FRESH NEW VERSION OF THE ICONIC DELL XPS ONE KICKS OFF A SEASON OF DESIGN AND DISCOVERY

XPS One 24 Is Bigger, Brighter, Bolder — Beautiful

* Each XPS One 24 (PRODUCT) RED Purchase Contributes $50-$80 to Fight AIDS in Africa
* New Dell.com/Everyday Site Serves Up Hot Deals for Holiday Shopping

ROUND ROCK, TEXAS, OCT. 30, 2008 – Dell today kicked off a season of great products, great designs and great deals with the launch of the XPS One™ 24 and XPS One 24 (PRODUCT)RED™. Available in the U.S. starting at $1,699, the updated design boasts a 24-inch, edge-to-edge 1080p HD display and premium JBL dual stereo speakers and sub woofer for immersive entertainment experiences.

Dell launched its partnership with (RED) in January to help people find unique products and experiences that allow them to express their individuality while connecting with others who share their passion for making a difference. Each purchase of an XPS One 24 (PRODUCT)RED system contributes $50-$80 (depending on the configuration) to the Global Fund, which helps fight HIV and AIDS in Africa.

Dell also launched the new www.dell.com/everyday Web site, a one-stop holiday shopping destination for daily deals and personalization ideas.

The News:

* The XPS One line of all-in-one PCs combines advanced entertainment features with a sleek, visually stunning and award-winning design.
* The XPS One 24 integrates an array of sought-after features, including HDTV, DVR, optional Blu-ray Disc player and recorder, component stereo system, video phone, and media library.
* In addition to the larger display and premium sound capabilities, the XPS One 24 features:
o NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT video graphics for eye-popping visuals.
o Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 quad core processor to easily handle complex multimedia activities.
o Choice of Midnight Gray, or Pure White with the XPS One 24 (PRODUCT)RED version.
* Dell offers two (PRODUCT)RED configurations, a version with Windows Vista Home Premium starting $1,699 and one starting at $2,299 featuring Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED and other upgrades. Each purchase of an XPS One 24 (PRODUCT) RED system contributes $50-$80 (depending on the configuration) to the Global Fund. To place that in perspective, a $50 contribution can provide nearly 4 months of life-saving treatment for an individual living with HIV in Africa.
* For the rest of the year, Dell will feature daily deals, gift suggestions and shopping tips at www.dell.com/everyday. Be the first to know via tweets at http://twitter.com/DellEveryday , or check out the Everyday Deals Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dell-Everyday-Deals/56260914096.

Additional Information:

www.dell.com/everyday
www.dell.com/joinred
www.joinred.com
www.dell.com/yourblog
http://twitter.com/DellEveryday
www.flickr.com/photos/dell_digital_media
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dell-Everyday-Deals/56260914096

About Dell

People worldwide can buy Dell online, by phone and in 15,000 stores.

About (RED) TM and (PRODUCT) RED™
(RED)'s primary objective is to engage the private sector in raising awareness and funds for the Global Fund, to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. Companies whose products take on the (PRODUCT)RED mark contribute a significant percentage of the sales or portion of the profits from that product to the Global Fund to finance AIDS programs in Africa, with an emphasis on the health of women and children. Current partners are: American Express (U.K. only), Apple, Converse, Gap, Emporio Armani, Hallmark, Dell, Windows and Starbucks. Since its launch in the Spring of 2006, more than $112 million has been generated by (RED) for the Global Fund. (RED) money is at work in Swaziland, Rwanda, Ghana and Lesotho. For more information, visit www.joinred.com.

About the Global Fund
Since its creation in 2002, the Global Fund has become the dominant financer of programs to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, with approved funding of US$11.5 billion for programs in 136 countries. The Global Fund supports programs based on agreed performance targets and disburses money in response to proven results. So far, programs supported by the Global Fund have averted more than 2.5 million deaths by providing AIDS treatment for 1.75 million people, TB treatment for 3.9 million people, and by the distribution of 59 million insecticide-treated bed nets for the prevention of malaria worldwide.

(RED)TM is the Global Fund's largest private sector contributor.

Dell and Microsoft will announce later this week that they will offer customers a simple way to make a difference, through the purchase of unique (PRODUCT) RED branded personal computers and a printer. Adding to the premium experience, all Dell (PRODUCT) RED PCs are powered by Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED, that include six unique desktop wallpapers, a screensaver, two innovative Windows Sidebar gadgets and a (RED)-themed Windows DreamScene. Dell is the exclusive PC and peripheral partner of (PRODUCT) RED.

• When a consumer chooses either laptop - the XPS M1530 (PRODUCT) RED or XPS M1330 (PRODUCT) RED with Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED (starting price $1,149 for either laptop) - Dell and Windows will make a total joint contribution of $50 directly to the Global Fund, which buys nearly 4 months of lifesaving antiretroviral medication.

• When a consumer chooses the XPS One (PRODUCT) RED with Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED (starting price of $1,599), Dell and Windows will make a total contribution of $80 directly to the Global Fund, which buys 6 months of lifesaving antiretroviral medication.

• When a consumer chooses the 948 All-in-one (PRODUCT) RED Printer (starting price of $149), Dell will make a $5 contribution to the Global Fund, which buys more than ten days of lifesaving antiretroviral medication.

More information about (RED) is available at www.joinred.com.

It's the first Windows computer that I would put in the same class or even sightly ahead in terms of its hardware design

And if you think this is one of our Onionmodos, you can see The Mighty and Goateetastic Mossberg telling you all about it face to face. We had to watch the video twice:

His reasons are good, although I'm not so keen on the design of the Dell myself, which I find plain and vulgar. He's also right when he brings up two issues to declare that, overall, the Apple iMac still wins. First, he argues that Mac OS X Leopard is a faster and better operating system than Vista (most of us in the Giz agree on that one.) Then, he adds that the Dell is a more expensive machine than the iMac, which admits no denial: even while you add the same memory and wireless keyboard and mouse to the iMac price, the Dell XPS One is $100 more expensive than the Apple machines.

His overall verdict: best machine a Windows user can buy.

Next in the path to Apocalypse: David Pogue ditches his iPhone for a Windows Mobile Samsung, Brian Lam sells his MacBook and buys a Sony and random angel plays the fourth trumpet. [All Things D]

The Spin As previously noted in this space, Dell is in the midst of a lengthy rebranding campaign. In addition to veering away from the direct-sales model, the company is desperately trying to morph from budget purveyor to technological innovator—thus the recent hullabaloo over the iMac-wannabe XPS One. This ad, however, hawks Dell's more traditional XPS setup, with screen and guts separate. It's a little tough to tell, given the Iceman's subpar elocution, but the focus here still seems to be on value, Dell's old standby. Thankfully, the company has learned that the earnestness of its past value campaigns—yes, the ones featuring the irrationally exuberant kid you loved to hate—is antithetical to the new image it's trying to cultivate. And so the Iceman cometh!

Counterspin But why keep flogging the value pitch at all? It doesn't take a genius to realize that cheap desktop sales aren't going to save Dell—not with the revival of HP and the increasing market demand for laptops. (In the last quarter, according to iSuppli, laptop shipments increased by 33.5 percent versus the same period in 2006; the growth for desktops, by comparison, was an anemic 3.4 percent.) Dell would actually seem nicely poised to start touting its geek bona fides, given the raves that have been accorded its new laptop lineup. At the very least, you'd think they'd take a page from HP's playbook and talk about features—even budget-conscious consumers are pretty sophisticated nowadays. But aside from a marble-mouthed Iceman shout-out to the XPS desktop's ability to "manage your photos and music," there's little here to rehab Dell's increasingly shoddy image—an image harmed by several years of slipping quality. (Hands up everyone who had to order replacement hardware from Dell within the first year of owning an Inspiron.)

Mission Accomplished? Dell has been promising a radical overhaul since the beginning of 2007, when Lord Michael returned from his self-imposed exile to save the flailing company. In his absence, customer service had turned abysmal, bloatware had mushroomed and innovation had slowed—prior to the arrival of the XPS One, when was the last time you were really curious about a new Dell product? But what's needed now is a coherent strategy—does Dell want to battle HP in the value desktop market, or should it be shifting its attention to laptops and, perhaps, specialty machines (e.g. gaming PCs, its iMac me-too)? The Liddell ad, as well as the rest of the Star Power campaign, is really just more of the same—keeping the Dell brand in consumers' minds, no doubt, but not doing enough to change how that brand is perceived. The good news for Dell: Reinvention is a lot more attainable in the technology realm than in virtually any other industry on Earth. Just ask Apple—or even Lenovo.

Hype-O-Meter 5 (out of 10). Once you get past the small, discordant joy of seeing a notorious badass peddling PCs, there's surprisingly little substance. And Dell should have ponied up to get the Iceman some lessons with Professor Henry Higgins.

Brendan I. Koerner is a contributing editor at Wired, a columnist for Slate, and author of the forthcoming Now the Hell Will Start. His Hype Sheet column appears every Thursday on Gizmodo.

Read more Hype Sheet

Intel Core 2 Duo, Pentium D or Celeron CPU's
22 WSXGA 1680 1050, 16.7M color 300 nits, 5 ms response 1000:1 contrast LCD
1-4GB of 667/800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
3.5 up to 300GB HDD
DVD +/- RW or Blu-Ray drive
Intel GMA 3100 or ATI Mobility Radeon HD2400 Graphics
Optional TV Tuner
two 5W, 140 HZ speakers
802.11 a/b/g/n support
Dimensions: 15.9(H)x23.5(W)x3.3(D)" (40.5 59.7 8.38 cm)
Weight: 28.2 lb (12.8 kg)

There are no noises about price and release date yet, but we'll bring that info to you as soon as we have it. [FCC via PC Joint]