New Dell XPS, flat-panels

Dell has launched a three-prong assault on CES, confirming the existence of new flat-panels, the Home Media Suite, and most importantly, the H2Ceramic (H2C) Edition of the XPS 710. Using a technology previously codenamed Black Ice, the H2C cools its components in a two-step process: first through a liquid-to-air heat exchanger, and then with ceramic thermoelectric modules to shift the heat away. The computer will definitely need it, as the base model ($5,499) uses a quad-core Core Extreme overclocked to 3.2GHz, as well as twin GeForce 8800 GTX graphics cards. Other specs of the system include 4GB of RAM, two optical drives, and two 160GB, 10,000rpm hard drives.

As we've suggested, the 27-inch UltraSharp 2707WFP does indeed have a new display arm and a host of television AV ports, such as component, DVI-D and composite. Four USB 2.0 ports are present, as is the promised 9-in-2 card reader. The screen supports resolutions up to 1920x1200 with 1,000:1 contrast and a 6ms response time. Likewise new is the 22-inch E228WFP, though that display has a top resolution of 1680x1050, and is missing all of the 2707's ports with the exception of DVI and VGA. It can, however, be wall-mounted with a separate kit. The E228 also costs $329 versus the 2707's $1,400.

Coming later this month (after the release of Windows Vista) is the Home Media Suite, which will bundle a number of products together for the purpose of recording digital cable. At the heart of the Suite is an XPS 410 system, which has a Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, a 1TB RAID array, and a DVD/RW drive. Some other components will include an 802.11n router, a Linksys PowerLine AV bridge, and of course, a digital cable tuner. A price has not been mentioned.

By Electronista Staff