While the laptop market has been decreasing, the likes of Dell and HP still know that they have to keep coming up with new models in order to generate interest, as they don’t have a decent tablet market to fall back on like Apple and Samsung. Dell also knows that they cannot keep upgrading their top-spec laptop range because of there now being less disposable income, so have decided to give the Dell Inspiron R Series a 2013 refresh.

Amongst many of the new features it’s the touchscreen that stands out the most, although this is an optional feature, which means you will have to pay a premium to make use of the Windows 8 touchscreen support. In the new 2013 Inspiron R Series you will have three size options, 14, 15 and 17 inches, with the latter two coming with the handy number keypad.

As with most Dell products you will be able to choose from a number of hardware choices, with the new Inspiron R line being no different. All three size options come with a choice of Intel Core i3, i5 or i7 processors and up to 8GB or RAM. The 2013 Dell Inspiron R Series price varies on size, so the Inspiron 14R price will be from $430, and the Inspiron 15R and 17R is said to start from $500.

However, from what we have been told you will have to pay an extra $150 for the privilege of having touchscreen on the two smaller laptops. It’s nice to see that Dell is releasing more laptops to take advantage of Windows 8 features, and to have the touchscreen option on a low-cost laptop is considered to be a positive for those with less disposal incomes.

Let’s start with screen sizes, standard specs and prices. There are three screen sizes available these are 14-inch, 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch models. As standard you get the Intel Core i3 2310M processor, Windows 7 Home Premium, 3GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM, a 320GB SATA hard drive, Intel 3000 HD graphics, a dual-layer DVD burner, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth, a 6-cell battery, a widescreen display supporting a resolution of 1280 x 720 and an integrated 1 megapixel webcam. The 14-inch model matching this spec will cost you $599.99, the 15.6-inch model will cost you $549.99 and the 17.3-inch model will cost $599.99.

When you configure your product there are plenty of option upgrades to choose from, you can choose the Intel Core i5 2410M processor, 4GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM, 6GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM, a 500GB SATA hard drive, a 640GB SATA hard drive, AMD Radeon HD 6470M (512MB) graphics, a Blu-ray player and an additional 9-cell battery, obviously these upgrades will bump up the price, however will give you that extra edge in performance.

If you would like to buy a different lid prices start at $39.99, there are plenty of attractive design’s to choose from, check out the image below for a few examples.

Check out this link to configure your own Dell Inspiron R, which upgrades would you choose?