CES 2012: Dell joins Ultrabook fray, announces $999 XPS 13 Ultrabook
Now the big boys are getting into the Ultrabook act. Last night, HP unveiled its Envy 14 Spectre "premium" model, and today Dell has bowed with its Ultrabook debut. Dubbed the XPS 13 Ultrabook, it will start at the magical $999 price point when it goes on sale at the end of February.
The 13.3-inch display features Gorilla Glass, and Dell claims it has squeezed it into an 11-inch footprint. (The touchpad with multi-gesture support also uses glass.) The XPS 13 Ultrabook will come with either an Intel Core i5-2467M or Core i7-2637M processor, 4GB of RAM, Intel HD3000 integrated graphics, and an 128GB or 256GB solid state drive. The company says the system lasted 8 hours and 53 minutes on MobileMark 2007 with a 6-cell battery in its lab testing, though your mileage will certainly vary.
To sweeten the deal, Dell is offering US purchasers a year of both Accidental Damage Service and LoJack Theft Recovery Service. Corporate types can opt for add-ons like the Windows 7 Trusted Platform Module and ProSupport service.
Dell says you can reserve an XPS 13 Ultrabook right now, but as of this writing the link on the Direct2Dell blog is not working. Could there be some pent-up demand for a Dell Ultrabook -- or just some poor website maintenance?