Dell Offers 'Black Friday' $349 Notebook

Dell on Monday launched a $349 "Black Friday" notebook, joining many other retailers in offering steep holiday discounts to lure buyers in the economic downturn.

The Vostro A860 business machine was one of a number of specials offered to businesses and consumers. Dell also slashed the price of the Vostro 200 Slim Tower to $329 and the PowerEdge SC440 single-socket tower server to $603. The systems normally cost $448, $579, and $928, respectively.

Black Friday, the day after the Thanksgiving holiday, marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season. This year the day falls on Nov. 28 and it's likely to be particularly important as more consumers than usual are expected to head to stores to take advantage of steep discounts in these financially troubled times. Retailers typically make about 10% of their holiday sales during the three-day Thanksgiving weekend.

The base model of the Vostro A860 is powered by a 2.13-GHz Intel Celeron M M560 processor. The machine has a 15.6-inch screen, a CD burner/DVD combo drive and a 120-GB hard drive. The system comes with 1 GB of memory, Windows Vista Home Basic, and a one-year limited warranty.

The Vostro 200 desktop includes a 2.2-GHz Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2200 processor, a 160-GB hard drive, 2 GB of memory, a DVD burner, and a 19-inch Dell flat-panel monitor. The system comes with Windows Vista Home Basic.

The base model PowerEdge SC440 comes with a 1.8-GHz Intel Celeron 430 processor, 512 MB of memory, an 80-GB hard drive, and Microsoft Small Business Server 2003.

Other Black Friday specials available online from Dell include a $99, 17-inch SE178WFP monitor, a $49 V305 all-in-one printer, a $129 Sony Cyber-shot W120 digital camera, and a $799, 42-inch Sharp digital TV. Regular pricing is $159, $99, $179, and $1,399, respectively.

Dell did not disclose how long the deals would last.