We'll be honest, we've never been the biggest fans of Dell's colorful, patterned lids -- not because some of them are pretty ugly, but because once you choose one hue, you're stuck with it forever (or at least until you need a new laptop). Well, Dell's finally solved that piece of the puzzle with its new Inspiron R series -- the 14-, 15.6- and 17.3-inch laptops all have swappable lids. Yep, it's sort of like those interchangeable Swatch watch faces from the 90s -- you can snap off the standard black cover, buy a new one for $19 ($29 for the Design Studio patterns), and latch it right on. But that's not all Dell's changed with its mainstream laptops -- the rigs now have new chiclet keyboards, HD webcams, and a design that's similar to the new XPS line.
For a budget system -- the 15R starts at $529.99 -- they actually feel pretty solid and the internal organs fit the same description. All three of the machines can be configured with brand new Sandy Bridge Core i3, i5, and i7 processors, Blu-ray drives, up to 8GB of RAM, six or nine-cell batteries, and USB 3.0 ports. Dell didn't forget about the graphics either -- the 14 will be available with AMD Radeon HD 6000M options, while the 15 and 17 grab a hold of NVIDIA's GeForce GT525. All three models should be up for order today on Dell's website with them heading to retailers later this spring. Hit the break for the full PR / specs and don't forget to check out the hands-on shots on your way.
Update: We now have the correct spec sheet after the break!
*www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/03/inspironspec.jpg
