Today Dell filled out its mainstream notebook line with the Inspiron 17. The desktop notebook is rocking the same 16:9 aspect ratio display and thinner, more efficent LED backlighting as newer Inspirons but, matching its 17.3-inch size, has a higher 1600×900 resolution as standard. Processors are also faster and scale up to a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo.

The base price is just $499 with by a 2GHz Pentium dual-core, 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, Intel integrated video and Vista Home Basic. The battery is a minimal 4-cell pack. Buyers can choose Home Premium as well as up to 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, Blu-ray, a 6-cell battery and a dedicated 256MB Mobility Radeon HD 4330 graphics core.

You crazy kids today with your crazy custom artwork on your computer lids. When I was a kid our fancy spreadsheet boxes were plain black or white. And get the hell off my lawn. Dell has just brought the Inspiron 15 into the Design Studio fold, so you’ll be able to select graphics from a bunch of artists to dress up your system.

Most of the artwork is priced around $60, but that could vary. Dell’s also launching a new FastTrack next-day delivery service for pre-configured machines. The company says that it’s constantly tracking orders and will be able to keep the most popular models on hand.

Soon Dell Netbooks, specifically the Dell Mini 10, will be available with a $69 Wireless 700 Card which will make the netbook navigation capable, just like your smartphone. The Wi-Fi enabled card would let you navigate just like with other devices.

The Wireless 700 card uses a combination of Broadcom’s GPS technology and Skyhook Wireless’ Wi-Fi positioning solutions. The integrated navigation software will provide 2D and 3D map viewing and will help save addresses for trip and route optimization. Users could also geo-tag photos to flickr and get weather updates for a specific location.

Looks like Dell has made a rather costly mistake in Taiwan. Apparently a promotional deal went online with the wrong price of $15 for some monitors. Within eight hours, 26000 customers had ordered 140000 monitors. Ouch!

The Taiwanese regulators are making Dell fulfill the order. It’s not the customer’s fault after all. The original price of the monitors was supposed to be about $150. After Dell changed the price, 471 complaints were filed and Dell will have to use the $15 price for clients who have ordered those monitors. Dell will try to apply a deep discount to some others.

With Microsoft nearly ready to unleash the Zune HD on the masses, now Dell is working on a device to compete with the iPod Touch, according to reports. The device will play music and videos just like the iPod Touch, but will be based on the Google Android mobile OS and also function as a MID.

In size it will likely be slightly larger than the Touch. The device needs to compete with not only the Touch, but also with the Zune HD. It will be interesting to see what features end up in the device and whether it ends up being a true competitor or falls short.

If you’re in the market for a new notebook, Dell wants you to consider the new small business-oriented Vostro 1220. The 12.1″ model starts from $799 and goes up from there. This one is available in Obsidian Black and Deep Cherry Red.

The Vostro 1220 comes with a built-in DVD burner, 6-cell battery, integrated webcam and Dell Video Chat software. It’s powered by an Intel Celeron processor, but Dell will gladly upgrade it to an Intel Core 2 Duo processor.

When it comes to buying software I typically prefer to have CDs or DVDs that I can keep up with rather than a digital file that I can lose or erase accidentally. Still, I can see the appeal of having all the software you use in digital files so you don’t need to keep up with discs.

The Dell download store announced today that it has added the ability to download Microsoft software like Word, Excel, and Outlook. The advantage of getting the software as a digital download is that you can save a bit of money.

Dell is now offering their Studio XPS 16 in the color of Merlot Red. So if you’ve been putting off your purchase to wait for just the right red, you can go ahead and order up. The XPS 16 isn’t the only model getting the Merlot treatment, the XPS 13 is getting it as well.

Pricing will be the same as with the other colors. Merlot Red will be available as an option on both models from today onwards for those in the US and Canada. Those in Brazil will get the Merlot Red option for only the Studio XPS 13.

There was once a time when buying a new notebook regardless of the brand meant that you were getting the same basic looking machine. Some notebooks were plain beige then along came the snazzy black machines. Dell was among the first notebook makers to offer consumers real color options and is still the leader in that area.

Dell announced a new laptop yesterday called the Studio 14z that packs a nice feature set into a colorful and portable package. The machine has a low starting price of $649 and comes in Black Chain Link, Midnight Blue, Spring Green, Plum Purple, Ruby Red, and Promise Pink colors. The notebook will be available internationally, but the pink color is for the U.S. only. Dell will donate $5 for each pink notebook purchased to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation.

Just ten or so days after Dell officially launched the female-oriented Della, a site that helps women find computers to hold their recipes and count their calories, it’s over. Word is, that Dell broke up with her via a text message. Dell just wasn’t that into you baby.

She’s been replaced, with the similar, yet less femininely named “Lifestyle.”

A friend of mine was asking me the other day what notebook they should buy for their 7-year-old son who wants his first computer. I told them to get a netbook because they are cheap and sized well for small hands. The only problem with a netbook is that the small stature can lead to easier breakage.

Dell has announced a new ruggedized netbook called the Latitude 2100 that is aimed at use in schools for students in K-12. The machine has a rubberized design that helps it withstand the rigors of living with kids and makes the exterior of the machine grippier.

Dell has some new eco-friendly monitors in the P2210, E190S and E170S. The 22″ P2210 will give you a resolution of 1,680 x 1,050 pixels, along with a range of viewing-angle adjustments. Connectivity includes VGA, DVI-D with HDCP and DisplayPort. You’ll also get four USB 2.0 ports to seal the deal

The 19″ E190S features a 1,280 x 1,024 resolution, an 800:1 contrast ratio and 250 cd/m2 brightness. While the 17″ E170S is pretty similar to the E190S, just smaller. It packs a resolution of 1,280 x 1,024 and a VGA port. All three monitors meet EPEAT Gold and Energy Star standards, so you rest easy and know that you are doing your part to help the environment.

Dell was late to the netbook game by many standards, but the computer maker is now firmly in the netbook market with its Mini 10 machine. Dell also caters to notebook users looking for larger machines at a cheap price.

The Texas-based computer maker has announced new additions to its notebook and netbook lines today with two new low cost machines. The Dell Inspiron 15 is a 15.6-inch notebook with prices starting at only $399. The low-end machine gets a Celeron processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 160GB HDD along with Windows Vista Basic. Options can greatly increase the price of the machine.

Dell’s customizable addition to their Inspiron line will give you way too many color options to choose from. These include the 537 and the 537s. You have eight color choices in all and your choice of Intel Celeron, AMD Sempron, Core 2 Quad and Phenom X4 CPUs, up to 8GB of RAM, integrated Intel graphics or ATI Radeon GPUs, and up to 750GB HDD for the slim tower and 1TB for a mini-tower.

Or you could always just fire up the Della site with a gallon of ice cream and peruse what they have there. The starting price is $299 and they’re all available now.

It had to happen sooner or later. After all Dell has been cranking out tons of wild and attractively artsy laptops. Well, Dell just launched a new website for the ladies called “Della”. The idea is that the site will give you a more womanly shopping experience.

This boils down to a bunch of pics of women doing there thing around Dell products. Oh and there’s the usual crap that suggests they don’t take you ladies seriously. Stuff like “finding recipes,” “counting calories,” and “guided meditations” on the Tech Tips page.