Dell has officially taken the wraps off its first CULV-based system. Weighing in at only 3.05 pounds and measuring 1.02 inches at its thickest point, Dell’s new Inspiron 11z has all the power of a traditional budget notebook in a small, easy-to-carry design. It features 11.6-inch LED-backlit display running at 1,366 x 768, paired with Intel’s Celeron 723 1.2GHz processor and GS45 integrated graphics, 2GB of RAM and a 250GB hard disk drive.


You also get a 1.3 megapixel camera, twin stereo speakers, an Ethernet port, 802.11g Wi-Fi, three USB sockets, a 3-in-1 multi-card reader, 92% standard-size keyboard, and an HDMI output. But definitely one of the best features of this netbook-like device is its netbook-ish price point, starting at $399. Dell is throwing in Microsoft's Windows Vista Home Premium operating system (plus a free upgrade to Windows 7 once it’s released) as well as a basic 3-cell battery that'll provide "more than three hours" of use from a single charge.

There will be more configuration options down the road, hopefully bringing improved battery life, Intel's ultra-low-voltage Core 2 processors, a selection of SSD drives, and perhaps Bluetooth and 3G connectivity as well.