Dell revamps Vostro notebooks

Computing giant Dell has announced several new versions of its Vostro range of notebooks for small to medium sized businesses, with a focus on security, storage and performance.

The 13.3in Vostro 1320, 15.4in Vostro 1520 and 17in Vostro 1720 come with Intel Core 2 Duo or Celeron processors and run on Windows Vista OS, but users have the option to downgrade to Windows XP.

The laptops come with enhanced security features such as fingerprint readers and hard drive encryption with software from Wave Systems. The new models feature solid state drive storage for improved efficiency, performance and durability.

Dell has also decided to preload only essential software onto the devices. A common customer complaint with laptops is that they come with extraneous 'bloatware', trial software that can use up valuable storage and slow the laptop down.

The Vostro 1320 starts at $569 (£380) in the US, weighs 4.1lbs and has a four-cell battery but no optical drive. The Vostro 1520 starts at $629 (£422) and weighs 5.38lbs, while the Vostro 1720 starts at $649 (£435) and and weighs 6.8lbs. The notebooks are set to debut in Europe this week, but UK pricing has yet to be released.

Dell launched the Vostro range in 2007 to a lukewarm reception from analysts, but has steadily ramped up its activity in the small to medium sized business space since.