Dell XPS Prices Slashed; BD Player with Inspiron

With the high-definition (HD) format war well over and consumers left with more-or-less one option, Dell too is gearing up on that front. The company is now offering an updated version of its Inspiron 1525 laptop -- to come with an optional Blu-ray disc player starting at prices of $879 -- on its Web site at www.dell.com/inspiron.

The Inspiron 1525 is a lightweight laptop featuring a 15.4-inches HD wide-aspect display with 720p resolution, and an HDMI port for easy connectivity to high-resolution displays and HDTVs -- among others. The optional Blu-ray disc player is fully backwards compatible, and can play as well as burn traditional DVDs and CDs. Additionally, consumers can opt for a Blu-ray burner drive useful in backing up and storing digital files including photos, videos, etc. A Blu-ray disc can typically hold up to 50GB of data, vs the 8.5GB of storage available on a typical DVD disc. The Inspiron 1525 laptop with Blu-ray disc drive incorporates Broadcom Media PC technology, which allows PCs with integrated graphics to play HD video. The HD video playback is enabled through a built-in dedicated accelerator located in the mini-card slot.

Along with that of the Inspiron 1525, Dell has also slashed prices of select XPS models including two basic models -- XPS M1330 and M1530, and the XPS 420 multimedia desktop. Prices of the basic models XPS M1330 and M1530 have been cut down by $699, thus making them available now for a starting price of $1,029 and $999, respectively. The M1330 and M1530 come equipped with a 1.66-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 processor, Vista Home Premium, 1GB of memory, and 120-GB hard drive. Meanwhile, the price of the XPS 420 multimedia desktop has been slashed by $400, which now starts at $999. This one comes equipped with a 2.4-GHz Intel Core 2 Q6600 quad-core processor, Vista Home Premium, 3GB of memory, and 320-GB hard drive.