the trackpad are springy and soft, nice!
- The computer comes with Fast Access Facial Recognition, which allows for you to use your face to login to the computer. From my experience, it works very well, and adds to that futuristic feel when all you need to do is sit down in front of your "thinnest laptop in the world" and watch it login for you.
- Center of gravity. With the unusual form factor, stability was a concern. The angle between the screen and keyboard cannot be opened greater than 60 degrees, which is a bummer when you are sitting close to the laptop. However, as all the heavy components are in the keyboard area, stability or the danger of tipping over was a non-issue.
-The display is VERY bright; it almost hurts my eyes to use it indoors above 50% brightness. The laptop has a built in light sensor next to the power button that adjusts the brightness of the screen automatically. Colors are nice but viewing angles on the screen is average, colors start to look "off" at 70 degrees away from looking straight at the screen. I guess I was just spoiled from using tablet pcs, which have very wide viewing angles.
- The battery is a pain to figure out how to remove. Dell designed the laptop so that you can "hot-swap" the batteries, that is, you can simply put the laptop to sleep and swap the batteries out without needing to boot the computer up again (it has a small internal battery that allows you 30 seconds to change the batteries). After much fiddling and being afraid of snapping the battery, I finally figured out how to properly remove the battery. Close the laptop and place it upside down, so that the battery is at the top facing away from you, the Dell logo on the underside should be upside-down. Using both hands, place the nails of your fingers in the crevice of the battery and apply a gentle force inwards towards the center of the laptop. While doing so, use your left hand's thumb to engaging the battery release lock, the battery should pop out with no resistance at all when done right. What were they thinking?
- Battery life with the standard battery is mediocre. Dell bundled a battery saving software that automatically turns off Windows Aero and engages CPU throttling to help save battery, but even then I only squeak by with 2.5 hours of usage with wifi.
- Even with using Intel's ULV processor sipping 10 Watts max, the computer feels extremely peppy, it has no problem multitasking with Hulu videos, working on Word and Excel, while surfing the internet at the same time. That said, it is not a gaming laptop, so don't expect it to play graphics-intensive games.

Overall, with minimum compromises, mainly in battery life, I feel Dell has created an engineering marvel. It is a product that truly showcases how far personal computing technology has brought us. I feel as if I made the right purchasing decision.

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Dell AX-3600GSL Adamo XPS 13.4-Inch Laptop (Windows 7 Home Premium) Features

• 1.4GHz Intel Core2 Duo SU9400 Processor (3MB cache, 800 MHz FSB)
• 4GB DDR3 Memory
• 128GB Solid State Drive, Built-in 1.3MP webcam
• 13.4" HD (1366 x 768) WLED Display, 16x9 Aspect Ratio, Intel GS45 Integrated Graphics
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit),

Customer Reviews

Light + Thin, Great for Travel + Work - Jody - New York, NY
Simply the most luxurious laptop I have ever owned. Sleek aluminum casing with aluminum keys give this amazing laptop the feel of an indestructible machine while also giving it the elegance of a Macbook. At half the thickness of the Macbook Air, this is an ultra-portable that slips into any bag and weighing in at less than 3lbs is enough to take with you anywhere you go. Be the envy at the coffee shop as you boot up in less than 30 seconds with a solid state hard drive and connect wirelessly at speeds in excess of 300mb with its internal N card. Simply the best laptop I have ever owned, hands down.