Earlier this year, we announced our new business client portfolio which included our family of OptiPlex business desktops. Availability of the systems started a few weeks later with the OptiPlex 990, our most powerful, most manageable and environmental conscious commercial desktop we’ve ever offered. And today marks the availability of our mainstream business desktop, the OptiPlex 790.
The entire OptiPlex 790 family has been redesigned and is offered in four different chassis sizes; mini-tower, desktop, small form factor and ultra-small form factor. Additionally, the system is available with two All-in-One stand options that enable deployment as a single device with up to 24″ displays. These stands were noted for their “flexibility with regard to onsite configuration” and for being “well-differentiated.” Last year the 790’s predecessor, the OptiPlex 780, earned PC Magazine’s Editors’ Choice award as “one of the best USFF desktop and monitor combinations out there.”
The key enhancements to this mainstream business desktop family focus on design, business-class control and performance and productivity.
I’ll start with our design enhancements. In addition to the four different chassis options, these systems represent Dell’s most environmentally responsible commercial desktop offering. All systems have a minimum of 10% post-consumed recycled plastic enclosure and offer 90% efficient power supplies option. And starting with the OptiPlex small form factor, Dell provides select polyvinyl chloride free (PVC-free) configurations and recyclable packaging.
Another key attribute of the OptiPlex 790 is its “business-class control.” The OptiPlex 790 offers the following:
- Dell Data Protection security capabilities for one-touch preset compliance policy templates and flexible encryption (including removable devices)
- Intel Standard Management technology to enable efficient remote system management for managing multiple systems simultaneously
- Full compatibility with Dell KACE system management appliances for easy deployment of remote manageability and maintenance simplification
- Dell Desktop Services ensure OptiPlex assets are backed with proven professional IT services and support worldwide, ranging from deployment to maintenance or web solutions to help IT to simplify their daily tasks.
The third attribute I wan to highlight is performance and productivity. The OptiPlex 790 offers nearly the same performance and features as its big brother, the 990. I’ll touch on the use of the new Intel Core i processors in a moment but when you’re talking about productivity, it’s hard to beat four simultaneous video displays. And thanks to its dual PCI-express slots, the 790 is capable of just that and enables increased visual real estate and workflow productivity. For organizations utilizing virtualization, the OptiPlex 790 supports virtualization solutions ranging from virtual remote desktop control to on-demand desktop streaming or client hosted virtualization.
In closing and for nostalgic purposes, I thought it would be interesting to share this bit of trivia: When the Dell OptiPlex brand of business desktops launched in 1993, customers could configure the mid-range models (OptiPlex 433/L, 450/L and 466/L) with the Intel 80486 microprocessor. In case you were wondering, the OptiPlex brand was launched just before Intel began branding their microprocessor technology Pentium. The three different models offered processor speeds of 33MHz, 50MHz and 66MHz respectively. What’s powering the OptiPlex 790 desktop now? The desktops can now be configured with 2nd generation Intel® Core i3, i5 and i7 processors. This includes processor speeds from 3.1GHz up to the quad-core 3.4GHz option. And when compared to last year’s 780 model, we’re seeing a performance increase of more than 30%. I don’t have the performance data based on the first-ever OptiPlex desktop computer but it’s fair to say we’re come a long way.
One more thing: In 1993, OptiPlex 433 pricing started at $2,249 USD. Today, pricing for the OptiPlex 790 starts at $981 USD.
Please let me know if you have any questions.