I think most of us realize at this point that netbooks have gone mainstream. While most consumers probably still couldn’t tell you the difference between a netbook and a more powerful, full fledged laptop, that hasn’t stopped companies from taking advantage of the term ‘netbook’ as a buzz word. Case-in-point, Comcast and Verizon are now both offering deals which provide their customers with a ‘free’ netbook. Each company offers a different netbook to new customers:

Verizon has teamed up with HP owned Compaq to provide the Compaq Mini 110, which is essentially just a rebranded version of the HP Mini 110 [Portal page]. Of course it is just about the most stripped down version of the computer and comes with a small 3-cell battery, and a slow 16GB SSD.

And what good would marketing be if they were just giving these things away without any hassle? There is definitely some tape you need to run through before actually receiving your Compaq Mini 110. Verizon requires that you claim your prize at least 60 days after your instillation, but no later than 90 days after instillation. If you don’t claim your prize within that 30 day window, you are no longer eligible for the ‘free’ netbook. I mentioned ‘free’ because they also charge you $50 for shipping and handling.

Meanwhile, Comcast has jumped on board with Dell to offer customers the Dell Mini 10v [Portal page]. I have been unable to track down the exact specs of the Mini 10v that Comcast is offering, but we’ll assuming that it is one up from least equipped model: 16GB (instead of 8GB) SSD, and 3-cell battery.

So who emerges victorious in the battle to win customers over with a netbook? If we look just at the netbooks that each is offering, its actually a really tough call simply by the fact that both netbooks are so similar. I don’t think there is any differentiating factor that would make me pick one of these over the other, if not simply by brand. I would personally stick with Dell, but hey, maybe you are a die-hard Compaq fan? In the end, these netbook offers really aren’t adding that much value to your purchase. Sure they might make a nice computer for the kids, but if you are really in the market for a netbook, you should buy some of the value packed netbooks that are available these days. You wouldn’t sign up with one of these companies if they were offering a free TV and expect to get a nice TV would you?

Where would netbooks be without Windows XP? Probably nowhere, so why have Dell decided to combine the low-power Atom Z-series with Windows Vista on their new 12" laptop? There’s two reasons.

1 – To save a few watts/degrees/mm

2 – To enable a high-end video experience

APCMag and LaptopMag have both done some reviewing and its hard to see any reasoning behind Dells move because neither of the reviews shine. 3hrs battery life and sluggish performance are nothing to write home about, even if the device uses a smaller battery.

The one thing that hasn’t been tested yet is video. The Poulsbo chipset offers hardware decoding for a number of video encoding formats and maybe Dell want to use this as the main feature but from what I can see, there’s no HDMI or composite output so they are obviously not aiming the device at media fans, especially with that relatively slow and small 60GB, 1.8" 4200 RPM drive they’ve put inside. No, it looks like they wanted to go for the smallest, quietest and lowest power build and Menlow/Vista was probably the only choice. Many people are aware that XP drivers just don’t seem to be materialising for the Menlow platform so it looks like Dell made the choice to push out a Vista version rather than wait.

The problem they have now is that the first reviews will stick in the Internet search results and poison any future release of the same model. They also poison the Menlow platform. To me, the Dell Mini 12 is a big mistake. They really should have waited until Windows 7 was available.

Following up on the previous story I did about the 12" Dell Mini, it looks like it really is going to happen.

The size and form factor is of no interest to most readers but what’s going on underneath is very interesting.

Up until now, the performance of Z-series-based PCs running XP or Vista has been less than exciting. Video playback and 3D performance is almost non-existent in devices like the Kohjinsha SC3 and way below what people are seeing on the cheap Atom-based netbooks. In theory, it should be a lot better. Many people have been waiting for fresh drivers for the system controller hub (SCH, Aka Poulsbo) chipset under Vista and for XP-lovers, there’s absolutely nothing out there except rumours. Intel have no choice now but to ship good quality drivers otherwise they will have a big customer problem.

So why are Dell using the Z-series Atom processors? Battery life. Atom Silverthorne and the SCH offer much higher power efficiency so it gives Dell’s engineers the best possible chance to produce an 8hr device. The SCH also has the video decoding hardware built-in so we could be looking at a great long-haul video playback device here.

For those looking for Silverthorne/Poulsbo drivers, keep an eye on the Dell 1210 driver download page.

Source: CSM Report.