Dell And Blizzard Team Up To Make XPS 1730 Laptop

In a move that is sure to make people say "...why?", Dell has teamed up with Blizzard Entertainment to create the special World of Warcraft Edition XPS 1730 laptop. This is not the first time the duo worked together, but last time is was a limited run and only for charity (they raised around $12,0000 for America's Second Harvest, an organization that provides food to food banks across the US). This time, however, they're playing for keeps, and with an estimated price tag of $4500-$5000, I'm quite sure they'll raise a tad bit more than $12,000!

So what's in these big bad WoW-playing machines?

• 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-clockable1 Intel® Extreme Edition CoreTM 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 DiscTM to provide the ultimate mobile viewing experience
• 7ms average display response time3 to ensure quick overall system performance
• Complete wireless connectivity with built-in Optional Mobile Broadband2, Wireless-N, Bluetooth, and Dell’s exclusive Wi-Fi CatcherTM
• 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

But that's not really all you get either. The machine comes loaded with World of Warcraft and the expansion The Burning Crusade. Then comes the bag 'o goodies:

• 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 ChaosTM and Warcraft III: Frozen ThroneTM
• 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 play5.
• 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.

Finally, to top off this massive machine's allure, you can choose a customized skin of either Horde or Alliance.

That, in my opinion, is what makes me ask "why". These beasts are just a tiny bit over-powered for World of Warcraft. However, you will gain a lot of geek-cred for having a ridiculous machine and for advertising your WoW addiction.

The XPS 1730 will be available starting December 11 only on the Dell website. Is it sad to say that even though I just got back in WoW after a 5-month hiatus, I still kind of want one of these?

Press Release [Dell.com]
[via: I4U]