While the Mini 9 [Portal page] was pretty standard fare as far as netbooks good, the upcoming Dell Inspiron Mini 10 (which Engadget had some hands-on time with at CES) throws us a few welcomed curve-balls. Dell has finally made it official for the US and the Mini 10 will be available for purchase on February 26th.
I’m looking forward to seeing the Mini 10 and here are a few reasons why:
- True widescreen — 16:9 aspect ratio (10.1″)
- Macbook-esque botton+trackpad… trackpad — The entire trackpad clicks down and functions like the mouse button
- Custom multi-touch gesture support (via the trackpad)
- GPS + WWAN
- HDMI out port
- WiFi B/G/N
The official page from Dell also tells us of some upcoming options
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- HD capabilities – Enjoy your favorite movies on the optional 720p Hi-def 10.1¨ seamless display.
- More Storage – Do even more with optional 2GB memory and optional 250GB hard drive.
- Navigation – Know your way like the back of your hand using the optional GPS with optional internal WWAN support.
- Design Studio – Personalize your Mini 10 with cool designs from the artist, Tristen Eaton, in Dell’s Design Studio.
- Long battery life – No need to sacrifice weight for battery life. The Inspiron Mini 10 provides extended battery life while keeping the weight of the system under 3 pounds. 3-cell: approx. 3 hours. 6-cell: approx. 6.5 hours.
- The New TV – Watch your favorite TV shows with the internal digital TV tuner.
I’m most excited about the screen which will be able to support native 720p HD (1280×720) content with its 16:9 screen; I just hope the hardware is up to the task of playing that caliber of video!
February 21st, 2009 at 12:51 am
at 1 time i was really looking forward to it, and still am somewhat. but after reading Dells blog its much less now. they are intentionally crippling the device with non-removable RAM so that you will be forced to use their “upgrade” system & pay far more than just doing it yourself. also, they are only releasing the lowend model initially with the highend models to follow much much further down the road (dont expect the 720p 2GB model until summer).
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February 21st, 2009 at 5:49 am
Certainly looks more promising than the asinine Mini 9 or the 12! Nevertheless, being Dell, one must suspect it will have flaws like those two previous products. It’s part of the reason Dell is gradually slipping into oblivion.
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February 21st, 2009 at 5:55 am
Terian, good info on the RAM. Capped at 1gb, perhaps permanently. Dell never fails…to fail.
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February 21st, 2009 at 6:44 pm
RAM isn’t capped, it just sounds like it may not be user replaceable.
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February 24th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
What does that mean? Other sites are saying it is “non-upgradable”? If the user can’t upgrade and they won’t offer it or offer upgrade, then….
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February 21st, 2009 at 6:31 am
There are a couple of interesting things about the device, but overall, it’s not that big of a bump over something like the MSI Wind. The crippled memory is a real disappointment, that’s for sure.
I will admit that I like the screen resolution and the option for an integrated digital tuner is interesting. The HDMI port is good and the multitouch mouse sounds good too. However, the GPS option doesn’t make sense to me. What are you supposed to do, open it in the passenger seat of your car? Besides, my expectation is that the GPS option is contingent on the WWAN option. It probably gets the GPS data through the cellular link. On that topic, I don’t see people jumping on that bandwagon here in the U.S. It’s simply too expensive. Most people will still tether via USB or Bluetooth from their cellular phones.
Still though, options are good and having options is better than not having them. So good for Dell. Now if they just weren’t do dumb on the RAM….
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February 23rd, 2009 at 12:54 am
Is it fanless?
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