Implementing the learnings from the design of the Adamo, Dell introduced today the Vostro V13 starting at a measly $499 starting price point, generously appointed at $699.

Featuring a 13″ screen, only .65″ thick and 3.5lbs, the V13 seems to be a fantastic value.

Dell has added a new feature to the Vostro 430 which they call “Future Proof”(sic). Their press release details the ability to “add memory”, “PCI/PCIe cards” and additional hard disks.

Revolutionary? Not really. I’m probably not saying anything you didn’t know, but most desktops allow easy access to the motherboard and drive bays to allow for these changes by either users and/or service representatives.

In this day and age of “sustainability” and “environmental responsibility”, I’m surprised that the Dell leadership isn’t positioning the ability to upgrade as a way to fight back against critics who suggest that the PC industry fosters waste and unnecessary replacement of electronic products.

Instead of searching for the latest ‘catch phrase’, perhaps Dell and the PC industry should focus on how this increases the working life of a computer PC?

Makes sense to me. Of course, thanks to the industry, users can’t upgrade the system processor so these upgrades won’t make a big impact on lowering the total cost of ownership for SMB’s.

Dell Small Business has the Dell Vostro A860 15.6″ Laptop, 2GB RAM, Core 2 Duo T5870, 250GB HDD, Vista Home Basic for just $399 plus $25 shipping. We like that this laptop comes with a Core 2 Duo processor and a 250GB HDD — two things you generally don’t see in a $400 laptop.

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