Dell has this week taken another step towards realising its dream of becoming the world's 'greenest' IT firm with the launch of its first desktop computer that is fully compliant with the latest Energy Star efficiency standard.

The company said the Inspiron 531 is is compliant with the new Energy Star 4.0 specifications and as such has an 80 percent efficient power supply and comes pre-configured to go into low power sleep mode after just 15 minutes of inactivity.

Karen Plotkin, director of consumer desktop marketing, said the new model would appeal to both environmentally and cost-conscious consumers, allowing them "reduce their carbon footprint while also reducing their electric bills".

The company added that even the computer's manual comes in forest friendly paperless format while customers who purchase the machine are also being invited to further offset their emissions by joining Dell's "Plant a tree for me" program