Granted, I’m a little biased towards Dell, because my girlfriend has a 700m and I have the Inspiron 640m and Inspiron 1501. Even at the entry-level end of things, I’ve been quite impressed with their build quality and reliability, and I particularly appreciate the fact that you can customize just about any platform to suit your needs. Need a faster processor? No problem. Want a bigger hard drive or integrated Bluetooth? They’re only a click away.

One of the newest Dell notebook computers to be announced is the ultra-portable XPS M1330. Featuring a 13.3-inch widescreen display, the XPS M1330 is available in three different colors. If you’re going to be using this laptop under a business context, my suggestion would be to stick to the Tuxedo Black or maybe the Pearl White, but if you’re a little bolder and what some flare to go with your computer, then you can also nab the M1330 with a Crimson Red casing as shown above. There is no difference in price between the different colors.

The current base configuration — which goes for $1,399 Canadian — comes with an Intel T7100 (1.8GHz) Core 2 Duo processor, Vista Home Premium, integrated 2.0 megapixel webcam, 120GB SATA hard drive, 1GB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM, 8x CD/DVD burner, and Intel integrated graphics (GMA 3100). Each of these bits (and more) can be upgraded for a price. For example, you can get a backlit LED display for an extra $150 (but the webcam gets downgraded to VGA).

I can’t say for certain, but I’d expect a few specials to come up next month to gear up for the “back to school” season, so even if you’re buying for business, you might want to wait until then. After all, Dell is known to have some pretty good deals from time to time.