Dell adds color to notebook competition

The world's second-largest personal computer maker also launched its first consumer PC to use flash memory instead of a traditional hard-disk drive to store data. The lightweight laptop comes with a modest 32 gigabytes of data storage space.

Dell's new notebooks, to be unveiled at an event at Macy's flagship store in Herald Square in New York, come in colors with names such as flamingo pink, sunshine yellow, alpine white, ruby red, jet black, midnight blue and espresso.

An entry-level version of the notebook PC costs $749 and is available as of Tuesday.

Dell also said it would phase out its Dimension brand, used for its desktop computers for more than a decade, and switch to the Inspiron name previously used only for its notebooks. The company plans to continue to sell Inspiron notebooks.

The new products are among steps the Round Rock, Texas-based company is taking to boost sales of notebook computers to consumers, the fastest-growing PC segment, as it tries to catch up with Hewlett-Packard, which last year displaced Dell as the largest PC maker by unit sales.

Dell this month started selling PCs in Wal-Mart Stores, breaking from a 23-year practice of selling directly via Internet or phone, under a strategy by founder Michael Dell to stoke growth. The company said it planned to announce more retail partnerships in the coming months.