Dell's new Vostro products for SMBs

BEIJING, CHINA: Dell has unveiled two new Vostro laptops and two desktops designed specifically to meet the needs of small businesses, governments and educational institutions operating on limited budgets in the world's emerging economies.

The new Vostro laptops and desktops will be available through authorized channel partners, as well as direct from Dell in more than 20 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America.

"Within the world's emerging economies millions of new businesses are demanding just the technology they need, at the prices they can afford, from a vendor they can trust. Today we answer that need by introducing new products that join our existing Vostro product line," said Steve Felice, president, Dell Asia-Pacific/Japan. "Together with our partners, Dell will play an important role in bringing more technology to more people than ever before - whether in business or in the public sector. Vostro is a key building block to unleashing the potential of the Connected Era."

The new Vostro products include two pre-configured laptops and two desktops. Additional Vostro products designed for emerging economies will be introduced in the coming months. The new Vostro products provide:

Everyday business mobility - The Dell Vostro A860 laptop is an affordable 15.6-inch laptop equipped for handling everyday business tasks. This system is ideal for customers interested in transitioning from desktop to mobile computing. It offers an HD widescreen LCD with anti-glare coating, the choice of a variety of Intel processors from Celeron to Core 2 Duo and the choice of Ubuntu Linux or Microsoft Genuine Windows Vista operating systems. The laptop also offers an integrated network, modem and wireless connectivity with optional Bluetooth capabilities.

Compact affordability - The Dell Vostro A840 is a 14.1-inch version of the A860 laptop with an anti-glare WXGA widescreen LCD. It offers the same practical technology for mobile business computing, but for small business customers who value mobility and compact size at an affordable price offering.

Affordable, basic business computing - The Dell Vostro A180 is an affordable, practical desktop solution for everyday business computing. The system offers Intel Celeron and Pentium dual core processors to optimize office application performance and simple multi-tasking, in addition to the option of Ubuntu Linux or Microsoft Genuine Windows Vista.

Entry-Level Productivity - The Dell Vostro A100 is a reliable, entry-level desktop designed for basic business productivity. The system comes standard with an Intel Atom processor and Ubuntu Linux operating system.

According to IDC, there are more than 72 million small and medium businesses (SMBs) worldwide, with 23.4 million - nearly one-third of the global total - located in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan). Latin America and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) follow with 12.5 million and 11.9 million, respectively.

Through the thousands of daily conversations Dell and its channel partners have with small businesses in these countries, Dell identified significant challenges related to the purchase, ownership and support of technology. These include:

• The prohibitive cost of technology, especially mobility
• Product reliability and quality
• Finding solutions that are easy to set up and maintain
• Accessible support and services

The new Vostro products are -

Affordable: These systems enable growing businesses to increase productivity through basic business and everyday computing applications.

Reliable: The new Vostro products reflect Dell's reputation for high-quality standards and underwent up to 7,000 hours of rigorous reliability testing.

Easy to maintain: The set configurations are easy to set up and maintain, delivering out-of-the-box productivity. The systems are also pre-configured with core office productivity applications and only the software customers want.