Dell also unveiled two new Inspiron PCs, including the Inspiron 13, a sleek and stylish sub $800 13-inch laptop perfect for students heading back to school, available starting next week at Wal-Mart. The Inspiron 518 desktop, available immediately at www.dell.com, is designed for everyday family multi-media activities, be it catching up on favorite TV shows via the Internet, playing online games, and storing and accessing music playlists and digital images.
“The design and craftsmanship of the Studio Hybrid alone are enough to cause you to do a double take,” Michael Tatelman, vice president, Dell global consumer sales and marketing. “Combine that with the performance of this little beauty and its environmentally smart DNA, and you’ve got something truly unique – something that you can make your own.”
Studio Style, Energy Efficient
As with Dell’s recently announced Studio laptops, the Studio Hybrid was designed to enhance personal expression and creative living. Dell’s smallest desktop PC, about the size of a collegiate dictionary, can fit just about anywhere. Depending on the location or decor, the Studio Hybrid can be set up in a vertical or horizontal orientation, and be personalized with a choice of seven optional, interchangeable external finishes or color sleeves: Bamboo, Emerald, Quartz, Ruby, Sapphire, Slate, and Topaz.
With a starting price of $499, the petite Hybrid PC has the performance to take on the digitally enlightened user’s everyday activities like creating mash-ups, content for personal web pages, editing and uploading videos and digital photo albums. The Studio Hybrid is at home in the living room, fitting easily into entertainment centers, and connecting to HD TVs via a standard HDMI port. When paired with an optional wireless keyboard, people can easily flip back and forth from watching a favorite broadcast TV show or sporting event to checking online stats, sending email, looking at digital pictures, etc. on the TV. Customers can configure a Studio Hybrid with variety of optional technologies and peripherals to make it truly unique, like:
* Wi-Fi networking – allows people to place the PC anywhere that’s convenient for them.
* Wireless keyboard and mouse help ensure a clean desktop, counter top or coffee table.
* Blu-ray DiscTM drive for watching high-definition DVDs.
* TV tuner that enables users to watch, pause and record live TV1.
* Multiple flat panel display options, like the Dell’s first 16:9 Full HD LCD monitor, the 24-inch S2409W
“Our goal was to design a desktop that fits in the office or in the living room, or anywhere space is at a premium,” said Michael Scheschuk, Dell desktop product marketing. “We’ve created a desktop PC category that combines style, performance and a high degree of energy efficiency.”
The Dell Studio Hybrid is about 80 percent smaller than the typical desktop minitower, and uses up to 70 percent less energy. In addition to being extremely energy efficient and Energy Star 4.0 compliant, the Studio Hybrid’s unique packaging was designed to be environmentally responsible:
* Reduced packing materials about 30 percent by weight as compared to typical tower desktops.
* Packing materials are also 95 percent recyclable.
* Reduced printed documentation 75 percent by weight on average as compared to typical tower desktops.
* System recycling kit is included.
The Studio Hybrid is available today on www.dell.com/hybrid and will be featured in select retailers later this fall.
Inspiron: Simple, Yet Smart PCs for the Family
Dell also expanded its Inspiron family with the addition of the Inspiron 518 desktop and Inspiron 13 laptop. Both systems deliver solid performance and smart style at a great value.
The Inspiron 13 laptop is a great choice for back to school shoppers looking for a small, light, highly efficient mobile PC. With a starting weight of just under 5 pounds, the Inspiron 13 combines a simple and clean design encased in glossy Pacific blue with black trim. Smart features include a 13-inch high definition display, capacitive touch media buttons, 8-in-1 media card reader and slot-load DVD drive. Optional features include built-in wireless networking, built-in webcam and Bluetooth connectivity. A special $699 configuration of the Inspiron 13 will be available at Wal-Mart in the U.S. starting Aug. 3. Fully configurable systems will be available on www.dell.com on a global basis later in the month.
The Inspiron 518 desktop features a gloss-black exterior with chrome accents. Families will appreciate the top media tray with two easy-access USB ports for quick MP3 player syncing and cell-phone charging. It offers performance to meet the most typical family PC activities, like faster networking connections with Gigabit Ethernet, DX10 integrated graphics2 for casual gaming, optional 500GB3 hard drive for storing digital images and music libraries, and optional quad core processors. The Inspiron 518 starts at $349,(monitor not included) and is available immediately on www.dell.com.
Finishing Touches:
Dell offers a variety of service application and software programs that help ensure consumers’ PCs stay up and running and easy to use, including:
* Dell Support Center: Centrally located, easy-to-use application providing personalized support resources with quick links to service, support and system information resources www.dell.com/dellsupportcenter.
* PC TuneUp: An easy-to-set-up smart tool that helps manage regular maintenance of a consumer’s PC. Designed to automatically find and fix issues that slow down system performance. Available for $39.95 at www.dell.com/pctuneup.
* Dell Dock: Automatically sorts pre-installed software into user friendly categories placing the most frequently used programs front & center.
* Dell Video Chat: A one-click easy to setup and use video and voice communication program that can be shared with friends and family, www.sightspeed.com/dellvideochat
