Dell: We Have Thinnest 15'' on the Planet, If You Don't Compare It Against Everything Else

Dell's latest 15-inch enthusiast laptop, the XPS 15z, is a pretty decent package. Its metal design is both stylish and conservative, and it has a good amount of power.

There are many good, valid reasons for Dell to promote the XPS 15z, but one of them should not because it's the thinnest 15-inch laptop on the planet – because it isn't.

Dell's advertisement for the XPX 15z reads: "Just 0.97" (24.68mm) at its thickest point, XPS 15z is the thinnest 15" PC on the planet*. It’s also incredibly tough and lightweight."

That little asterisk led to small print that states: "Based on Dell internal analysis as at February 2011. Based on a thickness comparison (front and rear measurements) of other 15" laptop PCs manufactured by HP, Acer, Toshiba, Asus, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony, MSI. No comparison made with Apple or other manufacturers not listed."

Convenient then, that the comparison against the MacBook Pro unibody was avoided, as Apple's offering is 0.95-inches in thickness.

The lesson here is simple: it's easy to be the best on the planet at something as long as you're selective about your comparison pool.

Source: The Guardian

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
  • roymustang
    The Dell quote says thinnest 15" PC and a Mac is technically not a PC (even though they have PC parts now). So I don't have a problem with them saying that.
    Reply
  • molo9000
    So false advertising is legal as long as u put a "*" next to it and add some fine print?
    Reply
  • fyasko
    American media is awesome* stepping in poo is fun* toms has the newest articles* haha...
    Reply
  • Thinnest 15" PC in the Universe*

    Based on other 15" laptop PCs manufactured on Earth, excluding Apple and all extra terrestrial civilizations not listed.
    Reply
  • thomaseron
    roymustangThe Dell quote says thinnest 15" PC and a Mac is technically not a PC (even though they have PC parts now). So I don't have a problem with them saying that.
    Technically, PC stands for Personal Computer. A Mac could be personal. This whole Mac vs PC is wrong. It should be Windows vs Mac-OS.
    Reply
  • @roymustang
    Under which "technical" guidelines are you classifying a Personal Computer?
    Reply
  • idisarmu
    roymustangThe Dell quote says thinnest 15" PC and a Mac is technically still PC (the fact that they are x86 cpu based is completely irrelevant). So I think it's pretty stupid that they're saying that.
    Fixed that for you.
    Reply
  • icemunk
    In the Mac bible, line 42, chapter 4. Jobs said to Gates, "Mac is thee PC of PCs, yet a Mac is also a Mac"
    Reply
  • Benihana
    Wow, now I really do have the fastest CPU* in the whole galaxy!

    *i7 930 not compared to CPUs costing greater than the ratio of US national debt to US GDP.
    Reply
  • Benihana
    And yes my comparison is flawed, but we'll leave that up to the legal boys to battle it out.
    Reply