Digital Home Thoughts: Dell Does Big Screen at a Tiny Price

"Dell's just added a 17.3-inch option to its Inspiron lineup. The Inspiron 17 -- which has a backlit 16:9 aspect ratio, 1,600 x 900 resolution LCD -- will boast options for Intel Pentium Dual Core as well as Core 2 Duo processors, up to 3GB of RAM, an up to 320GB SATA hard drive, and an up to 9-cell battery (the base model comes with a 4-cell)."

A laptop like this appeals to a lot of users. With laptop prices a lot closer to desktop prices than in years past, many users are buying laptops simply to have a machine that does not take up a lot of space, is easy to move around, and easy to set up. For those, a laptop with a big screen and a full keyboard at a low price (like this one, starting at $499) is an easy choice. Even the base model will more than cover the needs of most users and the rather small standard battery is not much of an issue, since it probably won't spend much time far away from a power outlet anyway.