Dell ran a contest to give away three Inspiron Mini 10v netbooks via Twitter this week. Sorry, it’s too late to enter. The contest has ended. But as part of the promotion, Dell put together a rather amusing video that I thought was still worth sharing.
See, the premise of the contest was “adopt a mini” and Dell set up a web site at adoptamini.com complete with a video exploring the plight of homeless mini-laptops in search of a good family. The video’s embedded after the break.
The Dell Inspiron Mini 10v is the first 10 inch laptop from Dell to feature an Intel Atom N270 processor. You might think that makes this laptop just like virtually every other 10 inch netbook on the market, but there are a few key features that make the Mini 10v stand apart including a good keyboard, an odd touchpad, and decent battery life.
The unit reviewed has a 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive and 6 cell battery. The model I received ships with Windows XP, but the Inspiron Mini 10v is also available with Ubuntu or Moblin Linux. The laptop is available for purchase from Dell for $299 and up.
Dell offers the Inspiron Mini 10v netbook with a choice of Windows XP or Linux. Starting tomorrow morning you’ll also be able to pick up a special developer edition running pre-release Moblin Linux software. To be exact, it will be running something called Ubuntu Moblin Remix Developer Edition, and as you may have guessed that means it will be a custom version of Ubuntu Linux developed by Canonical with elements of Moblin incorporated.
The Moblin version of the Mini 10v is being targeted specifically at developers and early adopters and isn’t really meant for the general public. It clearly hasn’t been as extensively tested as the Windows and Ubuntu Linux versions of the netbook. But starting Thursday, September 24th the system will be available for purchase from Dell’s web site.
The operating system will have the Moblin Linux user interface as well as a couple of extra programs including OpenOffice.org. The goal is to give developers a platform for testing out applications designed for Moblin, but it sounds like this will not only be the first netbook to ship with Moblin, but it will also have a desktop environment that’s pretty usable for anyone who wants to make this their primary netbook — provided they’re willing to put up with any bugs that haven’t been caught yet.
You can also download the Ubuntu Moblin Remix Developer Edition disc image from Dell’s Moblin wiki page starting today if you’d rather install it on an existing Dell Mini 10v. Right now the disc image is designed to wipe your hard drive, so it’ll probably take some tweaking if you want to set up a dual boot system. I wouldn’t be shocked if that disc image also worked with other, non-Dell netbooks. After all, the hardware on most Intel Atom powered netbooks is remarkably similar. But neither Dell nor I are making any promises.
Update: Engadget reports that the Dell Inspiron Mini 10v with Moblin Linux will have a starting price of $299.
It looks like Dell has pulled the Inspiron Mini 10 with an Intel Atom Z520 processor from its European web store. When you hit the Mini 10 link from the company’s laptop page, all you see are Dell Inspiron 10v models, which pack 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processors.
Dell’s US and Canadian pages for the Mini 10 still show both the Mini 10V and Mini 10 options. So it’s not clear whether Dell is phasing out its first generation Mini 10 or just tweaking its European inventory. While the Mini 10 has a slower processor than the Mini 10V, Dell does offer a number of configuration options for the Mini 10 that aren’t available on the newer model, including an optional built-in TV tuner, GPS receiver, and high resolution 1366 x 768 pixel display.
via MyDellMini Forum
I’m about to pack up the Samsung Go netbook which I recently reviewed. But before it goes, I couldn’t help but take the opportunity to photograph all 7 mini-laptops I’ve had sitting on my desk for the last few days. If you’ve been reading the site, you’ve already seen most of these little guys. But you probably haven’t ever seen them all in one place before.
In the photo above, you can see the following computers, clockwise from the top left: Lenovo IdeaPad S12, Acer Aspire 1410, Asus Eee PC 1101HA, Dell Inspiron Mini 10v, Asus Eee PC 1000H, Samsung Go, Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2.
After the break you can see a slideshow showing some of these netbooks together. By request, a few of the photos show the 11.6 inch models (the Aspire 1410 and Eee PC 1101HA) next to a couple of the smaller 10 inch netbooks so you can get an idea of the size difference. In my opinion, it’s not that big, and if you’re going to give me a 1366 x 768 pixel display I’d rather have it on an 11.6 inch screen than a 10.1 inch display. But since all of the 10 inch netbooks featured here have 1024 x 600 pixel or lower resolution screens, the point is kind of moot.
I haven’t shown every combination of each netbook next to the other, because that would have taken all day. But these photos should give you an overview of how these 7 models stack up against one another in terms of size and design. You can view higher resolution versions of the images either by hitting the full screen button in the slideshow or by visiting the photo album in the Liliputing Forum.
OK, it’s official. I’m running out of room in my office for all these netbooks. Today a friendly FedEx guy dropped off a Dell Inspiron Mini 10v which means I’ve got 6 netbooks taking up space on my desk. I’m going to try to work through a backlog of reviews, but in the meantime, I thought you might enjoy my latest unboxing video.
I’ve only had the Mini 10v for a few minutes, but there are a few things I really like about it and one thing that kind of turns me off, but which may grow on me.
On the plus side, the build quality is great and the Mini 10v looks very attractive. The keyboard is nice and big and the keys are mostly flat, with a little concave action. Overall the keyboard is reminiscent of the one on the HP Mini 1000 keyboard. I also really like that the power adapter comes in one piece instead of a separate power brick and cable. The last netbook I’d used that had a one piece adapter was the Asus Eee PC 701, which took forever and a day to fully charge. I don’t love that the Mini 10v’s adapter is a 3 prong adapter, which means it won’t fit into every power jack, but that’s not exactly uncommon for laptop power adapters.
The thing that’s kind of annoying me right now is the touchpad. It’s nice and wide and has a nice texture to it. But in order to save space, the left and right buttons were built into the touchpad. In order to click, you actually press down on the bottom left and right corners of the touchpad. The problem is that if you’re used to letting a finger hover over the left or right mouse button while you scroll through the touchpad with your other finger, you may inadvertently make the mouse jump from place to place when you were really just gearing up to click.
You can check out the unboxing video after the break. A few other netbooks make cameo appearances, including the Lenovo Ideapad S10-2, Samsung Go, and Asus Eee PC 1000H.
Asus isn’t the only company bringing a netbook aimed at kids to market. Dell has announced it’s launching a Nickelodeon-themed netbook that can be personalized with characters from TV shows including SpongeBob Squarepants and iCarly. A “green slime” edition is also available. The machines run Windows XP, but have a custom Nickelodeon theme built by Stardock, which features links to Nickelodeon online games and video content.
The netbook is basically a more colorful version of the Inspiron Mini 10v, which features a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 10.1 inch, 1024 x 576 pixel display, 1GB of RAM, and 160GB hard drive.
While these netbooks feature kid-friendly designs and software, they aren’t necessarily as education-oriented as some other netbooks in the space like the OLPC XO Laptop or Intel’s Classmate PC. Both of those netbooks are designed for use in classrooms and feature educational software. But the Nickelodeon-themed Inspiron Mini 10v also features parental control software.
Dell plans to roll out future co-branded products in the future. That included college or sports team-themed computers.
via Notebooks.com
While the Dell Inspiron Mini 10v may not be as easy to install OS X on as the Inspiron Mini 9, the newer model ges pretty decent scores in Boing Boing Gadgets’ OS X compatibility chart. So if you’re looking for a $350 mini-laptop to turn into a Macbook Mini, this netbook will do about as good as any. Of course, you can’t really just walk into a store and pick up an Inspiron Mini 10v with OS X preloaded. You’ll have to install it yourself.
But that hasn’t stopped one Best Buy from sticking a Mini 10v with OS X installed on display in a retail store, next to a tag that clearly states the computer runs Windows XP. Whether this is the work of a rogue Best Buy employee or the result of someone returning a hacked netbook that accidentally got turned into a floor sample is unclear. But it’s pretty funny either way.
via Gizmodo
Dell is rolling out a handful of new features for its 10 inch netbook lineup. First up, the Inspiron Mini 10 is finally available with an integrated GPS tuner, something Dell has been promising since early this year. This makes the Mini 10 one of the only netbooks available with integrated GPS, a high resolution 1366 x 768 pixel display, and an optional TV tuner (although I’d steer away from getting the TV tuner for now).
For some reason the GPS tuner doesn’t show up on the configuration page. The only mention of this feature is on the main Dell Inspiron Mini page. Either Dell is including the GPS receiver with every model or the company is still working on updating the web site. If you want to be absolutely certain the netbook you order includes the GPS receiver, you might want to contact Dell customer service when placing your order.
Dell is also offering the Inspiron Mini 10v with a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 CPU. Up until now the netbook was only available with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor. The faster processor is available as a $25 upgrade.
Update: And the GPS note has been removed from Dell’s website. Looks like someone jumped the gun on this one. thanks Houston!
via Portable Monkey and… Portable Monkey
When 9 and 10 inch netbooks started hitting the market in mid-2008, 1024 x 600 pixel screens were the standard. But over the past half year or so we’ve seen a growing number of PC makers slap 10.1 inch, 1024 x 576 pixel displays onto their netbooks, as if those 24 extra vertical pixels didn’t matter. And the truth is, for most people they won’t. But if you don’t care about having videos with a 16:9 aspect ratio fitting perfectly onto your screen without any black space above or below the video window, those extra pixels are nice to have. They translate into an extra line or two of text on most web pages.
The Dell Inspiron Mini 10v is one of those netbooks that typically comes with a 10.1 inch, 1024 x 576 pixel screen. But Portable Monkey noticed that Dell Japan is listing the Mini 10v as having a 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display. So either the company is starting to use a new display, or Dell Japan has a typo on its web site.
Has anyone ordered a Mini 10v from Japan? If you can confirm the screen resolution, let us know in the comments.
