Dell launched its much awaited Inspiron Mini 9 laptops today. The price ranges from $349 to $449. Not much changes between different models other than the Memory and Disk space upgrades.

Inspiron comes in 3 different variations with 4, 8 and 16 GB’s.

We see about 3 USB ports, One Ethernet, Audio and Mic and a VGA port on Dell Inspiron mini 9 which is decent.

We customized the configuration to the fullest with Bluetooth 2.1 compatibility and 1.3 megapixel camera which costs an additional $30 taking the price to $479.

The 4GB version of Inspiron Mini, if ordered will come loaded with Ubuntu. Pre-orders for Ubuntu O/S are being accepted now.

Laptop certainly looks beautiful but has a long way to go in terms of configuration. I certainly expect to see a lot more RAM and storage space on the machine.

This is unlike DELL,which historically did not have the design and look of the product on its priority list. Out of the box or attractive design and look of the product was never on DELL product designs teams list or they simply did not do a good job with it in the past, but losing the Top spot to HP changed DELL quite a bit. In 2006 DELL bought a fast growing designer PC and Laptop manufacturing company Alienware which is known for its out-of-the-box and innovative designs. Probably that’s where these designs are coming from.

Lets look at DELL’s XPS Laptops, Studio Hybrid and Special Art Edition Laptops which I think are an example of how DELL is changing its approach to PC and Laptop market to get back to No.1 computer manufacturer position

DELL XPS Series – powered for performance and looks. This series offers 3 models Dell™ XPS M1330, Dell™ XPS M1530 and Dell™ XPS M1730 with the price tag of Rs.53,900, Rs.57,900 and Rs.99,900 respectively.

These laptops have a monster in them. The first two models (Rs.53,900 and Rs.57,900 ) come with Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T8100 and 3GB Dual-channel 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM and XPS M1730 (Rs.99,900) comes with Intel® Centrino® Processor Technology – Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T8300 and 4GB Dual-channel 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM. How much more can you take? With Dual 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8700M GT graphics with NVIDIA SLI Technology, XPSM1730 is gamer’s dream come true.

DellTM InspironTM  1525(Rs. 41,900) is a good alternative for XPS series for buyers on limited budget. This one comes loaded with Intel®  CoreTM 2 Duo Processor T5750 and 3GB Dual-channel 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM and 250GB SATA Hard Drive.

The design, looks and colors of this laptop make it even more desirable. One of the models in XPS series is rated 4.5 of 5 on design and performance.

Studio Hybrid – The Desktop Series. This product will probably make its way to DELLs hall of fame only for its design. Priced on the higher side (which is totally worth the design) you can take this beautiful beast home for Rs. 39,000.

 

I have to admit that the Tech Specs (Intel®  CoreTM 2 Duo Processor T5750, 2GB Dual-channel 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM, 250GB 2 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive, etc..) of Studio Hybrid fail to impress me but I would still buy it to make my computer desk look good.

Read more about Studio Hybrid here.

DELL Art House – Special Art edition Laptops (link): Laptops in this series start at around Rs. 47,000 and go up to Rs. 59,000. This arty babies will come loaded with high end configuration, Core 2 Duo, 3GB RAM, 250 GB HDD, etc.. but that’s not what you are buying these for right? It’s the design, isn’t it?

This designer series comes from a NY based designer named Mike Ming, his design inspirations come from Oceans, Waves, Music, etc..which are clearly visible on the Laptop art.

So what do you think about DELLs changing product designs, will these designs make you buy one of them? at least that’s what DELL is betting on.