The low-cost notebook market is about to get even more crowded in the coming months with Dell planning to launch an 8.9-inch wide-screen laptop for under $499. According to this article, Dell's manufacturing partner in Taiwan, Compal, is aiming to produce upwards of 300,000 of these ultra-portable machines per month for Dell.

Specs are unknown at this time. However, the new notebooks will reportedly start shipping in the June timeframe, which coincides with the availability of Intel’s new Atom processors that promise respectable performance with a TDP of just 4W, or 8W TDP for dual-core versions.