Dell's Vostro 430 Desktop Gets Core i5/i7 And $699 Starting Tag

By and large, Dell's Vostro range is still largely unappreciated and under the radar. The Latitude line seems to get way more attention in business uses, and the Inspiron line gets way more love from consumers. And of course, the XPS/Alienware line gets all the attention from gamers. The Vostro line, however, still stands out as offering a real value to consumers who just need a basic machine to handle basic tasks. If that's you, and you're scouting a new tower, the Vostro 430 might be "the one."

Granted, we're not entirely sure we'd agree with Dell's assertion that the Vostro 430 is "future proof"--we wouldn't even call a $4000 Alienware "future proof"--but it is powerful enough to handle Windows 7 and shouldn't break the bank along the way. In an unusual move for Dell, it has decided to equip the Vostro 430 with a Core i5 or Core i7 processor, dedicated GPU options from NVIDIA/ATI, up to 16GB of DDR3 SDRAM and up to 1TB of extra storage. It's available to customize and order today starting at $699, and while it probably won't play Crysis at its maximum resolution, it'll more than handle those pesky Spreadsheets and the occasional gaming spree.

Vostro 430: Expandability, Productivity and Connectivity

• Expandability options with the ability to add memory, PCI/PCIe cards and HDD, future-proofing IT investment;
• Increased internal storage capacity with one terabyte hard drives offering up to 2 terabytes of internal storage;
• Dual-display capability, and more expandability and flexibility with 10 external USB ports and four total PCI/PCIe expansion slots for more network, sound or graphics cards.
• Optional Blu-Ray Disk^TM drives for data storage and video playback;
• PS/2 and serial ports to enable use of older devices; and
• Dell 19-in-1 Media Card Reader (Optional)
• IEEE 1394a (Optional)