Dell's new Vostro 3000 series laptops offer Ivy Bridge, security features galore starting at $599

Corporate laptops may never be sexy, but Dell's Vostro series has managed to add a little bit of design flair to the staid systems. Its new Vostro 3000 series updates Dell's business portables to Intel's new Ivy Bridge processors, while retaining all the security features you would expect as well as value pricing.

The new notebooks come in three basic flavors. The 15.6-inch Vostro 3560 starts at $599, but that only nets you a Sandy Bridge Core i3-2370M processor; you'll need to jump up to the $749 configuration for an Ivy Bridge Core i5-3210M chip. This will presumably be the same with the 13-inch Vostro 3360, which starts at $649 (and eschews an optical drive), and the 14-inch Vostro 3460, which also starts at $599. While the 3560 is available to buy on Dell.com, the other models won't be ready until June 21st. One nice touch is that you can get any of the new Vostro in red or bronze in addition to the usual silver color option.

Physical security features include a standard fingerprint reader and spill-resistant keyboard, and DigitalPersona File Protection folder and file encryption and Trend Micro security software are pre-loaded. You can also use Dell DataSafe Online Backup for remote file storage, and rely on various levels of Dell ProSupport dedicated tech support. Of course, you can load up the new Vostros with different option, including 32GB mSATA SSD drives for quicker boot-ups and 4G LTE options for fast mobile connectivity.