LiVe LiFe To The FuLLThe world is moving ! Don’t stay behind…

Oh, how the times change! In August of last year we were talking up a 128GB SSD drive for Dell’s XPS laptops like it was some kind of hotness — and only $450! Now that same drive is a mere $200 upgrade, while a new 256GB SSD has been introduced to Dell’s XPS M1330 and M1730 laptops for “only” $400. Sure, six months from now we’re gonna be chatting up a slightly cheaper 512GB SSD and laughing at our January selves, but we just can’t help ourselves and this pesky linear of progression of time we’re so beholden to. Dell’s also now offering a 7200RPM 500GB HDD as well, and plans to introduce both of these upgrades to additional laptops in the next few weeks.

After making all kinds of efforts to save money and cut back on expenses, a recent settlement for Dell is sure to set those efforts back just a little bit. The computer giant is going to have to pay $3.35 million as part of a settlement in 34 states for misleading consumers about financing and warranties. Apparently, many people who purchased Dell computers were charged higher interest rates than promised (for those who financed), did not receive rebates and were lied to about warranties. So, $1.5 million will be paid as restitution for those rip-offs and consumers will have 90 days to submit a claim. The remaining $1.85 million is going to cover, you guessed it, legal fees. The moral of the story is it doesn’t pay to be shady and we hope that other companies take this as a wake-up call because it doesn’t help business or consumers. It does however, help lawyers.

We just caught up with the Dell Mini 10, and while it’s not as crazy hot as the white Adamo, it’s still pretty sweet — much nicer looking than the Mini 9, and more compact than the Mini 12. No wonder Dell’s calling it a “perfect 10.” The multitouch trackpad is really similar to the one on the newest Macbooks, but it’s a little less intuitive — the buttons are pushed into the corners, so a middle press doesn’t do a lot. On the other hand, it’s a little more useful — not only can you do the usual zooming and scrolling, laying three fingers on the pad brings up a slick little launcher screen. Too bad we don’t have pricing or availabilty — if this thing comes in at a reasonable number, it’s going to be our favorite netbook.

We’re well into the throes of CES and things are happening hot and heavy; Dell’s Phenom II-packing XPS 625, announced just hours ago, has already been given a full once-over by DesktopReview.com, finding it to be a solid machine — and even a good value. (When’s the last time you read that conclusion about a gaming rig?) The review admires the machine’s sophisticated looks, well-designed case, and easy expandability, but found that AMD’s latest couldn’t quite keep up with the i7 (as we’d heard earlier). Given the price point here that shouldn’t exactly be a surprise.

Dell has been pretty laptop-heavy at CES so far, but it looks to be balancing things out a bit today, with it introducing its new gamer-minded XPS 625 desktop. This one is AMD through and through, and includes your choice of AMD Phenom or Phenom II Black Edition processors, ATI Radeon HD4670 or HD4850 graphics cards (in single or CrossFireX configurations), and some other suitably high-end specs all around, including up 8GB of RAM, a whole host of hard drive options and, of course, an AlienFX custom lighting system to remind you just why you bought it. Best of all, prices start at a reasonable $999 for a decently-equipped system, and you can get your order in right now

Can you feel it? Dell’s Adamo is just about here, and the anticipation is palpable. We already learned that the unit’s 45-watt power adapter wouldn’t be anything special, but a Google cache shot of accessories and such from Dell’s own website is giving us a presumed look at what could be announced alongside the ultraportable. For starters, we get the impression that it’ll boast DisplayPort (judging by the DisplayPort-to-HDMI / VGA / etc. adapters) and at least have an option for a 2x Blu-ray combo drive. We’re also seeing 250GB / 500GB internal / external SATA drives and an auto / air adapter for powering the machine in your vehicle / personally owned 747. Only the suits in Round Rock know if these will actually come to fruition, but honestly, why bother hosting these up on your website if they weren’t on the way?

Thanks to a totally amazing Engadget source, we’ve gotten our hands on photos of the absolutely sick Dell Studio XPS 13, and some new info about the company’s forthcoming Adamo. First off, the photos in the gallery are of that Studio XPS we caught wind of way back in August. The pics we saw back then don’t really do the laptop justice, as you can tell by these snaps. Meanwhile, that rumored Adamo is very much real, and very much like what we’ve been hearing. Apparently the device — which the company plans to market as the “world’s thinnest laptop” — was slated to be released this month, but has been pushed back till at least February. The Adamo will sport a black and silver color scheme similar to the system you see here, but is “different,” and we’re told that it’s most definitely Dell’s play to nab some of that MacBook Air marketshare.

Dell’s Inspiron Mini 12 was already blurring the lines between netbooks and traditional laptop when it was shipping with Vista and Vista only, but it looks like Dell is intent on breaking down the walls between the two categories, with it now offering both Ubuntu and Windows XP on the, er… system. Expectedly, there’s no changes to be found on the hardware side of things, and you can get either of the new operating systems installed on both the 1.33GHz and 1.6GHz models, the former of which now starts at $499 with Ubuntu pre-installed. And, yes, you can still get Vista if you like — at no extra cost, no less.