Jason Dunn over at Digital Home Thoughts took delivery of one of the first Dell Studio Hybrid PCs and shares his out-of-the-box impressions on YouTube:

To follow up on Natalie’s post yesterday, I literally wrote this while on set at Chelsea Studios as HGTV’s Color Splash host David Bromstad chatted with TV and radio news teams across the country about getting ready for back to school and creating “work space” for students that is personalized and conducive to studying and learning.

As David’s specialty is “color,” he had a great time sharing details about Dell’s colorful Studio Hybrid and Studio Laptops, paired with some cool furniture and accessories from PBTeen. From 7 a.m.- 1 p.m. David chatted with 28 TV and radio stations answering questions about color, how to show your personality, define your space, and finally how Dell and PBTeen have teamed up for a great Back to School giveaway, the grand prize being a $5,000 make-over from PBTeen, plus a $1,500 gift card from Dell.

Working with David has been very educational - for example I’ve learned that while blues and greens are typically seen as calming colors, they also have some specific student-friendly attributes: blue is actually a motivational color, while green will help the brain retain the new knowledge (seriously - put a green acetate sheet over those World History pages and see if you remember more dates).

On the flip side, warmer tones like red, orange and yellow are stimulating — so those young people who have a harder time getting out of bed in the morning (hint, hint to the 15-year-old in MY house) react to those colors like a visual cup of coffee.

The set was loaded with great visuals - like cool furniture from PBTeen: a Style-It-Desk and Style-Tile message board, and the Cushy Lounge with a great Storage Base.  One of David’s favorite ways to personalize a space is with a rug, and he actually suggests mixing and matching rugs to define specific areas - like the “Lounge/Relax” area versus the “Desk/Study area.” David also talked about the cool design of the Studio Hybrid PC (often referring to it as “art” for the desktop) and the range of color options on the Studio laptops. He encouraged folks “go wireless” to help cut the clutter - like a wireless keyboard, mouse and printer.

One of the more fun aspects of the day was when an interviewer turned out to be a fan of David’s - you see  David was the first winner of HGTV’s reality show, Design Star, and is getting ready to kick off his fifth season of Color Splash.  Despite his “celebrity” status, he is as gracious and sincere as anyone I’ve had the pleasure to work with. And while this was his first satellite media tour, he did a GREAT job merging his knowledge about color and personalization with great solutions from PBTeen and Dell. Thanks David - it was a pleasure - and I’ll be checking out the new season of Color Splash on HGTV this fall.

Today we announced Dell’s smallest and greenest PC - the Studio Hybrid. This has been a fun product to watch develop. The Dell teams associated with it are wide and varied, and all PASSIONATE.

When Michael Dell previewed it on Earth Day,  the online response to the concept was  pretty upbeat and I am confident that once this PC finds its way to homes around the world, that first impression will be just as positive.

Design, style, fun are not words necessarily associated with “desktop” PCs … but in this case it’s absolutely the primary goal. This little beauty was designed to “put the desktop back on the desktop” versus “under the desk with the Cheetos and dust bunnies,” as Brian Leonard, the Studio Hybrid’s lead industrial designer in Dell’s Experience Design Group, eloquently puts it. This is a product designed for those of you who want to know what time it is, not how to build the watch - just pull it out of the box, plug it in and go.

Whether it’s used as a kitchen PC or living room command center (HDMI port makes it easy to connect your HDTV, and the wireless keyboard and mouse mean freedom to move from the recliner, to the couch, to the throw pillows on the floor), the Studio Hybrid will fit into just about any environment.

If you’re looking for more traditional desktop PC that you might modify or update down the road then I recommend you look at the new Inspiron 518 desktop. In contrast to it’s supermodel sibling, the Inspiron 518 is the nice looking, full-featured multimedia PC that will appeal to all family members.

In its own geeky way it has some nifty features and technologies that just make life easier. At top of the system is a “Gear tray” -  the place where you put your cell phone, your music player, your Bluetooth headset, etc. Two top-mounted USB ports make for easy access charging / syncing (currently about 2 feet of counter space in MY kitchen are dedicated to the multiple devices we all carry). From a performance perspective, the Inspiron 518 offers some pretty compelling price/performance ratios … optional performance boosters include Intel quad core processors, discrete graphics, and 500GB hard drive capacity.

I’d like to call out a recent Engadget post that’s gotten a bit of attention. The post, with comments, can be found here:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/21/dell-offers-inexplicable-xbox-360-elite-bundle-with-certain-xps/#comments

Yes, Engadget readers, it’s true. We’ve decided to bundle the Xbox Elite bundle with our XPS M1730 as a special offer to our customers. As one commenter to this article mentioned (Brian), you can never have enough Xbox 360s. I would wholeheartedly agree.

One thing the article didn’t point out, though, is that this amazing deal is also available with the XPS 630. A screenshot can be seen below:

You can find the bundle with the XPS 630 here:

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsdt_630?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

The offer with the XPS M1730 can be found here:

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsnb_m1730?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

So for all of those back to schoolers who may have had to choose between getting a laptop for school or buying themselves a new toy, here’s one way you can have both.

Game on!

When I was asked to review the Dell Extreme Gaming Truck Tour, I wasn’t excited at first. After being a gamer for most of my life, and being in the industry for a few years, I can say it takes quite a bit to get me pumped up. Gamers tend to be harder to please than most. Maybe we’re desensitized. Maybe we’re jaded. A toy had better be pretty cool to get us worked up to see it.

When I got to take a peek, the more I saw, the more my jaw felt the overwhelming urge to drop. What I was seeing was a veritable LAN party on wheels sporting the latest in cutting-edge technology from Dell and Intel – including Alienware and XPS gaming systems, complete with a live DJ spinning tunes. For all of you creative types, the tour will be sponsoring a case mod contest as well, and an Alienware Area 51 desktop is being awarded to the maker of the mod people vote as the coolest. The centerpiece of this gaming extravaganza is a 3D Gaming Kiosk featuring a Samsung 3D ready plasma display where the curious can try out Need for Speed in 3D. All of this is housed in the back of an eighteen wheeler!

Featured games on the tour include:

• World of Warcraft
• Space Siege
• Lost Planet
• World in Conflict
• Freaky Creatures
• Assassin’s Creed
• Crysis
• Guitar Hero III
• Need for Speed (3D gaming area)

The eight-city tour is under way, having kicked off at Wizard World in Chicago. Here’s a photo from that event to give you a general idea of what to expect:

If you want to check out the tour stops, the case mod contest or join the discussion, you can find the Web site for the tour here, or go to www.extremegamingtour.com.

I can’t wait to see it in person!

Dell is launching a premium 24×7 warranty service called “Your Tech Team.” It’s the result of customer feedback on IdeaStorm and elsewhere, plus experience we’ve gained with a 30,000-customer pilot project in the New York metropolitan area.

The idea behind “Your Tech Team” is to offer consumers a one-stop, $99 option for all their Dell support needs. For details, recommend you check out Laura Bosworth’s post on Direct2Dell.

So it looks like we had two hits in one this week: the new Studio laptops and the Dell Dock.

We knew Studio’s design and features would catch people’s interest, but Dell Dock, which premiered with Studio, turned out to be a stealth sensation and has its own online trajectory. We even scooped Engadget, with Paul Miller approvingly calling out “app-categorization magic and fairly extensive customization.”

In addition to the surge of interest from Gizmodo’s post, several bloggers singled out Dell Dock for special comment. Plugged in Blog shared some favorable first impressions, and Dell Dock merited not entirely dismissive attention from Lonnie Lazar at Cult of Mac.

Since inquiring minds like jervis961 and helmecj01 want to know more, here are a few updates:

1. Dell Dock will be available on all new Dell consumer PC models (but only with a Vista OS).
2. A downloadable version will be available to current Dell PC owners in the near future.
3. It’s available in:

• English
• Dutch
• German
• Spanish
• French
• Japanese

Thanks to great feedback and suggestions directly from customers on ways to enhance Dell’s (PRODUCT) RED offerings, you now can choose either Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED or the standard version of Windows Vista Home Premium when you purchase a Dell XPS M1330 (PRODUCT) RED or XPS M1530 (PRODUCT) RED laptop.

If you’re unfamiliar with (RED), it’s a global brand designed to engage the private sector in raising awareness and funds for the Global Fund, to help fight 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, Motorola, Hallmark, Dell and Microsoft.

Since its launch in the spring of 2006, more than $100 million has been generated by (RED) partners and events for the Global Fund.  (RED) money is already at work in Swaziland, Rwanda, Ghana and Lesotho.  For more information, visit www.joinred.com.

The contribution to the Global Fund for either the XPS M1330 (PRODUCT) RED laptop or the XPS M1530 (PRODUCT) RED laptop with Windows Vista Home Premium is $25. The contribution for those same systems with Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED remains $50.

The XPS ONE (PRODUCT) RED all-in-one desktop PC with Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED remains Dell’s flagship (RED) offering.  Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED fits perfectly with the (RED) model of creating (RED) branded products with high consumer appeal, and combines (PRODUCT) RED with the best of all Windows Vista features in the most complete version available.

I, like everyone else, want what I want.  I sit in an office, stare at a computer all day and type my fingers to the bone.  When I get home, like you, I want my TV and I want it on my terms.  Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you know how great a digital video recorder (DVR) is.  They give you the freedom to watch a show while recording another, they provide an onscreen TV guide and best of all allow you to skip commercials.  Now, what if I told you, you may already have the best DVR available in your home right now, and it doesn’t require any fees.  A Vista Media Center PC is just that, and is hands down the best TV viewing experience I have ever encountered.

Microsoft hasn’t exactly just introduced this.  For years they have built this capability into Windows to organize your music, photos and videos.  The Media Center program was written specifically to view these items on your TV.  This is commonly called the “10 Foot Interface.”  With all due respect to your grandmother’s scrapbooking efforts, nothing compares to seeing your home photos and movies elegantly organized and in high definition with your own custom audio.  All of this available, with the press of a button on your remote control.

The Vista Media Center program seamlessly records the TV shows you choose from the onscreen guide.  You can opt to record more than one show at the same time, simply by installing an additional TV tuner.  Many tuners don’t require the PC to be opened, and can even record free, over the air (OTA) high definition shows as well.  Like a traditional DVR, you can watch one show while recording another.  If you don’t want a PC in the living room, a Microsoft XBOX 360 will work just as well.  The XBOX connects to your TV, which in turns connects to your PC in another room (wired or wirelessly). 

The free onscreen guide is built into Media Center

With my beefy hard drive I can record as little or much as I like.  My measly (by today’s standards) 200 Gig hard drive has over 40 hours of HDTV.  Odds are, I’ll delete much of it, but the shows look great.   Browsing and selecting a TV show could not be easier.  A large visual thumbnail of each show scrolls across the TV with a description and the time it was recorded.  Even my three year old can successfully navigate the simplistic menu to drill into the very exact “Thomas and His Friends” that he absolutely has to watch.
 

Selecting a recorded TV show is simple and elegant

In another post, I’ll describe how you can edit the TV show you recorded, and splice it into a home movie.   Also, I’ll go into how you can rip your DVD collection and integrate it into the experience.

The fact of the matter is, I have a three year old.  So I don’t have lazy Sunday evenings to sit and watch reruns of “American Dad.”  However, at least it is still pretty darn easy to watch TV on my own terms.

PC gaming is an expensive hobby. A good video card can cost $400-$800, a good gaming computer can cost as much as 8-10 grand, your average game title can run $40-$50, and some titles (multiplayer, in particular), charge a monthly fee of $10-$20. These costs don’t even include the monthly power bill increase most gamers end up with!

I am like most people: I live on a budget. If I were to buy every game title that sounded fun, I would go broke INSTANTLY. Luckily for me (and others in my predicament), there are plenty of low to no cost options available for the gamer on a budget.  I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the ones that I’ve tried.

I’m an avid fan of multiplayer online games, and unfortunately, many of the most popular require a monthly fee. One that does NOT (but does require an initial purchase) is Guild Wars, and was the first multiplayer title without a subscription I had played since the Diablo series. Is it any good? I started playing it shortly after release, and still have an account to this day. Though it lacks a persistent world, reminiscent of Diablo II with its instanced adventure areas, the PvP is exciting, and the game is absolutely incredible to look at. The required system specs are also very low, and easily manageable with even 5-6 year old hardware.

A free MMO that’s fairly popular around the office is Silk Road Online. I’ve tried it myself, and was fairly surprised by the high quality of the game. It’s produced by a South Korean company called Joymax, and has a fairly thriving community. It’s your typical Everquest/WoW fantasy MMO based upon the real silk road, the trade route from China to the west, and sports a PvP system similar to Lineage II. Players can buy in game equipment from an item mall in real U.S. dollars, which is how the game developers make money.

Another free MMO that’s caught my attention is Perfect World. This game is absolutely gorgeous, and has a very helpful and active community. This game is heavily based on Chinese mythology and, like Silk Road, offers items for cash in an item mall to support the game. Unlike many MMOs, the grind in this game is quest based, so that your quest rewards provide the bulk of the XP needed for your character to level. When I haven’t been pwning people in Eve-Online, lately I’ve been enjoying this lovely addition to my gaming diet.

For those gamers that aren’t really interested in the MMO experience (yes, I know you exist), Gametap offers free game downloads of older titles. The games offered range from classic arcade games like Joust and Rampage, to titles like Deus Ex, Hitman 2, Myst, and Thief. They offer titles to buy as well, if you find that your budget has a few extra dollars in the entertainment category.

If you’re like me, though, and love a good MMORPG, GameOgre has compiled a fairly extensive list of free MMOs complete with a ratings and reviews system. Looking through them, it doesn’t look like there’s enough time in anyone’s schedule to play them all.

Now there’s almost no excuse. Get out there and GAME!