Dell's Vostro 1310, 1510, and 1710 small business laptops redefine boxy

Dell just pumped out a trio of Vostro laptops for small businesses. The new 13.3-inch Vostro 1310 (starting at $749), 15.4-inch Vostro 1510 (starting at $599), and redesigned 17-inch Vostra 1710 (price, undisclosed) all feature a slot loading optical drive and thinner / lighter designs. They also ship with 10GB of free online storage, Network Assistant and PC TuneUp -- all crapware free. The 1310 and 1510 are available today in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) then May 1st for the Americas. The 17-incher hits mid-May.

Gallery: Dell's Vostro 1310, 1510, and 1710 small business laptops redefine boxy

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[Via Notebook Review]

[hapoo @ Apr 15th 2008 4:40AM]

SOOOOO not a hot deal. I was checking out the 1510 and apparently the WUXGA upgrade in the UK costs near 100,000 pounds.
Wonder who threw in the extra three zeros by mistake.

[Frenzy @ Apr 15th 2008 6:08AM]

Error...or no error?

In the Netherlands they're charging € 99.874,00...

[Richard Lai @ Apr 15th 2008 5:44PM]

Yep, I got that price too. Come on, Dell, some of us have families to feed too.

[w00t @ Apr 15th 2008 4:45AM]

Why the hell are they still putting VGA video on these things?!
Nobody buys CRTs anymore....

[Joe_Templeman @ Apr 15th 2008 5:10AM]

You realise that most LCDs and Projectors have VGA as well right?!

[xSwamp @ Apr 15th 2008 8:41AM]

and that many crt screens have DVI as well?

[giuliop @ Apr 15th 2008 9:11AM]

And all the more, people are basically forced to buy LCDs because the industry wants to kick CRTs out.
Still, CRTs have a colour accuracy, video image quality and a flexibility other technologies can only dream of.

[rcappo @ Apr 15th 2008 9:39AM]

I have switched everything in my home to HDMI/DVI. I won't be buying another VGA laptop anytime soon.

But then again, I also switched to Linux and would need to change out the hard drive for a SSD.

But other than those two things, this computer is close to what I am looking for.

[Steve A. @ Apr 15th 2008 12:19PM]

giuliop @

New, High quality LCD monitors now match CRT's for available color gamut. One of the best graphics CRT's on the market was the NEC-Mitsubishi RDF225WG. it offered 93.3% of the NTSC color gamut.

The newer Dell 2407WFP-HC LCD offers 92% of the NTSC colors; an imperceptible difference in quality.

While your claim that 'the typical' LCD doesn't come close (@72%), is true - there are now high quality LCD's that give just as good colors as the best CRT monitor. Its the market that's steering away from the large, heavy CRT's, not the industry.

[Eh @ Apr 15th 2008 6:39PM]

@giuliop

I upgraded a Viewsonic aperture grille CRT to a Dell 2005fpw and the CRT looks like ass in comparison. A good S-IPS monitor beats a good aperture grille CRT hand down, there may be super photo-lab quality CRT's in the thousands of dollars that are better but LCD's are the big winner for anything under $1000. TN lcd's only look worse than aperture grille CRT's, S-IPS easily has them beat in every area except framerate.

[steve @ Apr 15th 2008 4:47AM]

Boxy? True, but i like it tbh, looks business like and professional, which it should given its target market.

[Maurik @ Apr 15th 2008 4:52AM]

The vostros are nearly perfect spec for price. But the VGA port makes it a dealbreaker for me :(

[ishism @ Apr 15th 2008 4:56AM]

wonder if this means the $399 vostros are on their way out. the current 1500 vostros are starting at $499. Damn, gotta save up fast, before the price change.

"Keep the relatively low prices Dell"

[Alex C. @ Aug 13th 2008 12:25AM]

The back design of these Vostros reminds me of the XPS M1210. However, it looks a lot rougher (more prone to scratching?) than the smooth magnesium casing they previously used.

Glad to see Dell kept that understated look.

[tom @ Apr 15th 2008 8:40AM]

Dell copying Thinkpad design? HUH

[lifecurbed @ Apr 15th 2008 5:14AM]

I have a vostro 1400 and I've really liked it so far for the price.

I really wish they would've added another fan for the gpu though, or put a larger fan on the bottom. Basically, the cooling system is the only thing that's really gotten to me thus far.
Oh, and no back usb ports & power. Power is on side and so are usb ports, so when you plug it in, and have a mouse attached (that isn't bluetooth) and you have it on your lap while playing games, you have two things sticking out the side (or sides if you put one on each). With games in mind, if you try to arrange the machine on your legs so the fan is free and clear, you'll be pressing on the usb & power plugs, or you'll have to do the one leg balancing act.

This isn't that much different than most laptops though, and it's still not as loud as a macbook pro.

[Jason @ Apr 15th 2008 8:17AM]

I'm with you on this one. I picked up the 1500 a while back, but I loaded it up with all the extras, so for $1100, I have a very well specced laptop. The size is not an issue for me.

As for the mouse, pickup the logitech vx micro, the dongle is tiny and has very little footprint.

ps, I can play crysis on this thing with all the graphics cranked up but I can also cook an steak on it when doing so, cooling is a major disappointment.

[mayq @ Apr 15th 2008 5:16AM]

the first two pictures can represent the entire gallery..

[ishism @ Apr 15th 2008 5:36AM]

Hah!!, Yeah. I thought it was the same two pictures, repeated.

"Damn, I hate having to keep typing in the password to post a comment." When will the "Remember Me" box, actually do something??

[Mark @ Apr 15th 2008 5:37AM]

Use Firefox and tell it to save your password.

[mayq @ Apr 15th 2008 5:43AM]

I'm sorry, I didn't notice there were three different laptop models there.

[spam_free @ Apr 15th 2008 7:35AM]

Why is the 13.3" model almost $150 more than the 15.4"?

[Matt Keller @ Apr 15th 2008 8:43AM]

Because smaller parts = more expensive parts?

15.4s have been around forever, so the parts are cheaper.

[nonstatic @ Apr 15th 2008 9:00AM]

for the same reason their 12" notebooks were always more expensive than their 15" notebooks. take a guess.

[giuliop @ Apr 15th 2008 9:15AM]

@nonstatic

That's funny, makes you wonder why the Eee, as small as it is, is one of the cheapest PCs around. Maybe smaller = more costly is more what they wanted us to believe than an actual fact.

[Phiu-x @ Apr 15th 2008 1:02PM]

Economics: Fewer 12 inchers are sold . Low demand == higher price.

[Matt Keller @ Apr 15th 2008 3:40PM]

@giuliop

The Eee is also built with low-end products. That explains the low price.

[mymaclife @ Apr 15th 2008 8:09AM]

I bet Macbook Air owners wish they had waited for this 'beauty' to emerge.

[BobTurbo @ Apr 15th 2008 9:00AM]

Macbook Air is for girls, this laptop is for cold, ruthless business people who don't look in the mirror every three seconds. Could you drop out of a helicopter and land in a war zone with a MBA? No.

[Chebwa @ Apr 15th 2008 9:00AM]

Not everybody wants a laptop that looks like it came out of Logan's Run. I'd prefer this or a Thinkpad any day.

[mymaclife @ Apr 15th 2008 9:10AM]

BobTurbo @ Apr 15th 2008 9:00AM

I bet you jump out of helicopters everyday, ohhh the testosterone is just pumping in spades with you big boy.

[Agne @ Apr 15th 2008 9:04AM]

Looks similar to the latitude e series..
but on dell website the 15.4 model is really expensive..i wonder if anyone had ordered it with that price :P

[Electroaffinity @ Apr 15th 2008 9:16AM]

Does Dell pay you to review their products? Everything they have ever made is crap, their service is crap. Why do you even bother unless Thomas Ricker is a pseudonym for Michael Dell?

[Billy @ Apr 15th 2008 10:55AM]

I know their customer service sucks ass (luckily I've never had to use it) but their products are good. Me and the woman have owned 4 dell laptops over the last 5 years or so and the only problem we ever had was a hard drive failure - which is probably the best problem you can have on a laptop since it's a user serviceable part. No data was lost - I make backups.

[Joanna Stern @ Apr 15th 2008 9:29AM]

Laptop Mag has a hands on video with the 1310: http://blog.laptopmag.com/hands-on-with-lighter-more-secure-dell-vostro-1310

[Joanna Stern @ Apr 15th 2008 9:29AM]

LAPTOP Magazine has a hands on video: http://blog.laptopmag.com/hands-on-with-lighter-more-secure-dell-vostro-1310

[initialxy @ Apr 15th 2008 9:49AM]

looks closer to thinkpad now rather than inspiron

[benjesuit @ Apr 15th 2008 9:48AM]

Perhaps this is also a first look at the upcoming Inspirons?

Unless Dell discontinues the Inspirons in favor of XPS only.

[Kent Pribbernow @ Apr 15th 2008 10:19AM]

Only Dell would choose an esoteric name like "Vostro" as a brand identity. Sounds like an amalgamation of "Volvo" and "Bistro". Or a name for a Viagra generic - "Give your sex life a reboot... with Vostro!"

[W00t @ Apr 15th 2008 10:28AM]

you do realise DVI is capable of carrying analogue video right?
And VGA requires digital to analogue to digital right?

[lanemeyer67ss @ Apr 15th 2008 10:37AM]

Soo, can we expect the outgoing 1400s to be on a fire sale soon? I want one please.

[Billy @ Apr 15th 2008 10:50AM]

Wow that is a nasty change! I just bought a vostro 1700 a few weeks ago, it is much better looking than in those pictures.

[talluki @ Apr 15th 2008 11:24AM]

test

[bachviet @ Apr 15th 2008 11:30AM]

No DVI/HDMI kills it for me. My wife has a Vostro 1400 (work's laptop) and it's not bad at all.

I own my Dell computers/laptops and I never really have any problem with them.

[Jon Doe. @ Apr 15th 2008 11:53AM]

I just finished my training on thse models. What makes them so appealing is the fact that the processor is user accessable once you remove the cover on the bottem of the system, remove the 6 (1510) or 8 (1310) screws holding in the heat sync to the board and from there its a ZIF socket turn away from having the CPU removed.

Now lets look at Apple. At best you can remove the hard drive from the MB. You can't even do that on the MBP without needing to remove the damn cover. Oh for the days of the Pismo.

[Ethan @ Apr 15th 2008 1:50PM]

The redesigned keyboard layout looks really crappy. I have a 1500 and the layout is a lot better than the one on the 1510. And they moved the media keys to the back, wtf?

[RCL1221 @ Apr 15th 2008 4:14PM]

anyone else think it looks like a blackbook ripoff?

[Matt @ May 15th 2008 2:45AM]

No, but it looks a lot like the old Latitude L400 - http://kame.blog.ocn.ne.jp/photos/pc/latitudel400.jpg

Does that make the black imac an L400 clone??

[paul-engadget @ Apr 16th 2008 6:12PM]

looks oddly like the toshiba tecra m9 series which are chunky utilitarian design

[Peterson @ Apr 19th 2008 1:10PM]

Do laptop lcd displays are capable of displaying 16.7 m colors as it is most wanted for graphic intensive applications like photoshop. I am using 19" viewsonic LCD 1930 lcd monitor. If I switch to dell laptop is it worth?