I received a promo e-mail (by my request) from Dell today concerning the new XPS One.

Here she is:

Good points:

• Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 processor
• Comes bundled with Adobe Elements Studio (for video editing - and this is not a bad deal at all)
• Comes bundled with wireless mouse included (and to boot one that’s much more ergonomically friendly than Apple’s Mighty Mouse)
• Comes INCLUDED with 1-year IN-HOME warranty service. Very, very nice.
• Comes included with DataSafe online backup for 1 year. You get 10GB’s of online backup free for one year online. Nice touch.

Not-so-good points:

• Starting price is $1,499. The iMac is cheaper by $300.
• Largest screen available is 20-inch. Apple offers iMac’s with 24-inch monitors. For the money you’d expect at least the option of a 24-inch.
• No option for Windows XP. Vista only.

The Dell’s major advantages are:

It’s proprietary. As such it will run better with Vista. It’s well known that laptops run Vista much better because of their proprietary nature, and since this is a proprietary box it will run that OS much more smoothly.

The warranty. Apple has got to step up to the plate and offer in-home warranty service included without the requirement to shell out extra cash. Where Apple fails more than anything else is the fact their warranty options are very limited with an "all or nothing" offerings. And for those that say "Macs don’t break", you can keep living in fantasy land because they can and do just like any other computer.

The 8-in-1 media reader. With an iMac you’re out of luck if you want an internal card reader solution. Tons of people have digital cameras and having a computer with one is extremely convenient and moreover cheap to bundle with a system.

The built-in TV Tuner. The XPS One has a hybrid analog/digital tuner with remote control. What this means is that this box can do double-duty as a television set easily.

. . .

The market for a box like this is limited, however this is untested ground for both Gateway (who also has a "one" model) and Dell. Will it sell? Will anyone go for it? No one knows just yet.

But it’s nice to know you at least have choice when it comes to an all-in-one box (other than a laptop).

Dell, if you happen to read this, the biggest knock against the XPS One is the 20-inch-only screen offering. You’ve got to have a One model that has a larger offering.