For the past few days, rumors of swirled in the World of Warcraft circles as graphics from Blizzard's popular MMORPG began to appear in Dell teaser ads on the Web. Today, Dell addressed the rampant speculation by taking the wraps off the XPS M1730 World of Warcraft Edition, an update to the powerful XPS M1730. At $4,499 the rig isn't cheap, but World of Warcraft fanatics will surely salivate over the package.

 

Under the hood, the Dell XPS M1730 World of Warcraft Edition is the same as the previous XPS M1730: It features DirectX 10 SLI graphics, an overclockable Extreme Edition Core 2 Duo processor, dual RAID 7,200-rpm hard drives (or 64GB solid-state drives for those who need the most cutting-edge technologies), integrated mobile broadband, Logitech's GamePanel, a built-in camera, and an optional Blu-ray drive.

 

What differentiates this rig from the original is that the system will feature exclusive World of Warcraft designs. Customers can choose either an Alliance (the good guys) or Horde (the bad guys) system that comes with World of Warcraft wallpapers and screen savers. In addition, the Dell XPS M1730 World of Warcraft Edition ships with a backpack containing World of Warcraft and its Burning Crusade expansion pack, strategy guides, a "Making of World of Warcraft" DVD, paperback novels, and a soundtrack.

 

But the gaming goodness doesn't stop there. Customers will also receive a Quest Envelope, which includes the following surprises from Blizzard and Dell: a Golden Ticket that allows customers to get a prepaid custom action figure based on their in-game character, a beta key for accessing future World of Warcraft games, and an upgrade certificate that allows gamers to upgrade to a "Collectors Edition Account," which enables them to obtain a special in-game pet.

 

Those who have signed up for early information via Dell's online teaser campaign will receive an e-mail link today, enabling them to purchase the Dell XPS M1730 immediately; everyone else will have to wait until December 21st, when the notebook becomes available to the general public. Game on!