CES 2013 is upon us, and this year Dell is unveiling new versions of our Inspiron laptops. We’ve optimized all of them for better performance and improved battery life in packages that are thinner than previous generations of Inspirons. These laptops will be available starting today for customers in the United States, Canada and select countries around the world. Pricing and configuration details will vary by region.
The feedback you gave us was pretty clear… you want better battery life without sacrificing overall performance, and you want laptops that are thin and portable. That feedback drove the development decisions throughout the process. We started by introducing larger battery capacities for the 6-cell versions of these laptops and we augmented that by utilizing the ultra-low voltage versions of Intel’s Core i3, i5 and i7 processors. These newer processors are more energy efficient—they require only 17 watts to run, which is less than half the power requirements of the processors we used in last year’s Inspiron laptops. End result, you can expect better battery life with these new systems. With the 4-cell batteries, all these new laptops are under 1-inch thin. Compared to previous generation models, these new Inspirons are 17% thinner and 15% lighter than previous models.
Note: Click on any of the images below to see a larger version. Visit the Inspiron and Inspiron R CES 2013 album on Dell's Google+ page to see additional images.
Besides improved battery life in a smaller and lighter package, all of these new Inspirons are available with i3, i5 and i7 processor options. They also support higher-end features like 3×3 dual-band wireless support based on the latest Wi-Fi N standards, Bluetooth 4.0 support, HDMI 1.4a support, and stereo speakers with Waves MaxxAudio 4 processing that we introduced in our high-end XPS laptop line. All these Inspirons come with built-in DVD drives and they all come preloaded with Skype and H.264 enablement for HD video chats or calls. With the Intel wireless card, all these systems support Intel’s wireless display standard. The Inspiron 15R and 17R include a dedicated 10-key numeric keypad (see image below). Beyond these hardware and software enhancements, these laptops all have touchpads that are optimized to take advantage of multi-touch gestures in Windows 8.
Inspiron 15 and 17:
These systems are designed for customers who want the most great features at our most affordable prices. We offer these laptops in two different screen sizes for customers in the United States—15 and 17 inches. Some regions outside the US will offer an Inspiron 14. Besides the features I mentioned above, all these Inspirons come in a black matte textured finish inside with a Chiclet keyboard. All systems support up to 8GB system RAM and hard drive options up to 1TB. All come standard with Intel’s HD 4000 integrated graphics, but can be upgraded to optional discrete NVIDIA GeForce or AMD Radeon graphics cards with either 1 or 2GB of video memory. What this all means is that these versatile Inspiron laptops offer great performance on everything from basic productivity to streaming HD content from services like Netflix of Hulu+.
Both the Inspiron 14 and Inspiron 15 offer 720p WLED 1366 x 768 displays with Truelife, while the Inspiron 17 offers a 900p WLED 1600 x 900 display with Truelife.
- The Inspiron 15 starts at $429.99; starting weight with the standard 4-cell battery is 4.96lbs; with optional 6-cell battery, 5.19 lbs.
- The Inspiron 17 starts at $499.99; starting weight with the standard 4-cell battery is 5.82 lbs; with optional 6-cell battery, 6.03 lbs.
Inspiron 14R, 15R and 17R:
For those of you who want a little more personalization and feature options, we offer new mainstream Inspiron 14R (in some regions), 15R and 17R systems. They come standard with the Moon Silver brushed aluminum finish, but can also be ordered with optional Peacock Blue, Fire Red, or Lotus Pink brushed aluminum color finishes. Beyond that, the mainstream Inspiron 15R and 17R systems can be ordered with the optional full HD displays that support 1080p (1920 x 1080 resolution) with an anti-glare finish in select countries outside the United States. These higher resolution displays are great for those of you looking for a full HD movie experience, or that need more screen real estate to get things done.
- The Inspiron 15R starts at $549.99; starting weight with the standard 4-cell battery is 4.89 lbs; with optional 6-cell battery, 5.12 lbs.
- The Inspiron 17R starts at $699.99; starting weight of 6.02 lbs. with the standard 6-cell battery and standard LCD display.
Welcome your thoughts or questions here in the comments or you can reach out to me at @LionelatDell on Twitter.