Thread: Dell XPS One

THE DELL XPS ONE EASILY OUTCLASSES its all-in-one competitor (and name¬sake), the Gateway One, and matches or surpasses the Apple iMac, which has long been the gold standard of all-in¬one PCs. While the XPS One starts at over Rs.70,OOO, Dell sent us its top of the line Rs.lOO,OOO model for testing with a built-in HDTV tuner, 802.lln wireless capability, and Blu-ray drive. Although the model I reviewed is the expensive in the XPS One family, it is worth the money for the technology fan with deep pockets. Except for the graphics choice, the XPS One uses components that are competitive those found in traditionally-designed desktop tower PCs and has the benchmarks to prove it. Better still, it looks good doing it. The XPS One shows once and for all that the future of desktop PCs is in the all-in-one form factor.

The system's 20-inch widescreen sits a little low on its pivoting arm compared with its rivals. Unlike the Gateway One and iMac, it is a lot more propor¬tional in design. There's no "chin" below the screen, nor is there anything installed above the monitor. In fact, when I first saw the prototype, I actually thought that it was some new-fangled XPS-branded monitor with built in speakers. Reality sank in when I saw the Cable/antenna jack on the back of the case. As befits an alI-in-one PC, the XPS One doesn't take up a lot of desk space. If you don't need a Cable TV hookup or
Ethernet (which also means you won't be using the video input breakout box with IR blaster that came with my configuration), then the XPS One can match the Apple iMac and Gateway One in the "one-cable" hookup department, thanks to the XPS One's wire¬less keyboard, mouse and 802.l1n networking. The XPS One's integrated two-megapixel Web cam offers face recognition (it focuses and zooms on your face). The same technology allows overlay effects like those seen on Logitech and Creative Labs webcams. Out of the box, you can give yourself elf ears or add disco lighting effects.

I really have to split hairs to find fault with the XPS One's design. The clear base is too shallow to hold the entire keyboard under the screen, unlike on the iMac. The keyboard will always stick out just a bit when you're not using it. Last but not least, the 20-inch monitor only has a 1,680-by-l,050 resolution. While it's sharp, you can't view HDTV in fulll,920-by-l,080 resolution-not that you'd be able to tell the difference on a 20-inch screen. Playing Blu-ray movies on the XPS One was entertaining, and the video picture will blow you away.




The Dell XPS One is one of the most attractive all-in-one PC's. It looks like a monitor rather than an all-in-one Pc. The Dell XPS One performs better than the competition on multimedia tasks This is the all¬in-one PC to beat.