Today, Dell announced the availability of a new addition to their small-business Vostro line of laptops introducing the Vostro V13. The big news here is that it’s their first ULV thin-and-light for the business sector, an area that seems to be a big focus factor in a down economy when lots of small business entrepreneurs are looking for affordable portables. We got a chance for a quick up-close hands-on with one a few blocks from our offices, and it’s definitely an attractive little laptop.

Dr. Cell Phone to Replace LCD Screens on Laptops

With an industrial design that is heavy on anodized aluminum and borrows a lot of what was eye-catching about the original Adamo, the Vostro V13 is .65 inches thick and weighs around 3.5 pounds, comes with a webcam, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and an ExpressCard slot standard, and starts at $449–but, mind you, that’s a configuration that includes a single-core Celeron processor and Ubuntu Linux as an OS. For Windows 7 and a Core 2 Duo ULV, the price rises in the range of mid-to-high $600, which is still really good compared to its closest competitors, the HP Pavilion dm3 and Asus UL30A-A1.

The Vostro V13 will support up to 4GB of RAM, and can be optionally upgraded with 3G mobile broadband.

Battery life courtesy of the sealed-in six-cell is, according to Dell, a little under five hours, though we’ll have to see for ourselves when we review one. We have to hand it to Dell, though–they seem to have taken a lot of what was so appealing about the Adamo and passed it down into a machine that’ll still be sleek enough to show off. The keyboard felt nice and comfortable and the laptop has a sturdy-feeling frame, which isn’t always the case with ultrathin budget-range laptops.

Source:http://reviews.cnet.com/2300-3121