For years, Dell’s been teasing supermodel-thin laptops , each one flawed out of the gate: too pricey , too underpowered , and with underwhelming battery life . This time, Dell told us we’d get something different — a laptop without compromise. Recently, Round Rock killed off the Adamo and nixed the XPS 14, and then rumors started to spin — a spiritual successor would be the slimmest 15.6-inch notebook we’d ever seen, be crafted from “special materials” and yet cost less than $1,000. Dell even stated that it would have an “innovative new form factor” of some sort. The company neglected to mention it would look like a MacBook Pro. This is the Dell XPS 15z, and we’re sorry to say it’s not a thin-and-light — it’s actually a few hairs thicker than a 15-inch MacBook Pro, wider, and at 5.54 pounds, it weighs practically the same. It is , however, constructed of aluminum and magnesium alloy and carries some pretty peppy silicon inside, and the base model really does ring up at $999. That’s a pretty low price to garner comparisons to Apple’s flagship, and yet here we are. Has Dell set a new bar for the notebook PC market? Find out after the break. Gallery: Dell XPS 15z unboxing and hands-on Continue reading Dell XPS 15z review Dell XPS 15z review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 May 2011 21:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink