Dell Inspiron PCs Arrive With Touchscreen For The Living Room

The new touch-enabled Inspiron One all-in-one desktop features a full HD 23-inch WLED-backlit LCD display with built-in Wi-Fi, Webcam, DVD drive, and HDMI interface for connecting to television tuners, cable and satellite set-top boxes and videogame consoles. Dell is also introducing a new "Stage" touchscreen user interface on both machines, which offers quick access to music, photos, video and applications such as "Touch Instruments," "You Paint," and "Touch Cam."

Inspiron One's widescreen color display supports 1080p HD video, and offers an alternative to rival HP's TouchSmart 310 and MSI's Wind Top AE22200.

"The PC is at the hub of the family experience, and the new Inspiron One and Zino HD demonstrate how we are rapidly redefining the role of the desktop in the home," said Michael Tatelman, Dell vice president and general manager for consumer sales and marketing, in a statement.

Users can upgrade to a Blu-Ray drive, an AMD quad-core processor, and HDMI input for each of the Inspiron One's ports. Other features for use as an all-in-one entertainment center include touch apps from Unlimited Realities, audio/visual inputs and a remote control that effectively turns the PC into a television.

The second announcement, the new version of the more compact 8-inch-by-8-inch Inspiron Zino HD, comes with the option to upgrade both CPU, with an AMDquad-core Phenom II X4 processor, and GPU, with optional 1GB discrete graphics and the AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5450 card.

Though the Zino HD does not come with a display, it has the advantage of taking up less space, using less power, providing a place for the keyboard under the display, and offering remote control and wireless keyboard options for connecting to an HDTV.

The Inspiron One will be available this weekend through retail and is priced at $799. The Inspiron Zino HD is available now through Dell's Website and will be available through retailers this weekend, and is priced starting at $299.