Dell goes thin and light with Latitude Z

Dell's new Latitude Z laptop is apparently the world's thinnest and lightest 16" laptop, according to the firm.

Despite its name, the Z is not likely to send anyone to sleep and is, according to Dell, targetted at impression makers. This doesn't mean Rory Bremner but rather entrepreneurs, attorneys, creative types and sales people.

"Dell is introducing ground-breaking innovations that mark many industry firsts," said Steve Lalla, vice president and general manager, of Dell's business client product group, in a statement.

"We're delivering robust solutions to solve real customer needs. We are committed to our core business and expanding our product line to meet the needs of our customers when they are ready to refresh or add to their existing infrastructure."

The Latitude Z comes in a 'black cherry' colour skin, is less than an inch (2.5 centimetres) thick, and weighs in at just 2.04 kilos. Under the hood, it promises support for WLAN, Bluetooth and optional 3G WWAN mobile broadband, a large backlit keyboard, and wireless docking and inductive charging.

The Latitude Z is available starting today in select countries in Europe and Asia, as well as Canada and the US, with pricing starting at 1,319.

Dell also announced a couple of workstations, including the Dell Precision T1500, which it said was the world's first workstation built specifically for AutoCAD. Although an entry level device, Dell said that users could choose between AMD ATI FirePro and AutoCAD-certified NVIDIA Quadro cards, and had access to Intel's Corei7 processors and chipset technology. Reflecting the entry-level status, prices start at around 600.

Also on the firm's agenda was the Dell OptiPlex 780, a workstation that it described as having strong management features. Pitched at enterprises that want increased control over user machines the OptiPlex 780 includes Intel's vPro systems management tools along with data and asset security tools. The OptiPlex 780 is available from 339.