Digital Home Thoughts: Dell Releases New 13' Inspiron Laptop

Ok, I admit it, I'm a sucker for any laptop that's small-ish (under 15.4" screen) and colourful. Maybe it's from too many years of having nothing but black and silver laptops, but I'm always happy to see the big laptop companies giving us more choices regarding size and colour. This new Inspiron 13 is a fairly low-end laptop, designed for the cost-conscious consumer. The $699 USD model still packs some decent features: Intel Pentium Dual Core T2390 (1.86GHz/533Mhz FSB/1MB cache), Vista Home Premium SP1, 13.3" LCD screen (1280 x 800), 8x slot-loading DVD burner, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB 5400 RPM hard drive, Intel X3100 GPU, 802.11g WiFi, a 37 watt hour 4 cell battery, and that swanky blue colour they're calling "Pacific Blue". The only problem I see with those specs? 1 GB of RAM. Vista is happy with 2 GB of RAM, and Dell should know better than to sell it with 1 GB of RAM. $50 more gets you the bump to 2 GB. If you're looking for a budget laptop that's still quite portable, this one might fit the bill.