Dell Refreshes Small-Business Vostro 3000 Line: 12+ Hours of Battery Life, Starts at $499

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Dell today announced its refreshed Vostro 3000 line of small business notebooks. The Vostro will be available in 13, 14, 15, and 17-inch sizes, and will feature Intel's second-gen Core processors, as well as optional discrete graphics from AMD and Nvidia.

The Vostro 3000 series now features a backlit, chiclet-style keyboard that's similar to the one on the XPS line; also new are three quick-launch keys on the upper right, which replace the touch-sensitive media control keys on the previous generation. The notebook will also have USB 3.0 ports, as well as a high-def webcam and HDMI-out. Additionally, SRS Premium Voice Pro software and a digital array microphone will also help reduce ambient noise during conference calls

When outfitted with the 9-cell battery (which bumps out the bottom, the 13, 14, and 15-inch models are expected to exceed 12 hours of endurance, according to Dell. The notebook will be available in three colors: Aberdeen silver, Lucerne Red, and Brisbane Bronze.

Starting at pricing is as follows:

  • 13-inch 3350 - $599
  • 14-inch 3450 - $499
  • 15-inch 3550 - $499
  • 17-inch 3750 - $549

The new Vostro notebooks will be available starting March 22.

Display size/resolution: The 13, 14, and 15-inch models will all have a resolution of 1366 x 768; the 17-inch model will have a resolution of 1600 x 900.

Dimensions

  • 13” 12.96 x 9 x  1.07 - 1.17 inches
  • 14” 13.5 x 9.68 x 1.2-1.31 inches
  • 15” 14.8 x 10.2 x 1.20 - 1.37 inches
  • 17” 16.5 x 11.3 x 1.21 - 1.37 inches

Starting Weight

  • 13”: 4.6 lb with 4-cell battery and optical drive
  • 14”:  5.02 lb with 6-cell battery and optical drive
  • 15”:  5.45lb with 6-cell battery and optical drive
  • 17”:  6.62lb with 6-cell battery and optical drive

Graphics Options:

  • Intel Integrated GMA HD
  • AMD Radeon HD6470 with 512MB GDDR5 VRAM
  • AMD Radeon HD6630M with 1GB VRAM
  • Nvidia Geforce GT 525M with 1GB VRAM

Storage: Up to 750GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, optional 128GB Solid State Drive (available in select regions)

Battery Options and expected endurance:

  • 4-cell (41WHr) Lithium Ion battery: 6:23 hours (13-inch system)
  • 6-cell (48WHr) Lithium Ion battery: 6:34 (14-inch), 7:30 (15-inch), 5:41 (17-inch)
  • 8-cell (82 WHr) Lithium Ion (optional): 12:56 (13-inch)
  • 9-cell (90WHr) Lithium Ion (optional): 12:27 (14-inch), 13:46 (15-inch), 10:48 (15-inch)
Michael A. Prospero
Laptop Reviews Editor

Michael was the Reviews Editor at Laptop Mag. During his tenure at Laptop Mag, Michael reviewed some of the best laptops at the time, including notebooks from brands like Acer, Apple, Dell, Lenovo, and Asus. He wrote in-depth, hands-on guides about laptops that defined the world of tech, but he also stepped outside of the laptop world to talk about phones and wearables. He is now the U.S. Editor-in-Chief at our sister site Tom's Guide, where he oversees all evergreen content and the Homes, Smart Home, and Fitness/Wearables categories for the site..