Dell launches new Inspiron notebook

Dell today announced a low cost, high specification notebook addition to its Inspiron range.

Starting at $2,699, the Inspiron 9100 features a 3.0GHz or 3.2GHz HyperThreading Pentium 4 processor, and up to 2GB of dual-channel 400MHz DDR SDRAM, according to the company. The 15.4in widescreen display is available in WSXGA, WXGA and WUXGA resolution modes.

Dell announced that the notebook also featured a 64MB or 128MB Mobility RADEON 9700 graphics chipset, with DVI and D-sub video output. Legacy ports like serial, parallel and PS/2 were replaced with three USB 2.0 ports, a single four-pin FireWire port, S-video output and a powered USB 2.0 port.

The company said networking options were available via a dual-band 802.11b/g combo or a tri-band 802.11a/b/g wireless adaptor. Wired 10/100 Ethernet is integrated into the notebook. Despite using Intel's i865PE chipset, Dell has not included gigabit Ethernet, citing minor consumer demand for it outside the enterprise environment.

The unit is customisable for power users and serious gamers, with Dell claiming approximately 1.5 hours of battery life with the standard 12-cell battery. The optional 16-cell battery provides two and a half hours usage according to Dell.

The unit comes bundled with Windows XP Home, Microsoft Works 7.0 and Dell Media Experience software.