Video: Dell's design VP Ed Boyd shows off their prettiest laptops

Posted by Joel Johnson, April 16, 2009 12:35 PM | permalink

Dell's VP of Consumer Design, Ed Boyd, discusses the theory of Dell's latest design, including the Adamo laptop. He uses words like "unbridled" with a straight face.

Here's a design tip for Dell: Stop taking money from Intel and Microsoft so you can get those horrible little badges off the inside of your laptops. [via Core77]

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#1 posted by arnearne, April 16, 2009 1:18 PM

Ed's way of speaking is simply mesmerising... Also, the hinges on that XPS thing. Why?

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#2 posted by Garr, April 16, 2009 2:16 PM

arnearne: they're awesome, design-wise. At least I think so ;)
If I had the money for an additional PC, I'd buy a Studio XPS 16.

But you're right about his way of speaking... He's not the born rhetoric ;)

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#3 posted by Clay, April 16, 2009 2:28 PM

Next step: Ditch Windows and customize up a portability-focused Ubuntu variant like HP is doing.

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#4 posted by ShaneAH, April 16, 2009 3:17 PM

I heartily approve of the Adamo's solution to the ethernet port size problem: The thinness of the bottom deck is limited by the height of the ethernet port.
MacBook Air solution: Ditch the port. In Apple fantasy-land wireless networking is ubiquitous.
Adamo solution: Put the ports in a double-height piece behind the screen, just like the paleo-laptops of the 80s.

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#5 posted by ShaneAH, April 16, 2009 3:19 PM

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#6 posted by jitrobug, April 16, 2009 4:14 PM

Here's my laptop pet peeve... every one of those he has to hold the bottom down to be able to open the top. Meaning that it always a two handed task.

My thinkpad t43 opens with one hand, and the only other laptop I've seen do it is the shiny new no-button mac.

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#7 posted by strider_mt2k, April 17, 2009 4:56 AM

They're just stickers.
Peel 'em off or put your custom Japanese Thundercats ones over 'em, you'll be fine.

Yes, I agree.
Design computers for your customers, not for your vendors.

You'd think that'd be a duh, but the future is a confusing place.

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#8 posted by monstrinho_do_biscoito, April 17, 2009 4:57 AM

i own a top of the line dell precision m6400. i weighs a ton, but looks and works great.

joel's right about the horrible little badges though.

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#9 posted by Anonymous, April 17, 2009 6:21 AM

The design "theory" appears to be to make it look like a MacBookPro.

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#10 posted by Anonymous, April 17, 2009 11:06 AM

Does it worry anyone that the guy in charge of design at Dell lacks the coolness of a Jonathan Ive or J Allard. He looks and sounds like someone took his red swingline stapler.

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#11 posted by agraham999, April 17, 2009 1:40 PM

Wait...did he just say it has leather??? Is it Corintian Leather?

What's next, brass finishes and woodgrain accents? Maybe an option for velour palm rests?

What's kinda interesting (and what annoys me) about the PC makers out there is that they tend to follow Apple's lead instead of doing something truly unique. The Adamo is an obvious answer to the Air...but the problem is now they are always going to be playing catchup. I'm sure the next rev of the Air will leap again ahead of the Adamo...

I think where Apple is going with the Air is having a completely port free machine that utilizes ubiquitous wireless for everything.

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#12 posted by agraham999, April 17, 2009 1:53 PM

#10...kinda a funny point...you know Apple got a lot of crap for portraying Mac's as guys who kinda look like Ive, and PCs as dorks in a windbreaker and buttoned down shirt...and you couldn't have a better PC stereotype than this guy.

#9...aw come on...the MacBooks don't come with leather. Dell has the design edge here with putting dead cow hide on a screaming fast piece of plastic and aluminum.

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#13 posted by zikman, April 17, 2009 10:07 PM

man, next time he's trying to present something, maybe he shouldn't say "uh" or "um" so much. if he doesn't know what to say for half a second, just don't say anything. don't fill the silence with "uhhh"

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#14 posted by nightingale, April 19, 2009 8:52 PM

Good video the laptop is so beautiful , I like it very much!