With the introduction of Windows Vista Home Premium with its built in PVR (Personal Video Recorder) capabilities, the PC has taken a giant step toward becoming a permanent fixture in your living room. But who wants a huge and ugly PC tower propped up next to their TV? Sure, there are custom Home Theatre PC cabinets for sale (at exorbitant prices) but they are designed with the HTPC enthusiast in mind and rarely find their way into the homes of normal people. But now all that is about to change.

Dell Studio Hybrid

This week Dell announced their newest offering: The Studio Hybrid. This computer marks a whole new chapter in the way PCs are designed and intended to be used. The Studio Hybrid is a tiny and sleek unit about the size of a regular external hard drive that has everything built in – massive hard drive space, DVD or Blu-Ray player, DVI and HDMI, digital audio and lots of other options. And not only is it small, it’s cheap and effective. The base model is selling for $499 (though if you want to use it as an HTPC you’ll end up spending over $800 for an upgraded model) and Dell claims it uses 70% less energy than a conventional PC.

But what makes this computer interesting is the incredibly small and stylish form factor. Its curved design is accentuated by the ability to choose between a multitude of colored shells including a real bamboo housing. It is also designed to be placed either horizontally or upright to accommodate any space. Finally it has a slot-in disc drive so there are no annoying disc trays that can pop out and break off.

As far as I can tell, the Studio Hybrid’s small design is achieved by using laptop parts. This would also explain the low power consumption and cost. Of course it also means that you are severely limited in upgrades and expansions: For one you cannot install a TV tuner card in the computer so if you want to use it as an HTPC you have to get a USB tuner card for it (can be added to the order during purchase from Dell.com) and you can expect the computer to become sluggish and hard to use after a couple of years.

Is the Studio Hybrid for me?

What are you looking for in a computer? If you want a basic computer to do web surfing and word processing that also looks nice, this is definitely a good and cheap option. In addition it also looks great on any desk or table and ups the coolness factor of your house. If you want a basic HTPC running Windows Vista Home Premium one with a few upgrades like a better processor, more ram, a bigger hard drive and the USB TV tuner will work splendidly. If you are doing hard core video editing however, you should look elsewhere.

Let me put it this way: If I didn’t already have several defunct computers lying around my house I would probably buy one of these and use it in my living room. Though I’d wait until around or right after Christmas to buy it to let the prices come down a bit. That way Dell will also have time to smooth out whatever kinks are present in the early models.