Although style and attractiveness is a matter of opinion, it is hard to deny the attractive nature of the new Dell XPS One 24. There is just something appealing about a large display and a simplistic one-cord design. Unfortunately, all-in-one systems often are faced with limited upgradability and a premium price tag. While that may be the case for the the XPS One 24 as well, it does at least come loaded with useful features and offers good performance where it matters.
The XPS One 24 is available in two basic configurations, the main difference between the two, other than price, is that one uses integrated graphics, while the other uses dedicated. Both configurations come with a 24-inch widescreen LCD display that has a resolution of 1900 by 1200, a contrast ratio of 1200:1 and a wide viewing angle of up to 89-degrees. While it probably is just a typo, it is interesting to see that the stated resolution of the screen is not 1920 by 1200, but rather a non-standard resolution that may cause issues for some. The screen features edge-to-edge glass and the screen can tilt, although there does not seem to be any way of adjusting its height.
Performance-wise, both configurations of the XPS One 24 are equipped with an Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 processor that offers 2.33 GHz clock speeds, a 1333 MHz FSB and a 4 MB L2 cache size. The systems also include 4 GB of DDR2 800 MHz memory and a choice of either Intel GMA X4500HD integrated graphics or Nvidia Geforce 9600M GT graphics with 512 MB of memory. The Geforce 9600M GT is about as fast as the Geforce 9500GT, which may not be fast enough for modern games like Crysis, but it should be enough to handle casual and older games just fine. The configuration that uses integrated graphics also comes with a 320 GB 7200 RPM hard drive, while the other configuration comes with a 750 GB 7200 RPM hard drive.
While performance is important, the Dell XPS One 24 has quite a bit more than just that to offer, including some nice finishing touches and some important extra features. For example, the system includes a wireless keyboard that has a built-in trackpad and media control buttons, which could be very useful when trying to navigate the system from a couch. The XPS One 24 would actually work very well as a media center, also offering an HD capable analog/digital TV tuner, a remote control, an 8-in-1 media reader and premium JBL speakers with integrated subwoofer. Although an 8X slot-load DVD burner is also included, a Blu-ray drive can be equipped instead through a (Product) Red upgrade offer.
The Dell XPS One 24 also includes a wireless mouse, webcam, dual-array mic, Soundblaster Audigy HD Software Edition, internal Bluetooth 2.0, 802.11a/n WiFi, gigabit Eithernet and Windows Vista Home Premium. The Dell XPS One 24 is currently available from the Dell website with a price of $1,699 for the configuration with integrated graphics and $1,999 for the configuration with dedicated graphics. Also, the (Product) Red upgrade offer available on the more expensive configuration will add $300 to the price, a Blu-ray drive instead of the DVD burner, and Windows Vista Ultimate (Product) Red instead of Windows Vista Home. It also seems that upgrading either configuration to (Product) Red will also result in a color change from gray to white on the back of the system.
Anandtech has a good review of the new Dell XPS One 24 here, which gets compared to an Apple iMac. To sum it up, although the iMac seems to be a more capable gaming machine, the Dell XPS One 24 offers greater flexibility, especially for use as a media center.
