The Dell Hybrid / journal / hicksdesign

29/07/08

The Dell Hybrid

Ye gads, Dell have shocked the pants off me with this tasty piece of industrial design! The diminutive Dell Hybrid PC comes with optional coloured sleeves, but in particular I rather love the bamboo sleeve version:

dell-studio-hybrid-pc

This kind of thing adds warmth and organic feel into something where normally only cold industrial aluminium or cheap black & grey plastic was before. Granted, there may well be cheap plastic in there, but this is a Dell that I would be proud to have on my desk. The specs also show it would make a good TV media centre – if only I could install OS X on it! More details on the Hybrid here

Maybe I’ll buy a bloody Dell after all.

studio-hybrid-08

Technorati Tags Tags: dell, design, hardware, natural

Comments | RSS

Comments are now closed, but you can still have a jolly time reading what others have left:

Lee Wilson said 73 days ago:

I am in the market for a PC, save me from having dual boot on my Mac, this thing looks damm sweet, perhaps the bamboo sleeve version is what laminated flooring is to real wood, but its gotta be better than we currently have for PC’s.

Lee

Nils said 73 days ago:

Jep, definitely the bamboo sleeve version. But: No OS X. So, no Dell…

Steven Garrity said 73 days ago:

Agreed – looks nice. The bamboo version is an extra $100 though.

randy@randypeterman.com said 73 days ago:

This has an additional accessory that will allow you to setup a Windows Media Center (or whatever Windows Vista version has it) and you can even get a remote. It looks pretty good to me. Its the first time I’ve looked at a Windows machine in over a year [I’m a mac switcher] and said, “Wow, maybe I could buy /that/ machine for my wife.”

José Carlos said 73 days ago:

They look really good.

You can use OS X, yes you can:
http://lifehacker.com/348653/install-os-x-on-your-hackintosh-pc-no-hacking-required/

I have some, about 5, friends that have OS X running flawlessly in their pcs.

Doug said 73 days ago:

Is that real bamboo or plastic made to look like bamboo, I know “click on the link and find out, sorry, lazy today.

james said 73 days ago:

how much is it though by the time you’ve added DVD+/-RW, more RAM, a decent processor, a nicer, mouse, bluetooth, WIFI, 10/100 card, firewire, bigger HD, Office pro 4 vista, some better fonts, CS3?

probably twice the published price and then you have to deal with indian support, Norton firewall blx, no install discs, Vista (say no more), then you’ve got to either upgrade or replace your printer and scanner becaause of the lack of vista support / no available drivers.

then you get bombarded with junk mail leaflets from Dell.
then you get a virus anyway.
then you get BSOD.
then no matter how fast it is and hoe much RAM you have it slows down after 18 months so as to beome unusable.
then you end up giving it to your local junior school as it’s worth sod all on ebay.

leaves me cold sorry. fingers burned several time already.

i’ll stick with a 900 quid macbook, a lovely screen and XP under parallels

Manuel said 73 days ago:

The bamboo version is very cool! In Europe the price premium for the optional Bamboo sleeve is just 10 Euros.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dell_digital_media/2712203989/

Jon Hicks said 73 days ago:

I say steady on, we’re just talking design here!

#10

Manuele De Lisio said 73 days ago:

…looks a lot like something in between a Siemens Toaster designed by Porsche Design

http://www.porsche-design.com/live/upload/P7313_Toaster_produkt_12882.jpg

and an old mini HiFi system by Philips

http://www.nickpan.com/2004/04/12/philips-mz1100/

the end result is hmm… boring and a bit pretentious for a company like Dell.

#11

Marcus Olovsson said 73 days ago:

The bamboo-one with a random OS and Plex (www.osxbmc.com) and Aeon (www.aeoncentral.com) would be awesome as a media center.

#12

Lee said 73 days ago:

Why is the U.S.A. entry level not on the GB site?

#13

The Ad Mad said 73 days ago:

wow that’s a really cool design work!

They do seem a little fragile to me

#14

David Airey said 73 days ago:

It does look quite smart, Jon, regardless of spec.

#15

james said 73 days ago:

i agree – i like the design jon.

however we’re considering the design of the evil messerschmidt from the POV of the spitfire pilot though.

Nice – I’m glad I don’t have to drive one though

#16

carefulweb said 73 days ago:

It really looks great. Maybe will useful as media center with some LInux inside.

#17

Chris Hester said 73 days ago:

Awesome design. Good range of ports on the back too. They’ll sell tons of these.

#18

Rob said 72 days ago:

Does this mean they’ll roll out different textures? Can’t wait for the leather version

#19

Matt Robin said 72 days ago:

Glad you picked-up on this Jon…

I spotted it yesterday (via Notcot.com) and have thought about it quite a few times since then, and posted the Dell URL to quite a few PC Users during the day as well (thinking that no Mac-fans would fall for it). I’m glad you like the design (yep, the bamboo effect one caught my eye too!) Very nice stuff indeed.

Perhaps one thing that bothers me though – is that this sort of thing has been possible for a long time, why has it taken Dell (or any PC manufacturer) so long to get round to it? Apple had those successful, curvy, funky-coloured iMacs YEARS ago didn’t they?!

Better late than never I suppose… :)

#20

Chris said 71 days ago:

Wow! They look large but when you see the CD/DVD coming out the front, you realise the small size of them. Apple really have woken all the other companies up. They are going to have to focus more on the quality of the user experience. Cool.

#21

clarice said 70 days ago:

Whoa! That’s one sexy piece of computer! So slickkkk

#22

Nick Toye said 70 days ago:

Hmm,

I’m afraid there is not enough reasons for me to shell out on a PC. Ok, some games are not available on OSX, and there is IE6, but I wouldn’t look at spending substantial money to test in ancient browser.

But why would I not buy this really? Its not that original.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:IMac_G3_flavors.jpg

that takes care of the different colours/flavours.

Then there is the aluminium-esque base.

Well that is very similar to the current batch of iMacs.

Ok, they are different machines, but they are certainly borrowing concepts from Apple, as most PC based organisations tend to do.

#23

Jon Hicks said 70 days ago:

Nick, It’s not the flavours that’s innovative, it’s the use of bamboo. I disagree entirely, Apple have nothing out like this, and using aluminium for a base is does make it a copy! The nearest thing they do is the Mini, which still doesn’t look like this.

I think these ARE original, and what is more well designed! I’m an Apple man through and through, but that doesn’t stop me saying a good word about other computers.

#24

Nick Toye said 69 days ago:

@Jon,

You make a good point, but the first thing I noticed when I saw them was the old iMac’s. It just had that feeling.

I also don’t see the benefit of using bamboo. Maybe its supposed to be cool, just don’t feel it.

I’m also not criticising Dell for being PC’s, if its a great machine, its a great machine. I’m just not a fan of the design or the use of quirky covers to sell a product.

#25

John F. said 69 days ago:

This design has a lot going for it. I think they have done a great job with the Horizontal/Vertical switch. I have never seen that approach taken before.

The only change I would have made: Add an option for a silver (same as the feet) body if the case is bamboo.

I think this will be a huge win for Dell, and hopefully there is more of this to come.

#26

ixy said 67 days ago:

“I’m just not a fan of the design or the use of quirky covers to sell a product.”

Says a mac fanboy. Funny?

#27

Jon Hicks said 67 days ago:

Says a mac fanboy.

We don’t use the F word round ‘ere. That’s your last warning!

#28

David said 63 days ago:

Great looking little unit – where’s the Ubuntu!?

#29

Lorenz said 62 days ago:

I think it’s design is absolutely awesome although I’m a mac fanboy, too. The size of this computer is very nice and I think this’ll be a great product for the market and for all PC users out there who need a tiny working mashine which should looks great and saves space on your desk. Well done, Dell. But sadly with Vista inside ;).

And @ José – Steve Jobs said: Every PC user who tries to run OS X on a PC should burn in hell ;)

#30

Syrion said 61 days ago:

“Steve Jobs said: Every PC user who tries to run OS X on a PC should burn in hell”

So appearently Apples aren’t personal computers? What are they? Sportscars? ;)

Anyway, in the Asian market there are all kinds of computer-cases available, Bangkok has at least one market with all kinds of cases (wood, bamboo, etc.), but this is the first time I see a major player use this material. A very nice design nonetheless.

By the way: I think it’s possible to order a Dell computer without any OS or Linux installed on it (needs to be specified with the order though).