One of today’s IT News stories discusses Dell’s new luxury XPS PCs: “For Dell, will luxury PCs boost profits?” (http://www.techrepublic.com/2100-10877_11-5887465.html) 

While Dell’s margin is currently holding up, tech industry author Nicholas Carr claims, “It’s pretty clear that (Dell) needs to go after those high-margin markets if it wants to maintain its profits.”

How much does Dells’ luxury line of products cost? Prices for the XPS systems start at $1,099. The XPS 600 starts at $1,849. The XPS M170 notebook comes with a 17-inch screen and starts at $2,699. The 50-inch W5001C plasma HDTV and 32-inch W3201C LCD TV are priced at $3,799 and $1,799, respectively. They do look pretty sleek, as you can see in the XPS photo gallery: http://www.techrepublic.com/2300-10877-5884858.html

I have to admit that I am a little envious when I see coworkers with LCD flat panel display monitors, while I continue to lug my heavy box monitor from cubical to cubical. However, unless TechRepublic foots the bill, the price of “luxury” is a little too steep for my budget.