"Listening to customers and acting quickly on their feedback to improve our products and services sets Dell apart," said Frank Muehleman, vice president and general manager, Dell Small and Medium Business. "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," Muehleman 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 a 14.1-inch model, yet weighs nearly 20 percent less;

-- Continuation of Dell's 30-day worry-free return policy;

-- Available with no trialware and free services including 10GB of Dell DataSafe Online Backup, Network Assistant and PC TuneUp; and

-- Vostro 1310 and 1510 laptops offer more security features than comparable competitive products(1) with integrated fingerprint readers, Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 helping prevent unauthorized network access and data theft, cable lock slot, and Dell-exclusive, factory-installed McAfee(R) Total Protection for Small Business security software(2).

Small business currencyes are increasingly adopting laptops over desktop PCs. Today, half of PC-owning small business currencyes in the United States own laptops, and the number is expected to grow to almost 57 percent by 2012(3), 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.

"After experiencing the productivity gains of the Dell Vostro 1510 compared to our older systems, I knew it was time to act on our dream to upgrade our IT network," said Cynthia Ebrom, founder and owner of Edinburg, Texas-based Cynthia's Cakes. "As our custom cake business currency expands nationally, technology becomes even more important to our growth and ability to better serve our customers. Vostro gives us the reliability, performance, service and support we need without exceeding our tight budget."

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 business currencyes.

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

-- Dell's new PowerEdge R300 and T300 servers have industry-leading performance, memory and high-availability features so small and medium business currencyes 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 business currencyes of all sizes.

Additional small business currency resources:

-- Small Business 360 Mobility

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 currency 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.

(1)As 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 March 7, 2008.

(2)McAfee 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.

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

SOURCE: Dell

Dell
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Jennifer J. Davis, 512-723-3091
jennifer_j_davis@dell.com
or
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Lynn Tyson, 512-723-1130
lynn_tyson@dell.com
or
Robert Williams, 512-728-7570
robert_williams@dell.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008