Dell Unveils New Entry Level Ultra-portable Latitude 13 Laptop

Austin-based Dell has released a new laptop, the Latitude 13, which is its new entry level ultra portable notebook aimed at small and medium businesses and entreprises alike.

This Latitude 13 - which Dell calls the "the world’s thinnest 13-inch commercial client laptop" - shares the same chassis as the Vostro 13 which was launched back in December 2009.

At 1.6Kg with a thickness of 16.5mm, it still managed to offer a 13.3-inch HD-ready screen capable of displaying 1366x768 pixels. It will be powered either by a CULV Celeron or Core 2 Duo from Intel and like the Vostro v13 shall come with 2GB RAM and a 160GB hard disk drive.

Dell however adds a few business-only options like SSD options, full disk encryption, Computrace recovery services and Trusted Platform Module plus remote manageability.

Other features include 802.11n, Bluetooth, WWAN. preinstalled Citrix client and even an external Blu-ray drive. The device, which will ship at the end of the month, is said to cost more than twice the cost of the Vostro 13.

In these times of austerity, we wonder whether this is a judicious strategy especially if Dell sells another capable alternative for half the price. The Vostro V13 costs as little as £359 excluding VAT and shipping.