Dell has launched a new desktop for small and medium businesses looking to adopt Intel's new Sandy Bridge platform. Despite its starting price of $599, the lowest-specced Vostro 460 Mini Tower packs the new 3.1GHz Core i5-2400, which e-tails for $195 alone. Another $110 or $210 gets you an upgraded 3.3GHz i5-2500 or 3.4GHz i7-2600.
All the CPUs are paired with Intel's H67 chipset, which utilizes Sandy Bridge's on-die graphics core. We imagine Intel's new HD Graphics 2000 IGP is plenty sufficient for standard office use, but the Vostro 460 can be outfitted with a 1GB Radeon HD 5450 ($60), 1GB GeForce GT 420 ($145), or a 1GB Radeon HD 5670 ($195) if you need a little more horsepower.
The default $599 configuration is only equipped with a gig of RAM, but you can add up to 16GB if that isn't sufficient. Hard drive capacities range from 320GB to 1.5TB, and although a secondary drive is available, it maxes out at 1TB. A DVD reader comes standard, while a Blu-ray burner tops out the optical drive category with an added expense of $235.
Besides the standard ports and connectors, you can add a 19-in-1 media card reader, a USB 3.0 PCIe card, and an IEEE 1394a adapter. OS options include Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate. Systems ordered today have a preliminary ship date of February 2 and come with a basic keyboard/mouse as well as a one-year warranty.