Sascha Pallenberg reacts exactly as we did when we first saw the Dell Inspiron 14z. Is it really an Ultrabook?

In terms of specs, it does appear to fit inside the Ultrabook definition and taking a view from the mainstream laptop world, it’s also fits quite nicely. Maybe we’re getting too used to thin and light devices already.

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The Duo is looking very very close to production so official specs should be out soon. 1024×600 capacative screen, docking station, N550 Atom CPU and other specs should be confirmed soon. Here’s another video (see a demo of the swivel mechanism) I got of the Duo this afternoon at the Intel AppUp Elements event in San Francisco.

I’m in a session at AppUp Elements with Dell and this is what they just showed us.  Nice trick!

Dell Inspiron Duo details now in the database.

We’ve added the Inspiron Mini 10 netbook to our comprehensive Product Portal as well as added a gallery of press shots. I’m looking forward to the Mini 10 and interested to see how it ranks on the Portal’s popularity charts.

Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Portal page

Dell Inspiron Mini 10 gallery

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!

[GottaBeMobile]

Asus was the first to offer a quality notebook down in the sub-$300 range and it looks like Dell is following their example. Apparently a leaked advertisement shows that Dell will be offering the Inspiron Mini 9 [Portal page] netbook for just $299 on Black Friday. The most likely thing that you will find is the lowest end model which is configured with an 8GB SSD, 512MB of RAM, and Ubuntu as the OS (check the Portal page for additional specs). Buying a model that is configured with those specs today would run to $349. Happy shopping!

[Liliputing]

Jkk has uncovered some additional information regarding the type of SSDs used in the Mini 9, and the 3G situation.

When it comes to SSDs, it seems as though the performance will depend on the capacity. Jkk (who certainly knows something about these SSDs) notes that the 16GB Mini 9 will use STEC’s (fast) SSD module, while the 4/8GB models will use a (slower) Intel SSD. The STEC SSD apparently has a read/write of 85/25, while the Intel module sits at 38/10, which is the same SSD used in the Acer Aspire One.

As for 3G, we know that there is a SIM card slot behind the battery, and room for the WWAN unit, however it looks like some of the models are lacking the WWAN module (and the PCI-E connector) until they announce carrier locked 3G units. Jkk’s recommendation: wait before ordering! Head over to jkk’s blog for more info and some good pictures.

As most of you know by now, Dell launched the Inspiron Mini 9 netbook yesterday. Jkk has come across the service manual for the unit on Dell’s site.  The manual shows some good internal pictures and there is a lot of talking in the blogosphere right now about how easy it could be to upgrade the unit’s hardware (never a bad thing).

Vicente, a ultra mobile PC Portal reader, wants to know whether the SSD in the Mini 9 has 100% high speed flash storage, or if they will pull and Eee and have a small part of the storage be high speed, but the majority of it much slower. I asked netbook guru jkk if he had any insight, and he says it isn’t clear yet. Apparently some of the review units that made their way to some of the larger tech sites don’t all have the same SSD. No one is sure exactly which will ship with the unit so it seems as though we’ll have to wait and see.