Dell and Microsoft will announce later this week that they will offer customers a simple way to make a difference, through the purchase of unique (PRODUCT) RED branded personal computers and a printer. Adding to the premium experience, all Dell (PRODUCT) RED PCs are powered by Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED, that include six unique desktop wallpapers, a screensaver, two innovative Windows Sidebar gadgets and a (RED)-themed Windows DreamScene. Dell is the exclusive PC and peripheral partner of (PRODUCT) RED.

• When a consumer chooses either laptop - the XPS M1530 (PRODUCT) RED or XPS M1330 (PRODUCT) RED with Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED (starting price $1,149 for either laptop) - Dell and Windows will make a total joint contribution of $50 directly to the Global Fund, which buys nearly 4 months of lifesaving antiretroviral medication.

• When a consumer chooses the XPS One (PRODUCT) RED with Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED (starting price of $1,599), Dell and Windows will make a total contribution of $80 directly to the Global Fund, which buys 6 months of lifesaving antiretroviral medication.

• When a consumer chooses the 948 All-in-one (PRODUCT) RED Printer (starting price of $149), Dell will make a $5 contribution to the Global Fund, which buys more than ten days of lifesaving antiretroviral medication.

More information about (RED) is available at www.joinred.com.

Interestingly enough, Dell's knowledge base acknowledges the problem in an entry entitled "A Tingling Sensation May Be Noticed When Touching Metal Components of Dell Devices Equipped with Two-Prong AC Adapters." However, the entry also states that "the voltage (tingling sensation) does NOT present any risk of injury to the user." Whether that is true or not, getting constant electric shocks from your laptop is, at the very least, annoying as hell. Fortunately, Dell informed CNET that they are willing to replace the two-pin power supplies with a three-pin version if requested to do so. If you are experiencing this problem (and entries on Dell's forums suggest that this issue is not isolated), you may want to hit Dell up for a replacement. [Crave and Dell Forums / Knowledge Base]

Heading the list is the gorgeous XPS M1330 notebook, claiming to be the skinniest 13.3-inch notebook in the world at just .9 inches. It's bringing LED backlighting to the party, along with an option to buy a 32GB solid state hard disk for an extra 600 bucks. They are offered in black, white or red, and you can order one now but don't expect to get it before July 27. Pricing starts at $1299, but fully tricked out with all the options and the fastest Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 Processor at 2.2GHz, its price is pushing $3000.

Dell also refreshed its Inspiron line, spreading out the brand beyond just laptops and into desktops and monitors as well. The big news with the Inspiron laptops (pictured above) is the palette of colors that's positively wild for Dell, offering the notebooks in your choice of a palette of the eight colors you see in a graphic here. Don't miss our favorite, bubblegum pink. But note that in all these colorful new offerings, the whole notebook is not festooned in these flattering colors, it's just the back of the display that's painted up all pretty-like. You can choose from 17-inch, 15.4-inch and 14.1-inch screen sizes. Pricing starts at $769.

Also included in this four-ring circus are Dell's Inspiron line of desktops (pictured above) that replace Dell's shopworn Dimension line of PCs that have been around for 15 years. These Inspiron desktops' main claim to fame are their "clean arctic silver and white design." Big woop. With pricing starting at $349, you can cram dual 500-gig drives inside, and take your pick of AMD or Intel processors. And looky there, there's a Blu-ray drive available, too. These are available in either a minitower or slim tower form factor, and besides that new color, there's not much else notable here.

And what's this? Why, it's the 2407WFP-HC a high-color version of Dell's glorious 24-inch widescreen flat-panel display. High Color—that's what the "HC" in there stands for. Like Dell's 30-inch 3007WFP-HC display, this 24-incher now offers 92% of the color gamut, meaning that mortals won't be able to tell much difference, but the artistic community will wet its pants over this. Since we're already blown away by Dell's garden-variety 2407 monitor, this one we gotta see. Along for the ride is the entry-level ST198WFB, a widescreen 19-incher with 1440x900 resolution. That one will be good and cheap, that's for sure.

We also noticed Dell offering a year's worth of free online backup with every Inspiron product, letting you send 3GB to the mother ship in case your house burns down. If you're getting an XPS product you can load up to 10GB online.

Summing up, this is a welcome refresh for Dell's notebooks and desktops, as the company eases even further away from its formerly staid design rep. We especially like that super-thin XPS M1330 notebook, and are eager to find out how long its full complement of batteries will last with that LED-backlit display and solid state drive on board.

Product Pages [Dell]