Dell hints at Adamo replacement with Sandy Bridge

Dell in a teaser on Monday raised the prospects that its attempts to challenge the MacBook Air weren't over with the end of the Adamo line. The company planned to launch a series of new notebooks using Intel's Sandy Bridge (2011 Core) processors that would be headlined by a new ultraportable. It didn't explain the plans, but it recalled the Adamo's image with promises of "beauty and brawn" in an "innovative new form factor."

Other introductions would include new, faster Inspirons. All of the new systems should ship within the next six weeks, Dell said. The ultraportable is due to show in April.

The plans hinted Dell's decision to cancel the Adamo was prompted more by a change in strategy than with an attempt to quit the business. It first unveiled the Adamo two years ago in a conscious attempt to replicate the MacBook Air's success but was never thought to have any particularly large success. It first cost more than a MacBook Air at a minimum $1,999 but eventually dropped to as little as $799 while its specifications only gradually moved upwards. The Adamo XPS purportedly had "strong" sales but was pulled permanently just a few months after it went on sale, due both to its high price and 2.5-hour battery.

The 2010 MacBook Air redesign may have tipped Dell's hand both for the end of the Adamo and possibly on the redesign. Its pricing was at least competitive with the price-cut Adamo but was much lighter and thinner even as it managed more battery life and much faster graphics performance.

By Electronista Staff