Dell means business with new PCs

Dell on Tuesday unveiled a fleet of business PCs it says are faster, more secure and more environmentally friendly than their predecessors.

The Round Rock, Texas, company, which ranks as the world's top PC maker, launched five Latitude notebook and Precision mobile workstation models at a news conference in New York and took the wraps off a redesigned OptiPlex GX280 desktop for its business customers.

The Latitudes incorporate the latest version of Intel's Centrino chip bundle for wireless notebooks, as well as a security chip.

The OptiPlex, which comes in minitower or traditional desktop form, uses a new chassis design created to boost PCs' cooling capacity and reduce the noise they make. It also uses components made from less hazardous materials to reduce the amount of lead and other such materials it contains. Dell said it aims to meet the European Union's Reduction of Hazardous Substances directive, which requires manufactures to eliminate or minimize a number of compounds, including lead, before July 2006.

In addition, Dell is offering new security "locking" features on notebooks that take advantage of an industry push by Intel, IBM and other PC makers. Computer files can thus be linked to specific machines to prevent network intrusions or theft of intellectual property.

Roger Kay, a PC industry analyst at market research firm IDC in Framingham, Mass., said other major PC makers are already onboard. Dell, as the market leader, will make the computer security technology a market reality, he said.

"It's the same thing with each of these technologies," Kay said. "When Dell moves into a new area, it is ratifying the technology as mainstream."

Although some of Dell's more well-known products of late include its printers, its plasma TVs and its Digital Jukebox music players, corporate desktops and notebooks help form the backbone of the PC maker's business. Dell gets about 85 percent of its revenue from its corporate accounts.

The models announced Tuesday will become the mainstay of Dell's business for the foreseeable future. The company added a number of tweaks that it said address customer requests. The Latitudes are built using a tri-metal chassis, whose magnesium alloy display cover helps to protect their screens, while stiffer and sealed keyboards improve feel and protect from spills. Sturdier hinges enhance overall durability.

The machines also include Trusted Platform Modules, security technology that can lock digital content to specific PCs. Dell offers a smartcard reader that grants network access only to users with a special credit card embedded with a security microchip.

The latest Latitudes include models D410, D610 and D810. They incorporate Intel's latest Centrino chips, offering Pentium M processors up to 2.13GHz, combined with Intel's mobile 915 chipset and several different 802.11 wireless modules. Buyers of the Latitudes can choose between different CD and DVD drives, as well as hard drives with up to 100GB of capacity. They all deliver an average of about five hours of battery life, Dell said.

Its Latitude D410, the smallest and lightest and therefore most portable of the new models, offers a 12.1-inch display and weighs about