XBox 360 Arcade Holiday Bundle w/Rock Band 2 Game - $199.00.

For reference, the Arcade is $199 anyway. So you get a free copy of Rock Band 2 with it. And the free Sega Superstars Tennis. And the five free arcade games. It's most likely the disc-only version of Rock Band 2, but still, that's a handy saving should you be...someone who owns Rock Band 1 (with instruments) on 360 and...needs another 360...without a HDD...

Dell Home [Black Friday]

The FigurePrints stand about 4" tall and come on a variety of bases. They're hand finished, enclosed in a glass display case and will, surely, be cherished forever. Additional details are listed at the site's FAQ.

Convert Your World of Warcraft Character into a 3D Model [Gaming Steve]

We broke the news early this morning (really early if you happen to be in Australia right now) that Dell was introducing a new line-up of World of Warcraft themed XPS M1730 laptops.

Dell just shot us their official press release for the laptop. Hit the jump for the full press release.

WORLD OF WARCRAFT FANS LEVEL UP WITH DELL XPS M1730 EDITION NOTEBOOK PC
- World of Warcraft-Themed Notebook Combines Award-Winning XPS M1730 Gaming Notebook with Loads Of Custom-Designed Content
- Customers Can Personalize with Faction Allegiance, Choosing Horde or Alliance
- Quest Envelope Includes Access to Rare, Exclusive Items and Opportunities

ROUND ROCK, Texas, Dec. 4, 2007 - In a quest to nail the greatest gaming experience ever, Dell and Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. ™ have joined forces to bring gamers the XPS™ M1730 World of Warcraft® Edition notebook PC. The unique gaming notebook is available for purchase today by customers who pre-registered for early access during the "It Begins" quest. It will be available to all U.S. customers on Dec. 11 on www.dell.com/gaming.

The XPS M1730 World of Warcraft Edition is fully equipped for battle. The system is emblazoned with custom World of Warcraft artwork, inside and out, that leaves no question as to purpose - pure, unadulterated gaming action. Exclusive rare bonus items and a World of Warcraft backpack filled to the brim with game-themed extras are also part of the unique experience.

"This truly legendary collaboration with Blizzard reinforces Dell's commitment to design excellence and dedication to delivering the best possible gaming experience," said Glen Robson head of XPS systems at Dell. "World of Warcraft players can now have the ultimate system to reflect their passion for the game."

Surprise, Delight, and Amaze

The level of detail that the XPS M1730 World of Warcraft Edition delivers will delight and amaze any gaming enthusiast. In addition to a truly distinctive system, customers will receive a special Quest Envelope that contains access to truly epic items, like a Golden Ticket from FigurePrints, a company that creates custom figurines of players' individual World of Warcraft characters.

To help delve into the mysteries and surprises around the XPS M1730 World of Warcraft Edition, Dell invited Randydeluxe Jordan of the popular World of Warcraft podcast The Instance, to be the first to un-box a new system. Check out Randy's response to the complete out-of-box-experience on direct2dell.com and www.delllounge.com.

Special XPS M1730 World of Warcraft content includes:
Custom design featuring original art by Blizzard artists on LCD back, and Honor Badges on the wings
World of Warcraft and World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade™ pre-loaded on system, including the latest content updates
Original desktop background artwork and screensavers
A World of Warcraft-themed backpack that includes:
Retail box copies of World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, and the Warcraft® Battle Chest , which includes with Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos™ and Warcraft III: Frozen Throne™
Latest Brady Games strategy guides for World of Warcraft, The Burning Crusade, Warcraft III and The Frozen Throne
World of Warcraft DVD with a behind-the-scenes look at "The Making of WoW"
A special Quest Envelope that ships separately with exclusive rare items:
A Golden Ticket allowing customers to receive a special custom FigurePrint based on the actual World of Warcraft character that they play.[i]
An Account Upgrade Certificate enabling the upgrade of a World of Warcraft account1 to receive the Collector's Edition pets from both the original World of Warcraft Collector's Edition and the World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Collector's Edition
A World of Warcraft Beta Club Card to enable customers to take part in upcoming public beta tests.1

Starting at $4,499 (USD), the XPS M1730 World of Warcraft Edition system includes:
Aggressive styling with backlit Honor Badges, touchpad and keyboard
LightFX perimeter lighting for added immersion during game play
Full-size keyboard with 10-key number pad to help navigate games
AGEIA PhysX mobile processor and built-in Logitech® GamePanel LCD
NVIDIA SLI graphics power and 512MB of dedicated video RAM with DirectX® 10 realism
Optional over-clockable[ii] Intel®Extreme Edition Core™ 2 Duo processor, up to 3.4GHz
Optional dual RAID 7,200 RPM hard drives for fast access or even faster access with an optional 64GB solid state drive
Full HD 17-inch widescreen and available Blu-ray Disc™ to provide the ultimate mobile viewing experience
7ms average display response time[iii] to ensure quick overall system performance
Complete wireless connectivity with built-in Optional Mobile Broadband,[iv] Wireless-N, Bluetooth, and Dell's exclusive Wi-Fi Catcher™
Built-in camera and digital array microphones to clearly see and flame the competition
Dual headphone jacks, noise-isolating ear buds and a portable ExpressCard media remote

For more information about the XPS M1730 World of Warcraft Edition notebook PC, visit www.youtube.com/dellvlog.

Blizzard seems to be getting into bed with everyone these days. First comes news that they have mind-melded with Activision to be come Blizzivision or Actizard, and now comes news of this pretty spanky new World of Warcraft-themed Dell laptop.

And this isn't just any laptop with WoW images slapped on it, this is a hulking XPS M1730 Dell Laptop with WoW images on it. Hit the jump for all the details on the $4,500 laptop released just seconds ago. The laptop officially launches on Dec. 11.

The XPS M1730 World of Warcraft edition laptop will come in either Horde or Alliance packs featuring original artwork on the desktop backgrounds, screen savers and the case itself.

Each system will come with a World of Warcraft backpack packed with all kinds of WoW goodies including:
WoW & Burning Crusade in retail boxes
Strategy Guides
Behind the Scenes, "The Making of WoW" DVD
WoW & Burning Crusade Paperback Novels
WoW Audio Soundtrack
Customers will also receive a Quest Envelope which includes surprise items from Dell & Blizzard (ships separate from system). Items include:
Blizzard beta key card w/ five keys used to access future WoW games
An upgrade certificate which allows customers to upgrade their accounts to a "Collectors Edition Account" enabling them to get a special in-game pet
Golden Ticket which allows customers to get a pre-paid special custom action figure based on their own in-game WoW character.

Besides the fancy backpack of goodies and the neato WoW art, the laptop is still an M1730 on the inside, which is a very good thing. Here's just a taste of the slick laptop's specs:

o DX10 SLI graphics
o World's first & only notebook available w/ an Ageia mobile PhysX processor
o Over-clockable Extreme Edition Core 2 Duo processors
o Dual RAID 0 7200 RPM HDDs - or 64GB Solid State Drive options
o 7ms display response time
o Full-size illuminated keyboard w/ separate numeric keypad
o 16-color user-customizable lighting areas including the backlit touchpad
o Wireless connectivity w/ built-in Mobile Broadband, Wireless-N, Bluetooth and Dell's Wi-Fi catcher
o Blu-ray optional
o Built-in camera & digital array microphones
o Built-in Logitech GamePanel above keyboard (first in the industry on a notebook)

I've actually been playing around with a loaner M1730 for a month now and while it's heavy as hell, it's also the most robust gaming laptop I've ever seen.

"Female gamers have an incredibly high set of standards when it comes to quality as well as design," said Bob Costlow, director of sales, WOLFKING. "You can't just paint something pink and say it's for girls. The Girl Gamer products give women access to fully functioning, hardcore gaming devices, but with an aesthetic touch."

And that's it. They added pink. This makes it for girls.

I was going to go into a lengthy tirade about the differences between girl gamers and guy gamers basically coming down to genitalia and sometimes facial hair, neither of which currently affect your ability to play a video game, but every time I talk about women and men, someone takes it the wrong way and I end up getting lambasted for being some kind of chauvinist. Instead, here's a picture of a pony. His name is Lucky. Incidentally, don't Google Image Search the phrase "lucky pony" without your adult filters firmly in place.

(Update): WOLFKING sent me pictures of the items, seen above. As you can tell it is a more subtle pink. Not sure if that's better or worse.

WOLFKING Creates Line of Custom Designed Gaming Devices

Girl Gamer WARRIOR and TROOPER with Flamingo Pink Accents Available Exclusively Through Dell

(Englewood, NJ) - November 20, 2007 - WolfKing, a world leader in the innovation and creation of gaming input devices, today announced it is customizing its award-winning WARRIOR gaming pad and TROOPER gaming mouse to appeal to female PC gamers. The specially designed gaming devices, which will be sold exclusively through Dell, provide the same high level of quality that consumers have come to expect from WOLFKING.

The Girl Gamer WARRIOR (MSRP: $34.99) features the same 54-key circular layout and USB 2.0 plug-and-play capability as the original WARRIOR, but now features a Flamingo Pink accent gradient on top of a full stealth black matte finish, with polished deep black audio keys. It offers all the functionality of the WARRIOR, but with a feminine touch.

The Girl Gamer Gear TROOPER (MSRP: $39.99) also features the Flamingo Pink accent over a 6.4 megapixels-per-second laser mouse with a dpi range of 800-2200. The sense of style doesn't compromise the high-end gaming mouse functionality gamers expect from the TROOPER.

"Female gamers have an incredibly high set of standards when it comes to quality as well as design," said Bob Costlow, director of sales, WOLFKING. "You can't just paint something pink and say it's for girls. The Girl Gamer products give women access to fully functioning, hardcore gaming devices, but with an aesthetic touch."

Dell is sponsoring a search for the "most hardcore, competitive female PC gamer" to offer her a spot on the Frag Dolls, as part of their sponsorship of the Ubisoft gaming team.

"We can't wait to welcome a new Frag Doll to the team," said Morgan "Rhoulette" Romine, Frag Doll team captain. "One of our goals is to be advocates for gaming on all platforms and Dell is an ideal partner to help us make this a reality."

Dell is also sponsoring Swedish pro-gamers Team Pandemic, setting the team up with Dell XPS systems and then sending them around to universities to host on-site and online collegiate gaming tourneys.

Hit the jump for the full release.

GET PWNED! DELL SPONSORS FRAG DOLLS AND TEAM PANDEMIC
Female Gamers to Compete for Spot on Frag Doll Roster


ROUND ROCK, Texas, July 20, 2007 - Ready to get PWNED by the most talented gamers?
Two of the world's most recognized gaming teams - Team Pandemic and Ubisoft's Frag Dolls - have scored sponsorships from Dell, the company announced today. The deals bring together some of the best professional gaming talent in the industry, male and female, and the best PC gaming products, specifically Dell XPS™ gaming platforms.
"With these sponsorships, Dell is ratcheting up its ability to network and play directly with college student and women gamers, via gaming events, online forums and other digital media," said Susan Kittleson, director of Dell games and customer marketing. "Dell wants to showcase PC gaming at its highest level, and there's no better way than to partner the best talent with our awarding-winning hardware."
As part of the Frag Dolls' sponsorship, Dell and the team will launch a search for the most hardcore, competitive female PC gamer and offer her a spot in the unique lineup — and the opportunity to compete in tournaments around the world. Female gamers who think they're tough enough to go head-to-head against the world's best can sign up at www.fragdolls.com. Applicants will have the opportunity for in-person interviews Aug. 2-5 in the Dell booth at QuakeCon in Dallas. Qualifiers will compete in the finals on games like Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® Vegas at Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle, Aug. 24-26. The winner will be offered a spot on the team.
The Frag Dolls, a team of seven dedicated female gamers assembled by game publisher Ubisoft, are recognized as some of the best players in the world. In addition to attending gaming events, members of the unique and popular gaming team will post monthly columns with tips and trends, participate in podcasts and interviews, and post blogs on a special section of Dell's new interactive web destination, www.delllounge.com.
"We can't wait to welcome a new Frag Doll to the team," said Morgan "Rhoulette" Romine, Frag Doll team captain. "One of our goals is to be advocates for gaming on all platforms and Dell is an ideal partner to help us make this a reality."
The Dell University program is also sponsoring Team Pandemic under the Dell Unleashed banner. Team Pandemic will be the first pro-gaming team to exclusively game on Dell XPS systems featuring Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processors and Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Ultimate.
"Dell's college initiative provides us the opportunity to work closely with the industry's technology leaders," said Chris Lemley, president of Team Pandemic. "With Dell Unleashed as a title partner, we have a unique variety of media to further reach the college-aged gamer."
This fall, Team Pandemic and Dell will travel to several university campuses to host on-site and online collegiate gaming tournaments. Top individual prizes will include a trip to Sweden with Team Pandemic for the World Series of Video Game finals. For more information about Team Pandemic's Unleashed activities, go to www.TeamPandemic.net.
The Dell University program offers education discounts and customized PC bundles, including XPS systems, for students, faculty, and staff at hundreds of participating schools across the country. More information and eligibility requirements are at www.DellUnleashed.com.

Dell recently took over when of NCsoft's unused cubicle rooms and helped to transform it into a Tabula Rasa Playroom. The room features a slew of hefty Dell computers and some nice Tabula Rasa textures and lighting. NCsoft was kind enough to send along these pictures for us, showing off the room and Richard Garriott giving a tour of the blue-lit gaming room to Dell's Global gaming chief Abizar Vakharia.

The room will be used for regular gaming sessions for business partners, employees and the press. Brian Crecente

Unsurprisingly, the PC gaming renaissance is, in part, due to the popularity of MMOs, notably Blizzard's World of Warcraft. But efforts from industry powerhouses like Microsoft, Dell and now Hewlett-Packard are breathing new life and bringing focused attention to the billion dollar business.

This year looks to be one of the biggest, with NPD sales figures putting PC game spending at over $200 million. And that doesn't include online sales or subscription dollars.

Somebody's going to have new pool filled with gold pieces, I'm sure of it. Michael McWhertor

PC Games, Once Down, Show Signs of Rebound [NYT]

The two-of-a-kind custom airbrused Burning Crusade Edition notebooks are painted by Mike Lavalle and are currently well into the $4000 range. Not that crazy, as a similarly equipped XPS would set you back at least $3700 without the fancy artwork or Michael Dell signature. Plus the proceeds go to a good cause.

Still, watching the outrageous winning bid price should be entertaining to note next Thursday. Michael McWhertor

Michael Dell Signed Gaming Laptop Notebook XPS M1710 [eBay]
Dell, Blizzard Auction Off Unique WoW Laptops [Kotaku]

What he did talk about was continuing to target the 12.5 million MMO players worldwide and the success of World of Warcraft. He brought Blizzard's VP of Game Design Rob Pardo on stage to share the corporate love and show off some new hardware.

In addition to the product announcements made earlier, Dell announced that two custom airbrushed Dell M1710 laptops would be auctioned off on eBay soon. The proceeds of that auction would go to the Second Harvest organization. The WoW fanatics with deep pockets out there should be on the lookout to score bragging rights and send your expendable income to those in need. Michael McWhertor

The computer comes in a black chassis and includes some fancy new two-stage cooling system as well as an Intel quad-core overclocked processor.

Dell's H2C cooling system is a custom two-stage process. First, a liquid-to-air heat exchanger that works like a car's radiator removes most of the heat from the processor. Then, a fluid chiller removes more heat with ceramic-based thermoelectric cooling (TEC) modules like those used in space shuttles to transfer heat from the sunny side to the cold, dark side in space. Sensor controls help prevent the formation of frost or condensation by helping to keep the processor slightly above ambient room temperature.

The base $5,500 computer comes with:
— Factory-installed Dell H2C two-stage cooling solution including a fan, liquid-to-air heat exchanger, TEC fluid chiller, and circuitry that regulates the fan and TEC voltage to cool the processor efficiently during normal and over-clocked operation

— Intel(R) Core Extreme QX6700 quad-core processor factory overclocked to 3.2 GHz

— Two NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) 8800 GTX graphics cards with quad scalable link interface technology for high-definition gaming resolution

— 4 GB(2) 667MHz DDR2 memory for fast loading of programs and screens

— Dual 160 GB(3) 10,000 RPM hard drives (with room for two additional hard drives)

— Dual optical drives

— Dell UltraSharp(TM) 2007WFP 20-inch widescreen flat-panel monitor with Dell AS501 flat-panel mount speakers

— The Razer Tarantula(TM) gaming keyboard and Razer Copperhead(TM) gaming mouse

— Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Media Center Edition 2005 operating system

— One-year limited warranty(4) with designated sales service and support queue

Hit the jump and the rest of the non-gaming announcements from Dell. Brian Crecente

LAS VEGAS —(Business Wire)— Jan. 9, 2007 Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) added a high-performance desktop to its portfolio of XPS(TM) products, and introduced two new widescreen flat-panel displays and a Digital Home Media Suite, here today at the Consumer Electronics Show.

Details and availability of the new products are provided below. More information, including high-resolution images, is available at http://www.dell.com/ces2007news.

Dell XPS 710 H2C Edition Gaming Desktop

The XPS 710 H2Ceramic (H2C) Edition desktop comes in a midnight-black chassis and offers patent-pending cooling technology designed for serious gamers who want to push performance beyond tested limits. Dell developed the H2C design to better cool the processor, extend its life and help the system run more reliably than conventional cooling systems even when the system is overclocked. The Intel quad-core processor is factory overclocked(1) for extreme gaming and video editing, and backed by specialized XPS technicians.

Dell's H2C cooling system is a custom two-stage process. First, a liquid-to-air heat exchanger that works like a car's radiator removes most of the heat from the processor. Then, a fluid chiller removes more heat with ceramic-based thermoelectric cooling (TEC) modules like those used in space shuttles to transfer heat from the sunny side to the cold, dark side in space. Sensor controls help prevent the formation of frost or condensation by helping to keep the processor slightly above ambient room temperature.

The XPS 710 H2C Edition starts at $5,499 and is available worldwide. The base configuration includes:

— Factory-installed Dell H2C two-stage cooling solution including a fan, liquid-to-air heat exchanger, TEC fluid chiller, and circuitry that regulates the fan and TEC voltage to cool the processor efficiently during normal and over-clocked operation

— Intel(R) Core Extreme QX6700 quad-core processor factory overclocked to 3.2 GHz

— Two NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) 8800 GTX graphics cards with quad scalable link interface technology for high-definition gaming resolution

— 4 GB(2) 667MHz DDR2 memory for fast loading of programs and screens

— Dual 160 GB(3) 10,000 RPM hard drives (with room for two additional hard drives)

— Dual optical drives

— Dell UltraSharp(TM) 2007WFP 20-inch widescreen flat-panel monitor with Dell AS501 flat-panel mount speakers

— The Razer Tarantula(TM) gaming keyboard and Razer Copperhead(TM) gaming mouse

— Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Media Center Edition 2005 operating system

— One-year limited warranty(4) with designated sales service and support queue

Dell UltraSharp(TM) 2707WFP 27-Inch Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor

Dell's first 27-inch monitor features a stylish, brushed aluminum bezel atop a black glass stand that can also tilt and swivel. The monitor's Dell TrueColor technology provides 92 percent color gamut coverage of the NTSC color space to gamers, photographers and digital media "prosumers" thereby enabling highly vibrant and vivid images such as deeper reds and crisper blues. The wider color spectrum expands capabilities for users whether they are editing video, working with CAD applications or enjoying the latest games. It's available immediately in the U.S. and starts at $1,399. Additional features include:

— 27-inch widescreen viewable image size

— Maximum resolution of 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA)

— 6 ms response time(5) with 1,000:1 contrast ratio

— Dell TrueColor Wide Cold-Cathode Fluorescent Lighting (Wide-CCFL) backlight that delivers deep and vibrant reds, greens and blues and accurate color representation

— Integrated 9-in-2 media card reader in a slim monitor bezel

— Beveled glass base with solid aluminum chassis

— Height-adjustable stand with tilt and swivel capabilities

— Four USB 2.0 ports for connecting devices such as digital cameras and printers

— Three-year limited warranty(4)

Dell E228WFP 22-Inch Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor

With a 5-millisecond response time(6), the Dell E228WFP widescreen flat panel LCD monitor presents images, documents, graphics and video with stunning detail, vivid color and smooth motion. The 22-inch widescreen display delivers price/performance and rich productivity features, and can also be used for watching videos and playing games. It's available immediately in the U.S. and starts at $329. Additional features include:

— 22-inch viewable image size

— Maximum resolution of 1680 x 1050

— Lets users view Web pages or documents side by side and run multiple applications simultaneously for improved productivity

— DVI-HDCP ready connectivity

— Tilt capability

— Wall-mountable for flexible installation and convenience (kit sold separately)

— Three-year limited warranty(4)

Dell Home Media Suite

For the first time, Dell is introducing a bundle of products that will gear up the family room — or any room — of a home. The bundle will enable customers to receive digital cable, including premium high-definition programming, and easily view or record it onto PCs.

The Home Media Suite, available in the United States after the introduction of Microsoft's Vista operation system later this month, will include the following:

— XPS 410 core 2 duo, 2GB memory, 1 terabatye RAID disk array, DVD/RW

— Loaded with Windows Vista when available

— Creative Precision Monitor speakers

— Full suite of entertainment software

— Creative Live! Voice webcam

— 27-inch flat panel monitor

— Dell Photo All in One 966 printer

— Linksys 802.11 draft N band router

— Linksys powerline AV bridge

— Digital cable tuner for premium HD TV

About Dell

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services they trust and value. Uniquely enabled by its direct business model, Dell sells more systems globally than any other computer company, placing it No. 25 on the Fortune 500. For more information, visit http://www.dell.com. To get Dell news direct, visit http://www.dell.com/RSS.

Pricing, specifications, availability and terms of offers may change without notice. Taxes, fees and shipping and handling charges are extra, and vary. Dell cannot be responsible for pricing or other errors, and reserves the right to cancel orders arising from such errors.

(1) Overclocking may cause system instability and reduce the operating life of your system components. Dell Tech Support will verify the full functionality of the CPU at the factory default setting and support the CPU performance settings available within the system BIOS. Dell does not provide technical support for any hardware or software issues arising from any third party application, such as NVIDIA nTune 5.0, used to enable overclocking.

(2) The total amount of available memory will be less than 4GB. The amount less depends on the actual system configuration. To fully utilize 4GB or more of memory requires a 64-bit enabled processor and 64-bit operating system.

(3) For hard drives, GB means 1 billion bytes and TB equals 1 trillion bytes; actual capacity varies with preloaded material and operating environment and will be less. On Dimension, XPS, and Inspiron systems, for Norton Ghost 10, Norton 7 Restore and Dell DataSafe users, up to 25% of the stated hard drive capacity may be utilized by your system as dedicated backup space. With Dell Factory Image Restore installed, Windows Vista users will have 10GB of their hard drive capacity set aside for a recovery image.

(4) For a copy of our guarantees or limited warranties, please write Dell USA L.P., Attn: Warranties, One Dell Way, Round Rock, TX 78682. For more information, visit http://www.dell.com/warranty

(5) Typical response time is 6 ms from grey to grey and 16 ms from black to white.

(6) Typical response time is 5 ms from grey to grey.

In what could be the greatest hoax since War of the Worlds (and I pray that it is), a giant Dell logo has risen out of the depths of the earth and plopped itself down on 1Up's home page.

If you go to dell.1up.com, you will see a reconstructed 1Up page bearing a Dell logo in the upper corner plus other Dell bits and pieces. I went to the regular 1Up.com page and could see no difference, but several refreshes later and it appeared on that page as well.

I immediately started messaging around and asking people to check it for themselves. Oddly, some see it and some don't. It's all very mysterious. It seems people using Firefox can see it, while IE users don't. It is possible that this is some sort of ad branding, but odd that it would look like this and come at such an inopportune time what with all the news of 1Up being up for grabs. Mike Fahey was quick enough to snap this screen shot from 1up.com (NOT dell.1up.com) for me so we could all see for ourselves.

Is this all an elaborate prank bestowed solely on Firefox users for the amusement of the 1Up staff or have my worst nightmares truly come to pass? And no, I'm not talking about the one with the clowns. Flynn De Marco

[Thanks, Sherveen]

Starting this week you can hop on over to the virtual 64-acre Dell Island where you will be able to check out Dell products in 3d, build your own systems and even order your own real world systems. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but isn't that what we used to call a store? Brian Crecente

Dell Gets a Second Life [Direct 2 Dell]

Now that both Alienware and Voodoo PC have been bought out by huge, faceless corporations, I no longer count them on my list of PC builders that I'd buy from. They're dead to me, sorry, that's just the way I am.

But who's left? It used to be that Alienware topped my list, but even before the buy-out they were going a little too corporate for my taste. Then I started eyeing Voodoo, but I can't stand HP.

So you've got Falcon Northwest and who? Maybe Hypersonic, but I'm not to up on them? Or are the days of small, fantastic, PC builders who understand and cater to the gaming market dead and gone?

Who's on your list for next hot PC builder, or do you think there's no such thing anymore? Brian Crecente

Falcon Northwest Hypersonic PC

Looks like everyone wants a premium PC gamer rig manufacturer under their wing. First, Dell bought Alienware; now, HP is picking up VoodooPC. According to Ars Technica:

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but VoodooPC CEO Ravi Sood and his brother Rahul will be joining a new gaming business unit within HP's Personal Systems Group. Rahul Sood describes the two companies as "complimentary opposites" and believes that VoodooPC's expertise with gaming and high-end PCs combined with HP's "innovations, scale, and leverage" will result in "some of the most compelling machines money can buy." (No word on whether HP was monitoring his phone lines and home network as he composed his blog post announcing the deal.)

It's nice to see these companies try to court gamers, but not at the ridiculous premium prices of these silly, overpriced and gaudy neon rigs. Florian Eckhardt

"http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060928-7863.html">HP goes shopping, comes home with VoodooPC [Ars Technica]

Our capitalistic little brother site The Consumerist kicked us out of bed, sending word of a panel at the upcoming Austin Games Conference with Michael Dell. The young CEO's company has been feeling the heat of late as Dell laptops continue to explode and burst into flames. Regardless, Mike will be in Austin, bravely facing the masses. And what's his talk called? Yep, "Fireside Chat." Brian Ashcraft

More Here [The Consumerist]

You can also save a few dollars here and there on a slew of 360 accessories like the wireless network adapter ($10 off), the wireless controller ($5 off) and some games (several $6 off.).

Clearing stock for a new sku, price drop in prep for the coming of the Wii and PS3 or just a sale? Who cares, it's a cheap(er) 360. Brian Crecente

Xbox 360 Console [Dell, via Xboxic]

If all it takes to become a supplier of hardcore gaming rigs is a high price, than Dell has things wrapped up. Their latest addition to their high-end gaming systems tops off at $5,000. (At least that's what it totaled after I was finished playing with the settings.)

Earlier this week Dell unveiled the XPS 700 desktop. The new system supports NVIDIA's Quad-SLI graphics cards, AGEIA's PhysX physics acelerator card, a dual-core processor, an aluminum chassis and the need to make you choose between a hot new computer and your marriage.

To be fair, the 700 starts at $2,310 and Dell was smart enough to let you buy a 700 starter kit for $1,120. The kit comes with an Intel 930 processor, 512 MB memory, a motherboard and a power supply. Brian Crecente

XPS 700 [Dell]

Dell sends word that they've launched a new gaming laptap. The XPS M1710 comes in Formula Red or Metallic Black and features Intel Core Duo processors, a NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GTZ graphics processor (with 512 MB to 4 GB of memory), a serial ATA hard drive, a TrueLife 17-inch widescreen UXGA display, backlit touchpad and a 5-in-1 media card reader.

Hit the jump for the full press release.

DELL'S FASTEST CONSUMER NOTEBOOK UNITES POWER, BOLD LOOKS FOR GAMERS ON THE MOVE
XPS M1710 Delivers Speed, Special-Edition Formula Red Design, Multimedia Features

ROUND ROCK, Texas, April 18, 2006—Mobile gamers now can bring the firepower of dual-core processors and 512 MB graphics to their next tournament thanks to Dell's fastest consumer notebook, the XPS M1710, introduced today.

For serious gamers looking for an edge on their next opponent, the XPS M1710 notebook offers blazing performance to match its bold looks. With Intel Core Duo processors, a NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GTX graphics processor with 512 MB and up to 4 GB of memory, the XPS M1710 can deliver up to 35 percent better performance than its predecessor1. Customers can play 3-D games at high settings for stunning realism while simultaneously performing intensive tasks such as encoding music or running a virus scan without zapping performance.

Dell offers unique design choices of Special Edition Formula Red or Metallic Black displays so gamers can play in high style. To further customize the look, each XPS M1710 notebook features an illuminated XPS touchpad and adjustable 16-color perimeter lighting.

"Dell is again delivering the most advanced features to the gaming community, especially customers who want the performance and freedom to play anywhere," said Brett Faulk, Dell director of consumer mobile product marketing. "We continue to partner with the industry's performance leaders to offer the best technologies and gaming experience for our customers."

Starting at 8.75 pounds2, the XPS M1710, with its magnesium-alloy reinforced RoadReady chassis, is rugged enough to withstand punishment yet light enough to take the game on the road without draining the player's energy.

The top-of-the-line XPS M1710 also incorporates multimedia features to entertain. Dell increased the brightness of its TrueLife 17-inch widescreen UXGA display by 30 percent3 to enhance detail and clarity for games, photos and movies. The Dell notebook also comes with MediaDirect buttons and a 5-in-1 media card reader to save time and enable fast access to digital content. Standard Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 and an optional TV tuner4 enable viewing or recording TV programs.

Additional XPS M1710 features include:

Intel Core Duo processors up to T2600 (667 MHz, 2 MB cache)
Up to 4 GB5 667 MHz DDR2 memory
Serial ATA hard drive up to 120 GB6
Dell Rapid Driver program for access to the latest gaming peripheral drivers
Minimum-software option with no pre-installed entertainment or productivity suites
Personalized XPS service with dedicated sales, specially trained technicians and designated phone queue

The XPS M1710 Metallic Black model is available immediately worldwide starting at $2,600 with an Intel Duo Core T2400 processor, Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, 256 MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS graphics, 1 GB DDR2 memory, nine-cell battery, 60 GB6 hard drive, and one-year limited warranty.7 The Special Edition Formula Red model is available in the United States and Canada only priced at $3,400 with an Intel Core Duo T2500 processor, 512 MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GTX graphics and 80 GB4 hard drive.

XPS M1710 [Dell, thanks Liem]

An insider tips us that only 31 of the XPS were actually made. To make up for the limited run, the rigs sold (all before they were even produced) for $8,000 to $10,000 each with Dell's Ultrasharp 30-inch displays.

One of the flaming skeletons sits in Michael Dell's house, three went to review sites (can we come over and play Cnet), one is going to be auctioned for charity and another is going to be given away by the company. The rest, we are guessing, live in the bowels of hell where flaming skeletons aren't just cool, they're a way of life.

So, you must be thinking I love the skeleton motief and all, but $10,000? Here's the breakdown. The video cards cost $3,300 each and the CPU is also likely very high end since the 4.25 Ghz overclocked Intel 3.9 Ghz chip isn't even on the market yet. The thing also has the new AGEIA physx engine card, making it the first system to incorporate it.

Some other expenses include the fact that the custom built rig was tested by Dell's R&D engineers and that there's a special call-in number for customer support if you own one of these bad boys.

Oh, also the packaging for the PC cost $180. Yes, I mean the stuff the thing was wrapped in for shipping (it was pure cotton cloth). That rad paintjob? It was $800.

We're told that there were actually four designs submitted to Michael Dell for final approval. The flaming skeleton that touches the teenage nerd in us, an identical one in blue, an acidic green design and a blue ice design. Michael went with the skeleton dealio.

Dell Sells Well [Kotaku]

Dell's giving away what is presumably their last precious remaining stock of flaming skeleton computers in a contest that the site says is "coming soon".

Dell Sells Out Of Quad-SLI XPS 600 Renegade PCs [FiringSquad]

While no word has been officially released from either Dell or Alienware, we heard from a reliable source this morning that the purchase has indeed gone down. Speculation began on March 5 after a blog post by Voodoo PC CEO Rahul Sood. The new source, a contact at a high-end vendor who requested anonymity, claims that two of his company's suppliers confirmed that the deal has been done, and he also claims that his company has received an influx of resumes from Alienware employees.

An Alienware PR representative did not deny the claim but instead forwarded us a prewritten statement from the company that said: "At this time, Alienware will not comment on any speculative stories or rumors concerning Dell and Alienware's association. While we do believe that news stories like this are ultimately a strong positive reinforcement of the Alienware brand and the company's success, we will not comment on speculation or potential future events. As always, Alienware is committed to offering consumers and businesses with the best high-performance, innovative PC products on the market and we remain manically focused on that goal."

Dell did not return calls asking for comment.

Interesting. I was just telling a friend that I thought Alienware was getting a bit too mainstream for its own good. It's hard to court the hardcore gamer audience with such a big name, I think.

It looks like companys such as Voodoo and Falcon Northwest are going to have to step in.

Unconfirmed: Dell Buys Alienware [Cnet]

Imagine hitting your parents up for a Dell computer as you prepare to go off to college and then throwing in $680 in accessories. Now imagine if those accessories were, in fact, an Xbox 360 bundle. Seriously, I wish they did this when I was in college.

The bundle includes the HD pack, an extra wireless controller, a play and charge kit, a year script to Live gold, PGR 3, Madden 06 and Kameo. Not bad.

Oh, and they seem to actually have them in stock and will even finance at about $21 a month forever.

Weeeeee, at that monthly price, I almost want to buy a second one.

360 Bundle [Dell]