Dell's First CULV System: The Inspiron 11z

You may have seen some posts on the Inspiron 11z from sites like Gizmodo and Crave. Today, we're making it official. The Inspiron 11z blends netbook-like portability with laptop-like capability. It weighs about 3 lbs. and is about an inch thin so it's easy to carry and stay connected, yet has the capability to deliver smooth HD video playback, and battery life of more than three hours. The bigger difference is inside, or under the hood if you will. Whereas netbooks are based on the Intel Atom processor and feature minimal memory, the Inspiron 11z is based on the CULV processor family combined with more memory which delivers better performance.

Note: Click on either of the images below to see a larger version. To see more images of the Inspiron 11z, click on this photo set in Flickr.

Some may see this as a validation of Michael Arrington's position on why we discontinued the Mini 12 - not true. The launch of the Inspiron 11z is absolutely a validation of customer feedback asking us to design a netbook-like device with a netbook-ish price point that is capable of handling traditional laptop activities. Voila, the Inspiron 11z is now available for $399 in the U.S. on www.dell.com and starting Aug. 25 will be available in Carphone Warehouse in the U.K. and the Phone House in France.

Dell has always positioned netbooks, a.k.a. Minis, as companion devices - miniature laptops that are easy to slip into a bag or briefcase and use while on the go. The Dell Minis are designed for typical 30-minute online session, sandwiched between smartphones (good for about 3 minutes because of tiny screens and keyboards) and full-featured laptops (full-sized keyboards, expansive HD screens). The Dell Mini 10/10v are perfect for consuming content, like checking email, posting updates on social media sites, Tweeting, surfing, looking for the latest "crasher squirrel" mashups, etc.

Since netbooks are easy to carry and go anywhere, some fell victim to user "feature creep" - with people loading favorite applications so they could create content documents, spreadsheets, or presentations, organizing and editing photos, or even video etc. As Lionel clarified with Arrington, we saw this first hand with the Mini 12 - it was a classic case of "it looks like a duck" or in this case a typical laptop. But when customers loaded it up like a typical laptop, the user experience took a hit: performance might seem slower, applications could at times balk, HD video playback occasionally stuttered. Hence the Inspiron 11z - small, sleek, easy to carry, strong battery life, better performance versus a netbook, all at a great price. And, for those of you who need it now, the initial Inspiron 11z configuration is part of our quick ship program, meaning we ship the system within a day or two of receiving your order. I expect it to be featured on our FastTrack page by the end of the week.

A few more facts about the Inspiron 11z - as I mentioned, today you can purchase a pre-configured system for $399 including that features:

• Intel Celeron 723 processor (1.2GHz)
• 2GB memory
• 250GB hard Drive
• Built in Wi-Fi, 1.3MP Webcam
• 11.6-inch HD (1366x768) display (up to 70 percent more screen content than a netbook with a standard 1024x600 display)
• 28WHr battery with approximately 3 hours of battery life
• Windows Vista Home Premium WITH free upgrade kit to Windows 7
• And to paraphrase Henry Ford: you can get in and any color you like ...as long as it's Obsidian Black.

There will be more configuration options down the road. The Inspiron 11z is our first step into the "thin and light with great battery life" space - so stay tuned, we'll also be expanding the portfolio in the future.

source:en.community.dell.com