By Alfred Hermida BBC News Online technology staff in Las Vegas

The number one computer maker in the world, Dell, has indicated it is planning to continue expanding beyond the PC.

In an address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Dell founder and chief executive Michael Dell confirmed the company would soon start making printers.

Dell recently started selling its own brand of handheld computers, called the Axim, at an aggressively low price.

"We are finding that customers are paying too much for these products and the efficiency of Dell can help customers save money," said Mr Dell.

'Necessary evil'

The Dell boss used much of his talk to promote the company's strategy of direct sales and made-to-order computers.

I would stick by my belief that the PC is becoming the centre of the entertainment experience Michael Dell

He repeatedly stressed how Dell's success lay in making it as easy as possible for someone to buy a computer.

"Most people consider shopping to be a necessary evil," he said. "We want to spend as little time as possible shopping so we need to make this process as efficient as possible."

Mr Dell acknowledged that the past year had been a difficult one for the technology industry, and spoke of challenging times ahead.

PC is king

But he remained optimistic for the future, talking about how computers were becoming central in the home as digital entertainment hubs.

"Whether the TV or the PC is the centre of the universe is an interesting debate, but I don't think it's that relevant," he said.

"I would stick by my belief that the PC is becoming the centre of the entertainment experience."

And Mr Dell gave his vision about how computers would be changing, talking about PCs coming with built-in TV tuners and software to allow them to become personal video recorders.