With the world is going eco-friendly (and smaller!), why should Dell be left behind?

Back in April 2008, there were rumours about the launch of Dell's smallest, greenest PC. That was then. Yesterday, Dell finally revealed the little green machine for all to see. The Studio Hybrid, as Dell chose to call it, is claimed to be 80% smaller than a mini tower and consumes 70% less energy. It also comes in an eco-friendly packaging with a system recycling kit bundled along.

The machine looks similar to a large capacity external hard drive and as Dell says,it is "about the size of a collegiate dictionary". The Studio Hybrid can be set up in either a vertical or a horizontal orientation, and be personalized with a choice of seven optional and interchangeable sleeves: Bamboo, Emerald, Quartz, Ruby, Sapphire, Slate and Topaz.

With a starting price of $499, the Studio Hybrid is powerful enough for basic web page designing, editing and uploading videos and digital photo albums. It comes with an HDMI port as standard and can be customized with an optional wireless keyboard, Wi-Fi networking, a Blu-Ray Disc drive for watching high-definition DVDs, and a TV tuner.

This makes it a pretty capable PC and it should be an attractive proposition for buyers who were looking for an energy efficient, powerful computing device, in a space-saving package.

"Our goal was to design a desktop that fits in the office or in the living room, or anywhere space is at a premium," said Michael Scheschuk, desktop product marketing. "We've created a desktop PC category that combines style, performance and a high degree of energy efficiency."

Along with the Studio Hybrid, Dell also introduced two new Inspiron PCs, including the Inspiron 13 -- a sub-$800 13-inch laptop.