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Dell Studio Hybrid: can the desktop PC ever be sexy?

Dell Studio Hybrid: can the desktop PC ever be sexy?
Jul 30, 2008
 | 15 Comments 
Tags: Dell | desktop | design | fashion
Will PC users pay for style, or is the appeal of fashionable computer design purely a Mac-only thing? Dell is hoping the Mac-approach can win over the PC crowd with this stylish mini desktop.
[UPDATE: Dell tells us they're "offering XP as part of the downgrade program for select systems, as per the global announcement made here:
http://yourblog.direct2dell.com/2008/05/12/life-after-windows-xp/"]


Modders have been turning boring PCs into works of art for years, but it's only relatively recently that big-time PC brands have seriously turned their attention to it.

Dell has already grabbed attention in the US with the rather Mac-like XPS One, a stunningly designed all-in-one PC that unfortunately is yet to make it to Australia (Dell, any word on this?)

The good - it's tiny, and looks stunning
Tiny desktop have been around for a while from Acer and others, but not like this. Dell's Studio Hybrid is tiny, measuring 196.5mm long, which is a little less than half the width of a 19inch (non-widescreen) LCD monitor. Dell says the Hybrid is 80% smaller than a "standard" desktop, and claim it uses 70% less power.
click to view full size image
Looks like an external hard drive, is actually a PC.

Amazingly the entire system weighs a touch over 2Kg, which almost puts it in the ultraportable notebook category. By comparison, the Mac mini is 1.31Kg.

The not so great - ok value, but not brilliant
The value's ok, though not as great as Dell's el-cheapo entry level systems. For $1399 you get Core 2 Duo 2GHz, Vista Home Premium, 2GB RAM, 320GB HDD. On the downside, that includes X3100 integrated graphics. You can also get a similar/better spec buy buying a standard Dell Inspiron desktop, for $999, with a 22in monitor (no monitor at that price with the Studio Hybrid).

Overall, we're not complaining about the price, but it's worth keeping in mind. Does anyone other than Mac users care about how their desktop looks, and are they willing to pay for style?
click to view full size image
The Dell Studio Hybrid in all its tiny glory


click to view full size image
Yes, that's a bamboo option. Great for that "fantasy island" interior design scheme you've been planning.
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Comments: 15
bbjai
Jul 30, 2008 8:04 PM
wow
really? bamboo version
looks like a dream come true for interior decorators.
it does look sick


Comment made about the PC Authority article:
Dell Studio Hybrid: can the desktop PC ever be sexy??
Will PC users pay for style, or is the appeal of fashionable computer design purely a Mac-only thing? Dell is hoping the Mac-approach can win over the PC crowd with this stylish mini desktop.

What do you think? Join the discussion.
Nat.W¿LL¿
Jul 30, 2008 8:59 PM
ok it all looks good. but what if i want to do some work inside? does look too easy to get into...
midbear
Jul 30, 2008 10:54 PM
I have been waiting for something like this for 10 - 12 years - since the first really cool macs came out. I can't believe it has taken so long. The great thing about it is that I will now be able to get a pc based media centre in the lounge room...as there is finally a pc that is pleasing to the wifes eye... at @#$%ing last!
midbear
Jul 31, 2008 12:30 AM
I just went to the dell site to have a look at the specs of this wee beastie and was struck again by how beautiful it is, but as it is supposed to be thier greenist pc yet, why is it that i can not order one without a monitor or keyboard or mouse.

I have all of these peripherals already and are happy with them. It strikes me as very environmental to be forcing me to buy resources I don't need, especially when advertising your environmental credentials - bad dell, bad!
Jim.Dude
Jul 31, 2008 1:01 PM
I personally find that look not cool at all. It looks like some kind of demented water bottle gone wrong. I don't get it at all, why are people going ape to convert their media pc's into 'sylish' looking things, but are still happy to have have black/silver DVD players/recorders and GIANT black/silver TV's attached to them?

Seriously, next to any kind of 'stylish' plasma (i.e. black/silver) that thing would look hideious.
midbear
Jul 31, 2008 1:56 PM
Jim.dude you clearly haven't been married for an extended period of time ;-)
Jim.Dude
Jul 31, 2008 2:41 PM
midbear wrote:
Jim.dude you clearly haven't been married for an extended period of time ;-)


Can't say I have, although I've lived with my ex-girlfriend for some 4 and a half years. But what does my marital status have to do with anything?

Point still stands. Most TV's, DVD players, VHS etc are black and/or silver. Few, if any, are shaped anything other than a square and even fewer are given funky colours. So why must computers be different?

And what is wrong with a black/silver case? I have a Coolermaster Cosmos in my office at the moment, it stills really nicely with my plain desk, shintaro laser mouse, reclusa keyboard and NEC 20WGX...all of which are either black and/or silver.

A red computer would look stupid here.

Edited by Jim.Dude: 31/7/2008 02:42:07 PM
geller
Jul 31, 2008 4:04 PM
I'm so over gloss black tech gear. Piano black will be the new beige in 2 years, just as piano white is now.
totoaus
Aug 1, 2008 7:13 PM
Somehow, I just don't think the PC industry can ever compete successfully with Apple on the style front. They won this long ago, gaining a massive "first mover advantage."
Slatts
Aug 1, 2008 8:43 PM
midbear wrote:
I have been waiting for something like this for 10 - 12 years - since the first really cool macs came out. I can't believe it has taken so long. The great thing about it is that I will now be able to get a pc based media centre in the lounge room...as there is finally a pc that is pleasing to the wifes eye... at @#$%ing last!


My personal opinion is that it would take someone who can put the words cool and mac next to to each other in a sentence( an obvious oxymoron to mainstream computer enthusiast) to find beauty in this toy.

Having said that my oldest son tells me he reckons it looks good.

ya try to bring them up right...](*,)
Nat.W¿LL¿
Aug 1, 2008 8:56 PM
why do we need a 'sexy' laptop? looks isnt everything;)
could be spending money and time on more important things...
Jim.Dude
Aug 1, 2008 9:09 PM
Yeah see, that's a good point. If they could make a 'stylish' computer for the same price as the regular one and not like 10 times as much, then it might have a chance. As long as you have to pay extra for looks, it's going to struggle... :-P
Nat.W¿LL¿
Aug 1, 2008 9:12 PM
i wince at the thought of the cost:-k
Slatts
Aug 1, 2008 10:09 PM
Nat.W¿LL¿ wrote:
i wince at the thought of the cost:-k


I laugh:lol:
Nat.W¿LL¿
Aug 2, 2008 9:42 AM
Slatts wrote:
Nat.W¿LL¿ wrote:
i wince at the thought of the cost:-k


I laugh:lol:

hahah yea that too
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