Mossberg gives thumbs down to Dell Vostro line

Remember Dell's Vostro line of desktops and laptops tailor-made for the SMB market? Perhaps you've found yourself wondering how the machines stack up when compared to offerings from other vendors, or even when compared to the rest of Dell's lineup. The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg apparently found himself wondering the same thing and decided to take the Vostro 1500 laptop for a test drive. His thoughts? The machine apparently offers "nothing special, nothing particularly tailored for small business at all," with the lappie itself being characterized as "a Plain Jane, rather bulky and heavy laptop". What's more, Dell shipped the 1500 with no security software and the bug-ridden IE6 ("about the least secure web browser you can buy"), for no explicable reason. So, is there anything good about these machines? Mossberg plainly states that Dell's SMB support network is "just about the only small business innovation" to be found here, though he admits that "only time will tell" whether or not the support is up to snuff for SMBs.

Tell us how you really feel, Walt:
- check out this scathing video review