Since Apple has firmly staked its claim in the aluminum and glass, nouveau industrial look department, Dell has decided to go back to its Texas roots and class up its new laptop with some good-old-fashioned, classic cowhide.

For some bizarre branding reason that Dell has failed to properly explain, Dell has decided to take its studio brand, which is supposed to be a mid-tier offering,  and combine it with its supposedly high-end XPS line to create the really high-end studio XPS series of computers.  There is already a desktop (which sadly just looks like a glossier version the Inspiron), and it will soon be joined by this swanky looking 13.3″ widescreen laptop.

The new machine appears similar to the XPS M1330, however it has a more spacious, luxurious looking keyboard (similar to some VAIOs), HDMI out, stylized vents (seen before on the Lenovo IdeaPad U110), additional metal accents, and of course that aforementioned swath of leather on its back.

Pricing and availablity are not yet known, so I’ll hold off passing judgement on Dell’s new offering just yet.  But for all this attention Dell is paying to its “high-end” offerings, couldn’t it have just done more for Alienware instead of muddling up its brand hierarchy?

Here is the link to the Engadget post.

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