The ongoing proliferation of Blu-ray high definition technology rumbles on this week with the US, Canadian and European introduction of the very first Blu-ray-equipped entrant to Dell’s popular line of Inspiron laptop computers.
Dell introduces its first Blu-ray Inspiron laptop. Credit: Dell.
“The high-definition format wars are over – and you won,” exclaims Dell while also highlighting the fact that tech-savvy customers looking to secure a Blu-ray Inspiron laptop can do so without having to break through the $1,000 USD pain barrier.
Prospective Blu-ray customers can expect to find an opening price of $879 USD for a unit of the award-winning Inspiron 1525, which sees a feature return including a 15.4-inch HD wide aspect display (720p), integrated graphics and accelerator, an HDMI port for HD display and TV connection, and the inclusion of Broadband Media PC and MediaDirect technology.
“The Blu-ray player disc drive is fully backwards compatible, and will play as well as burn traditional DVDs and CDs,” outlines Dell. “Consumers can also chose a Blu-ray burner drive, which is great for backing up and storing important files like digital photos, videos, financial records, etc. A Blu-ray disc will hold up to 50 GB of data, vs. 8.5 GB available on the typical DVD disc.”
Those looking to invest beyond the $1,000 mark for the sake of well-oiled Blu-ray muscle might perhaps opt for the upper-tier Inspiron 1525, which comes complete with a 1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5550 processor, the Windows Vista Home Premium operating system, 3GB of RAM and a solid 320GB hard drive capacity.
The lightweight Inspiron 1525 offers specific design choices including Chill, Blossom and Commotion, alongside a selection of vibrant colour options such as Sunshine Yellow, Midnight Blue and Ruby Red.
To further extend the appeal of its vast computer range, while also boosting the positioning of Blu-ray, Dell has taken a meat cleaver to USD prices connected to select models in its popular XPS line.
Specifically, the computer giant has lopped a massive $699 USD off its XPS M1330 and M1530 laptops, offering them at respective starting prices of $1,029 USD and $999 USD (equipped with a 1.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 processor, 1GB of RAM, 120GB HDD, and Vista Home Premium).
Not content with its opening XPS cull, Dell has also subjected the XPS 420 multimedia desktop to the cutting edge, as it were, slicing $400 USD from the price across a base specification that will secure a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Q6600 Quad-Core processor, Vista Home Premium, 3GB of RAM and a 320GB HDD for as little $999 USD. Madness.
anne@dellMar 31st, 2008 - 15:45:43
To clarify, Dell has actually offered Blu-ray disc technology on select laptops for over a year. What’s different about the Inspiron 1525 laptop with optional Blu-ray playback is that it’s available for under a $1,000. Laptops with integrated graphics typically do not support Blu-ray capability, but in this case, the system includes a built-in dedicated high-definition video accelerator from Broadcom. Customers can also configure systems with a Blu-ray burner (additional $200), which allows them to store up to 50GB of “stuff” on a dual-layer Blu-ray disc – great for making extra copies of photos, videos, personal records, etc.
Report this comment