Dell Adamo XPS laptops

Dell still has us in deep-want mode for one of those elegant Adamo XPS laptops, but we just can't get over their way-too-high price. You can imagine our astonishment when we saw the Dell Vostro V13, looking a whole lot like that line of svelte Adamos, but costing a mere fraction of their price, starting at $450. Do we no longer have to choose between two of the following: good, fast, and cheap?

Could be. You get a lot for your money, — the 13.3-inch-screened Vostro V13 brings respectable specs. At .65 inches, it's plenty thin, and weighs a mere 3.5 pounds. Processor choices include a 1.2GHz Celeron, 1.3GHz Core 2 Duo, or 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo, and there's even room for other niceties on board such as an Ethernet port, eSATA, and SD and ExpressCard slots.

It's great to see Dell bringing high design down into the lower end. We're starting to think that before too long, all laptops will be designer-gorgeous. It's about time.