Major step in expanding entire laptop portfolio by 50 percent in 2008

Thinner, lighter form factors

More security features than comparable, competitive products¹

DUBAI, UAE, 20 April 2008 - Dell today announced its redesigned Vostro™ laptop line for small businesses, including the new 13.3-inch Vostro 1310 starting at $699 and the 15.4-inch Vostro1510 starting at $799. Products are available today in Europe, Middle East and Africa, followed by North and South America 1st May, and Asia and Japan 5th May. The company will also offer a redesigned 17-inch Vostro 1710 laptop in mid May.

"Listening to customers and acting quickly on their feedback to improve our products and services sets Dell apart," said Sameh El Deeb, Client PC Product Manager, Dell Middle East. "For example, customers told us in a recent global laptop study that data protection and pre-installed security software are, by far, the most important security features.

"They also said they wanted thinner and lighter machines, all at a good price," Sameh El Deeb said. "We paid attention."

The new Vostro laptops deliver the following customer-driven features:

  • A sleek design, with slot load optical drive, that is thinner and lighter than previous generation Vostro laptops;

  • The display screen of the new Vostro 13.3-inch has 94 percent the viewing area of the previous 14.1-inch model, yet weighs nearly 20 percent less;

  • Available with no trialware and an Advanced Configuration Service to remove further unwanted software and to partition the hard drive;

  • Comes with free of charge services such as Dell Support Centre, Network Assistant or PC TuneUP*; and

  • Vostro 1310 and 1510 laptops offer more security features than comparable competitive products¹ with integrated fingerprint readers, Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 helping prevent unauthorised network access and data theft, cable lock slot, and Dell-exclusive, factory-installed McAfee® Total Protection for Small Business security software².

Small businesses are increasingly adopting laptops over desktop PCs. Today, half of PC-owning small businesses in the United States own laptops, and the number is expected to grow to almost 57 percent by 2012³, with similar laptop penetration in Western Europe and Japan.

To address this shift and provide more choice to customers, Dell plans to expand its laptop portfolio by 50 percent this year, to deliver the broadest product lineup in the company's history. 

Additional small business resources:

Small Business 360 Mobility

In addition to investments in its laptop portfolio, Dell is expanding its services, server and storage offerings to meet the unique needs small and medium businesses.

  • Dell's new services portfolio, ProSupport, gives customers the ability to customize and tailor services to fit their technical expertise and business needs.

  • Dell's new PowerEdge R300 and T300 servers have industry-leading performance, memory and high-availability features so small and medium businesses no longer have to sacrifice server performance or reliability for an affordable price.

  • Through affordable iSCSI storage area network (SAN) solutions like the PowerVault MD3000i and Dell EqualLogic PS5000 Series, Dell is simplifying storage for businesses of all sizes.

For more information, visit http://www.dell.com/me/vostro-notebook.

-Ends-

About Dell
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services they trust and value. Uniquely enabled by its direct business model, Dell is a leading global systems and services company and No. 34 on the Fortune 500. For more information, visit www.dell.com, or to communicate directly with Dell via a variety of online channels, go to www.dell.com/conversations. To get Dell news direct, visit www.dell.com/RSS. 

© 2008 Dell Corporation Limited. Dell and the Dell logo are trademarks of Dell Inc. Dell disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.

¹As compared to the HP 530, HP Pavilion dv2700t, Toshiba Satellite U300, Toshiba Satellite U305, Toshiba Satellite A200, Toshiba Satellite A205, Toshiba Satellite A215, the Acer TravelMate 4720, and the Acer Aspire 5720. As of March7, 2008.

²McAfee Total Protection for Small Business security software available starting April 24, 2008, in the U.S.; select European countries May 21, 2008, and in Canada May 22, 2008. Additional availability is to be determined.

³IDC, "US Small Business 2008-2012 Forecast," Doc # 210657, February 2008.

* PC Tune UP available with English operating system language only.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Karim Hodroj
Headline Public Relations
+971 4 228 9655 ext. 105
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karim@headlinepr.com 

© Press Release 2008