With a 17.3-inch (1600×900) display, the 3kg system starts with a 2.1GHz Dual Core T4300, DVD burner, 320GB HDD, 4GB RAM, 512MB Radeon 4570 and a footprint that can support a slew of ports — two USBs, one USB/eSATA, HDMI, Display Port, VGA and Firewire.

But you can scale the power all the way up to an i7.

The multitouch display (we’re looking for confirmation on whether or not it’s capacitive tech) supports the pre-installed Windows 7 along with Dell’s own touch software.

The Studio 17 Touch is on sale now to ship this December. [Dell via Electronista]

The idea of multiple models seems to sync up with Dell’s previous comments about considering MIDs with screen sizes ranging from four inches to 12 inches. Last month’s apparent leak suggested the 5-inch Streak has an 800 by 480 touch screen, 3G, Wi-Fi, a 5-megapixel camera with dual LED flash, microSD card storage and a 1300mAh battery. Commercial Times says it’ll be built by Qisda. [DigiTimes via SlashGear]

The call sounded painful from across the house. The first 10 minutes, it was clear she was talking to a robot. Then it was clear she was either talking to someone very stupid or someone very unfamiliar with English as she kept repeating, “No, I just want to know if I can swap out my 6-cell battery for a 3-cell battery.” She must have said it 50 times over 90 minutes. Someone even admitted to trying to make a commission off of her by selling her a new battery. That battery would have cost half of the price of a brand new netbook. In the end, customer service didn’t do anything to help her. It’s been years since I’ve needed customer service, so maybe every PC company is this bad now, but I hope not.

If you have any horror/pleasantly surprising stories of your own, please let me know in the comments. [BoingBoing, image from preemo at deviant art]

Instead, Dell has turned to AMD chips starting with a base Athlon processor (which can be bumped to an AMD Athlon X2, and AMD Athlon Neo X2). A single hard-drive squeezes inside (up to 1TB) along with as much as 8GB of RAM. And you can choose between integrated graphics and an ATI Radeon HD 4330 512MB card.

That should be enough power to drive 1080p out of the HDMI port (through an optional Blu-ray drive and TV Tuner if you’d like). You also score four USB ports (two front, two back) along with two eSATA ports for easy drive-expansion.

The Zino HD goes on sale today. But I haven’t spotted it on their site just yet. I’m interested to see what you really get in that base $US250ish rig. and how much a few of these key upgrades will cost. If Dell keeps the price down, the Zino HD could be a no-brainer when compared to the Atom and Ion-based systems floating around. [Dell]

UPDATE: Dell’s press materials they sent out said the Zino HD would start at $US250. As of right now, the cheapest configuration online is $US360. We’ve contacted Dell for clarification.

UPDATE 2: This is fun, isn’t it? Swap out Windows 7 Professional with Home and the price drops to $US260. I have no clue why a sub-$US300 computer defaults with a $US100 OS upgrade.

UPDATE 3: OK, it looks like the website pricing updates are done. My base configuration is down to $US230 with a 1.6GHz Athlon, 2GB RAM, DVD drive and 250GB (7200rpm) hard drive. Bumping the specs up to a dual-core Athlon puts the price to $US289.

The hacktastic Dell Mini 9 goes well with all sorts of aftermarket add-ons and OS’s, including this latest addition. Updated.

An accelerometer tied to a touchscreen. Why not, right? Seems like a logical progression after we saw this tiny tot of a netbook hacked to serve as a stylus-driven tablet.

It’s no Courier, certainly, but as far as cheap, functional touchscreen tablets go, it’s not half bad.

Update: Apologies to the creator, Brian, who informed us of the original link for this post. It’s now correct, so go check it out! [My Dell Mini Forums via Gadget Mix]

Though running certain apps in a tiny window could actually be pretty useful, Dell ultimately felt the cost didn’t justify the gimmickry. And though the red prototype above put the notebook’s ports into a concealed pop-up panel — and was only just thicker than the final design — it was still deemed too fat.

Perhaps coolest of all, is the glossy purple/blue concept. Not due to the colour, but because it had capacitive-touch buttons. It got ditched over concerns that people wouldn’t react well to a keyboard that doesn’t move, but as you know, Dell kept the heat-sensitive capacitive latch. Lots more pics and background over at: [PC World]

The final version below. See our hands-on for more.

I mean that in the best possible way.

It really is impossibly thin. I felt like I was holding a single sheet of aluminium that was contoured into the curved shape of a laptop. I set it down gingerly because I didn’t want to break it, since I didn’t know at that moment that it was $US1800. My finger slid across the heat-sensitive capacitive latch to disengage it.

There was no visible sign my stroke was the lucky one, so I waited a second before prying the top half upward. It wasn’t entirely seamless — I had to hold the bottom half down with a single finger as I pulled the display open and the keyboard slid forward, like a notebook out of a Pierce Brosnan James Bond era. The metal keys were cold. Which I kind of liked, actually.

When it’s in full bloom, the entire computer is propped up, resting on the front edge of the keyboard and outer edge of the display, so from the side it looks like an L that’s had its foot broken. It’s one reason I think the Adamo XPS is insane — there’s just nothing else like it and that’s what I love about it, all practical issues aside. Issues like one I suspected initially — and confirmed — when I had to balance it near the window — it’s going to be tricky to actually use in your lap. Do you let the overhang rest against your kneecaps? Or do you perform a balancing act resting the slim edges on your legs, hoping you don’t lean one way or the other? The design’s not simply to show off your $US1800 Ginsu blade by Dell, either — it’s for heat dissipation.

The 1366×768 LED display is sunken, so there’s a rim around it. That’s because the bottom folds up into the top with a puffy lip holding the webcam and mic hanging over it. I worry slightly about the camera lens getting scratched, since it’s exposed whenever the Adamo XPS is closed.

I didn’t get to actually use the computer much, but it’s got essentially the same ultralight guts as the original Adamo, with the important distinction that it’s running Windows 7. So it should be a smoother ride in theory. The 20WHr battery, however, is only rated to deliver two hours and 36 minutes of battery life, so it’s going to be a shorter ride. It has two USB ports, DisplayPort out (with an HDMI dongle) and a dongle for Ethernet.

At $US1800, it’s an engineering aspiration, but a pretty fantastic one.

DELL ANNOUNCES ADAMO XPS, A DAZZLING GIFT IDEA FOR STYLE-MINDED THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
· World’s Thinnest Laptop is 0.4-inch thin · Adamo XPS Reinforces Dell’s Commitment to Craftsmanship and Design

· Advanced Head-Turning Design Offers Full Feature Set for On-The-Go Computing

ROUND ROCK, Texas, Nov 5, 2009 … Last spring Dell set the computing industry abuzz with the introduction of its Adamo brand, and along with it the world’s thinnest laptop PC. Today, the world meets a new champion of thin: The Dell™ Adamo XPS™, measuring 9.99mm or just four-tenths of an inch. Both laptops set new standards for craftsmanship, design and engineering excellence.

Adamo XPS is a stunning laptop whose design provides a unique experience. With the swipe of a finger, the keyboard appears from under the display as the system is open. The feature set challenged engineers to build the latest technology into a compact space, including:

· 4GB* DDR3 800 memory;

· Intel Core 2 Duo (1.4Ghz) ultra-low voltage processor;

· Thin 128GB SSD for faster, cooler, quieter and more durable storage than traditional hard drives;

· A 13.4-inch high-definition display.

The attention to detail is apparent in the black, jewelry box-like packaging that is as striking as the laptop itself. A tug on a cloth loop reveals the Adamo XPS and assorted accessories that accompany the system. The Adamo XPS was recently recognised as the hottest Windows 7 product by leading technology analyst Rob Enderle with Digital Trends.

Adamo, derived from the Latin word meaning “to fall in love,” is a flagship in a line of products created to disrupt the personal computing space with the combination of new design aesthetics, personalization choices and sought-after technologies.

The Adamo by Dell brand was launched last March with the first Adamo laptop, which combined high-performance technologies in a finely-machined aluminium case only .65-inch thick.

The pencil-thin Adamo XPS weighs just over 3 pounds** and measures 13.39 x 10.71 inches. Dell expects to begin taking orders and shipping the Adamo XPS with Microsoft® Windows® 7 pre-installed in time for the holidays. The Adamo XPS is priced starting at $US1799. More information is available at www.adamobydell.com

[Dell]

Brazilian Website, Cellular Café, says the “X” version adds the Wi-Fi and 3G/HSDPA (850/1900/2100MHz) connectivity that the Chinese 3i lacked. The camera remains at 3 megapixels, but the interface on the phone’s 3.5-inch touchscreen display now looks closer to Android’s default look and feel. [Cellular Café (translated) via Unwired View]

Last week I called Dell Technical Support about my Dell Studio 1537 Laptop and a DVD drive which was making loud noises and ejecting all cds. I had the basic “mail-in” warranty which required I ship them the laptop back. After my phone conversation with overseas tech support I received an empty box with a prepaid packing slip to mail the laptop back. A couple days ago I received both an automated email and phone call that my laptop was coming back to me. This morning, Fedex delivered a refurbished hard drive – yes just a hard drive.

I began my calling spree this morning and spoke to 7, yes 7, different Dell reps who transferred me between technical support, customer service, and back to technical support. After about 90 minutes of phone calls, hold music, and redialing I’m stuck with a 250gb hard drive but no laptop. Who do I call for help?

Oh, so he expected the whole computer to come back to him. I see. Perhaps this is some sort of new “you’ll get a hard drive and like it” approach to customer support Dell is trying out. I don’t see it working. Incidentally, Consumerist suggests sending emails to michael@dell.com in situations like this. Apparently, the messages are routed to an executive relations team that has been helpful in the past. [Consumerist Image via 60 in 3]