Dell Adamo takes on Macbook Air

Dell has officially launched its Adamo laptop, finally silencing rumours that were flying around back in January ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

Dell is touting the luxury aspect of the laptop. Like Apple's Macbook Air, it is constructed of metal and glass and dubbed ultra-thin'.

Unlike Apple though, Dell is making the Adamo available in two colours metallic pearl' and black onyx'.

Dell is laying on the lifestyle aspect thickly, with the Adamo enjoying its own microsite complete with mood music and sepia-coloured video filled with fashion models.

Talk of specifications are secondary, but inside you'll find either a 1.2GHz or 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor and a choice of 2GB or 4GB of DDR3 RAM. Wireless-N, Bluetooth 2.1 are present as it an RJ-45 Ethernet port, something Apple could not find room for on its ultra-thin machine.

As with the Air, the optical drive is external but Dell fans will get a choice of either a DVD Rewriter or a Blu-ray disc drive.

Dell also said it will offer a a version with mobile broadband built-in too.

The company is claiming five hours battery life from the machine though this figure is given with the caveat of being based on "preliminary testing."

The Adamo is available now in the UK starting at 1,649, and $1,999 (1,429) in the US.

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Benny Har-Even

Benny Har-Even is a twenty-year stalwart of technology journalism who is passionate about all areas of the industry, but telecoms and mobile and home entertainment are among his chief interests. He has written for many of the leading tech publications in the UK, such as PC Pro and Wired, and previously held the position of technology editor at ITPro before regularly contributing as a freelancer.

Known affectionately as a ‘geek’ to his friends, his passion has seen him land opportunities to speak about technology on BBC television broadcasts, as well as a number of speaking engagements at industry events.