Microsoft Corp. today announced the return of its successful student offer that allows students buying a qualifying Windows 7-based PC to also get a free Xbox 360 4GB console. The offer is available for current students while supplies last, starting May 20 at participating retailers in the U.S.; a similar offer will be available starting May 18 at participating retailers in Canada. Terms and conditions will vary by participating retailer.

Together, a Windows 7-based PC and an Xbox 360 console provide students the functionality they need for school while also helping them stay connected to friends and family far away. To take advantage of this offer, students or their parents must provide valid student identification as defined by the participating retailer. Participating retailers may change over the course of the promotion, but will include Best Buy, Fry's Electronics, Dell.com, HPDirect.com, Microsoft Stores and NewEgg.com in the U.S., and Best Buy, Dell.ca, Future Shop, Staples and The Source in Canada.

Dell continues to deliver high-performance laptops and desktops for families, multimedia professionals and businesses demanding power and performance for complex tasks and immersive entertainment activities. The XPS 8500 and Vostro 470 desktops are now available with Intel's 3rd generation quad-core processors and the latest discrete graphics on Dell.com for professionals who demand high-performance technology. Additionally, Dell is expanding the laptop line-up with the Inspiron Special Edition series for families who desire enhanced multimedia capabilities. The Inspiron Special Edition 14R and 15R are available today in select countries in Asia.

The XPS 8500 Desktop: Advanced Performance for Creatives

The XPS 8500 desktop delivers a superb user experience for creatives who demand uncompromising performance, whether composing music, working on graphics-intensive design, creating and editing various multimedia, or playing games. The desktop features a premium fit and finish in a compact chassis without sacrificing future expandability.

According to a fresh report, in Q2 Dell will be releasing a new XPS 15 laptop, one that makes use of Intel's 3rd generation Core processors (codename Ivy Bridge), has a chassis just 24.2 mm thick (down from 38 mm of the current XPS 15), and packs a 15.6-inch WLED-backlit Full HD (1920 x 1080) display protected by Gorilla Glass.

The upgraded XPS 15 is said to feature a Core i5-3210M or Core i7-3612M CPU, up to 16 GB of RAM, a 1 TB HDD or a 512 GB SSD, a GeForce GT 630M or GT 640M graphics card, a glass trackpad, a 3-in-1 card reader, USB 3.0 connectivity, Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, and both HDMI and mini DisplayPort outputs. The laptop's release date and pricing scheme have yet to leak.

Dell has quietly listed a new desktop system on its site, the Dell Studio XPS 435. The slick, angled casing of Studio XPS 435 hides a 3.2 GHz Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Edition processor, an Intel X58 motherboard, up to 24 GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM working at triple-channel, ATI Radeon HD 4870 graphics card with 1 GB GDDR5 memory, up to 4.5 TB of storage and a Blu-Ray disc drive. As standard you get a Gigabit NIC, integrated 7.1 channel sound, 15-in-1 memory card reader, and eight USB 2.0 ports. If you want to go beyond that, there's an optional Creative X-Fi sound blaster, BOSE 2.1 sound system, and a wireless network card. The system is yet to be priced.

Unleashed earlier today AMD's Dragon platform has now been integrated into Dell's latest XPS 625 desktop PC. Starting at $999, the system is powered by a 3.0GHz AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition processor, two ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics cards in CrossFire mode, 8GB memory, and a 10,000 rpm hard drive. All that hardware is placed carefully in a special Dell aluminum chassis with a choice of either black or red accents, plus the AlienFX customizable lighting system inside it. For more information on the XPS 625 system, please click here.

Dell has just launched its new Studio XPS notebook family. The first members of this family are the Studio XPS 13 (1340) and Studio XPS 16 (1640), boasting a 13-inch and a 16-inch LED backlit displays respectively. Both laptops share the same chassis design that combines magnesium alloy, plastic, brushed aluminum, and leather. They only distinguish from each other from the different display sizes and internal hardware specs. Both systems start at a base price of $1,199 and can be completely customized. If you are interested, you might want to check Dell's online configurator here. It will give you all the information you need. Also, our friends at NotebookReview have posted a complete professional first look on the Dell Studio XPS 1640 here.

Dell XPS One is the company's monolithic space-saving desktop PC model. The company introduced a new model of the PC with a 24-inch model, with updated hardware. The 24-inch XPS One packs a 1920 x 1080 pixel high-definition display, along with under-the-hood enhancements that include an Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 processor, 4 GB of memory, 320 GB of storage, and integrated Intel GMA X4500HD graphics. Optionally, you could choose the same model with NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT 512MB graphics or a Blu-ray drive. The system incudes sleek speaker units with a bundled sub-woofer, made by JBL. The system is available in three colours: Midnight Grey, Pure White and (PRODUCT) RED. Prices start at US $1,699.

After officially rejecting all reports calling for the end of Dell's XPS lineup, the company is now taking a step further to promote Alienware gaming machines on its site. Dell has added the Area-51 m9750 to its gaming laptop web site alongside with XPS M1730, it was reported by Direct2Dell.

Now, the Alien invasion has continued, with the addition of the Area-51 m9750 to the Dell gaming laptop web site lineup.

Looking at the Dell Gaming Laptop page, you can see both of these beautiful machines [Alienware Area-51 m15x and Area-51 m9750] ride alongside of the XPS m1730 highlighting the way two great brands can team up to deliver the best gaming experience in the business.

An Area-51 m9750 machine can be configured with a 17-inch widescreen, an Intel Core 2 Duo T7600 2.33GHz processor, up to 4GB Dual Channel DDR2, dual NVIDIA GeForce 8700M GT 512MB GDDR3 cards in SLI, and up to 1TB of HDD space. The basic configuration price for the Area-51 m9750 starts at $1399.

Admittedly the majority of techPowerUp! readers are probably more interested in building their own gaming computers than buying them from large OEMs, but Dell has now launched its latest incarnation of the XPS gaming desktop. The XPS 630 is the first pre-built PC from any major manufacturer to support the Enthusiast System Architecture (ESA), and comes equipped with an nForce 650 chipset, two PCIe x16 slots, four HDD bays and Corsair DOMINATOR memory - the base model features an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 CPU and a 512MB GeForce 8800 GT graphics card. Dell itself sanctions overclocking, commenting that both the CPU and memory can be pushed beyond stock speeds. The base model costs $1,299 and comes with a two year warranty, going on sale tomorrow.

Dell this morning kept on its promise and began offering the XPS M1330 with Linux in the US. The system is the first XPS in the country to come preloaded with Ubuntu Linux. The American model, however, is more limited than versions in Europe. Coming in black color only, the M1330 in the US will lack the 64GB solid-state and 320GB hard drive options of its overseas equivalent. At $954, the stock model ships with a 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo T5450 (2MB cache/667MHz FSB), 1GB of DDR2 memory, a 120GB 5400 rpm hard drive, and Intel GMA X3100 video. Upgrades boost the system up to 2.2GHz (Core 2 Duo T7500, 800Mhz FSB, 4MB Cache) along with 4GB of memory and a 200GB 7200 rpm hard disk. Orders begin today with stock systems arriving in customer hands in less than two weeks.

Dell has upped the specs for its performance notebooks by introducing the option of dual 8800M GTX graphics cards for the XPS M1730. Dell is claiming performance improvements of as much as 49% compared to dual 8700M GT graphics processors, commenting that the notebook is capable of reaching 13,500 points in 3DMark06. However, the extra performance comes at a premium, with the minimum price for this setup being $3,400. That works out at being $1000 more than a single 8700M GT and $700 more than dual 8700M GTs, with the top-spec model costing around $7,000.

More laptop computers preloaded with Ubuntu Linux are coming from Dell in response to demand from potential customers around the world. Starting today, customers in Germany, United Kingdom, France and now Spain can purchase Ubuntu Linux 7.10 with built-in DVD playback on the XPS 1330n, in addition to the previously-released Inspiron 530n desktop system. The offer will also be available for U.S. customers after one week.

In a quest to nail the greatest gaming experience ever, Dell and Blizzard Entertainment, have joined forces to bring gamers the XPSTM M1730 World of Warcraft Edition notebook PC. The unique gaming notebook is available for purchase today by customers who pre-registered for early access during the "It Begins" quest. It will be available to all U.S. customers on December 11th on Dell Gaming.

Available in Tuxedo Black and Crimson Red, the latest in Dell's range of XPS notebooks has been launched today. The XPS M1530 is a sleek and powerful multimedia machine with a starting price of £699. The M1530 boasts up to a 2.60GHz Core 2 Duo T7800 processor, up to 4GB of Dual Channel 667MHz DDR2 memory, single NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT 256MB video card, a 15.4" WXGA (1280x800) LED back-lit screen, up to 320GB of hard disk space and comes with a genuine copy of Windows Vista. It'll even give you the option of a 64GB solid state drive as well as other optional extras such as a Blu-ray drive. HDMI output comes as standard. The new notebook weighs in at a starting point of 2.62kg. The official product page can be accessed here.

Dell today announced the XPS 420 - a premium multimedia desktop PC that features Dell-exclusive Adobe Elements Studio software pre-installed, including Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 & Premiere Elements 4 software as well as Adobe Soundbooth CS3 - to simplify multimedia creativity whether it's producing a slide show, editing a family video or cleaning up audio recordings.

Dell's XPS M1730 gaming notebook has not been released yet, although its launch was planned for September 21st. Despite the delay, specs leaked from Dell's official website say that the XPS M1730 will be configurable with the 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, 2.2GHz T7500, 2.4GHz T7700 as well as the latest Core 2 Extreme X7900 CPU at 2.8GHz. All these CPUs have 4MB of L2 cache and a 800MHz front side bus. Dell's new 17-inch glossy TrueLife widescreen display with 1920x1200 pixel resolution will be powered by NVIDIA GeForce Go 8700M GT dedicated video card with 512MB GDDR3 memory in single or dual (SLI) configuration. The specifications also mention 2GB 667MHz DDR2 memory (4GB for an additional $375), AGEIA PhysX 100M physics card and 2x200GB 7200rpm hard drives in RAID configuration. The notebook's price starts from $2,999 for the basic configuration and climbs up to $4,192 for the premium model.

Engadget has posted details about Dell's next gen XPS 420 system. The XPS 420 will be bigger, badder and better equipped:

• Core 2 Duo, Extreme, or Quad (up to 8MB) processor options
• Intel X38 Express chipset, DDR2 800 (up to 8GB)
• MiniView LCD 3 x 2-inch QVGA display (runs SideShow on the front, picture after the break)
• Dell Xcelerator - dedicated media coprocessor for transcoding video streams to MPEG-4 formats. Can cut encode time on a 2 hour HD movie in half and use far fewer CPU cycles.
• SATA II (with RAID 0 or 1 support)
• PCI Express x16, Gigabit Ethernet
• 2x front USB, 6x rear, 2x internal; one front and rear 1394; one eSATA, frontal audio ports

Dell, manufacturer of high performance XPS laptop computers is preparing the M1730 model, which will follow up after their M1710. The "fully loaded" laptop will sport a Core 2 Extreme X7800 CPU running at 2.60 GHz. Graphics-wise, the base models will use an NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GS with 256MB of memory, there should also be a 512MB GeForce 8700M GT available soon.

Other rumored specs include a maximum of 4GB of RAM and a 512MB or 1GB Intel Turbo Memory option, Bluetooth 2.0, Blu-ray as well as a numeric keypad.

The laptop will be launched on the 27th of this month.