Dell's "mini-Inspiron" Eee PC killer revealed
By Thomas Ricker 
posted May 29th 2008 12:55AM
posted May 29th 2008 12:55AM
Thinking of a new Eee PC or maybe Wind laptop? Hold up, Dell's about to loose this baby on the sub-$500 mini-laptop world. All we've got are these pictures for now but the specs can't be far behind. Even the name "mini-Inspiron" comes from the file name of the Dell-supplied pics. However, if what we've already heard holds up, then we're looking at 8.9-inches dolled up in a sub-$500 price tag with a choice of both Windows XP Home or Ubuntu Linux, 8-in-1 card reader, integrated webcam, direct media playback buttons, and a "host of wireless access options." Expect more next week as the Computex show kicks off.
[Via Gizmodo]
[Via Gizmodo]
I'm still waiting for someone to explain where the market is for these devices. They seem about as useful as UMPCs; that is to say, not very useful at all...
Take a closer look at that keyboard. It doesn't have the same row staggering that other keyboards have. In fact, it's almost a grid layout! :D
I think it's worth buying for that alone!
I hope its cheap, i would love to see $450.00
I hope you mean for the xp version. Anything over $399 is no deal. Main reason I didn't bother getting an asus 900 just not worth it at that price.
I'll wait for the 2nd generation of these sub-notebooks.
So from the look of this, there are no Function keys, what appears to be no quotation key, a tiny shift key on the right side, and an overall cramped keyboard...... Sacrifices you say for the sake of a small laptop? What about the HP mininote that has all of this functionality but remains small?
function keys appear to be in the number and QWERT keys, you hold down another key then press the number/QWERT keys to access them.
http://gizmodo.com/photogallery/dellmininsp/1001694713
although I'm not sure which pic to believe...in the one from gizmodo, there's an extra alt key to the right of the spacebar, in the engadget one there isn't.
via Gizmodo!?!?!?! since when did the two start sharing? Wow this is the big news here
I'll continue to salivate over the HP 2133 (if I can ever get my hands on one, I'll probably buy it ... hate to order things "unseen").
Dell hates its customers, so they lost me a long time ago. Now the NY State Attorney General agrees with me:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080528-judge-to-dell-dude-youre-defrauding-your-customers.html
Well ... that article couldn't be more vague .. i only use Dell products and have never had anything short of GREAT service.
Same here. Have dozens of Dimension desktops, PowerEdge servers, Vostro desktops, Latitude notebooks. I can't think of one complaint since I started buying Dell machines when the Pentium 90 came out.
Really COOL!!!
I hope it will run Vista Basic ... i don't want to go backwards with XP or some lame Linux o/s
What, do you think we linux users never used XP? Pssh.
XP has got some hefty bruises on its butt courtesy of Ubuntu, and you can interpret that any way you like.
....Never mind, that makes for a bad analogy with AIDS and all.
Kicking then. Lots of butt kicking.
Oh wait wow holy crap. You actually ...Vista? HAHAHA-- on an ultrapo*cough* HAHA!!
That's a new one, are you insane?
Yuck. And why is "Integrated Webcam" being touted as a feature. You didnt list integrated power button, it must not have a power button! Wait, does it even have a case?
Seriously, Webcams are a dime a dozen, and the .3 megapixel on that craptop is no better than any others that come on every laptop, cell phone, and anything else you can think of.
Beats the ones you have to clip on.
I'd buy one.
It's soooo pretty...
why don't they do like a disc drive? that would blow all the other out of the water. maybe slot load.mmm. or maybe a built in abttery that u charge once it runs out and u don't need to take it out till it dies complete like 500 charges later. of course it will be eaasily removable.
typical.
Dell had to go out and "farm" the competition for innovation (since they laid off or fired all the innovators they once had and sent their jobs to the much-less-innovative Chinaman who costs only half as much...you don't want to have too many employees who think too much or get out of the box very often. that stifles mediocrity -- errrr...I mean "Diversity").
This "eee killer" is a joke. dell needs to wake up on the price and features (instead of blatant copying) if they want to have a shot in hell of unseating the original (http://eeepc.asus.com/global/ ).
The fact that Dell copies their design should be taken as a compliment - I guess.
For those that feel "wiping" the dell PC is the answer, you miss the point.
Like most technophiles, I would be loathe to trust an entity like dell with my the install of systems. However *most* middle American buyers do not have the luxury (of the knowledge or the software) to format/reinstall their machines without pain (or spending $$$ to accomplish).
What seems to be missed by many in Round Rock, TX is the following:
1) NEWBIES and LOW END USERS think Dell's service and support sux balls.
You cannot have a bunch of people with poor English skills, limited personal skills and so-so tech abilities imparting support effectively to middle america. sorry.
Maybe in a few years -- not yet. I hear folks from ALL OVER the US bitch about Dell support. It's amazing--I've never heard such consensus. Not like anyone in mgmt at Dell gives a shit. Perhaps that might explain the less-than-impressive US revenue numbers that were swept under the carpet (in favor of great int'l perf) in this last qtr.
2) POWER USERS & TECH DIETIES are put off by Dell's insistance that a premium must be paid (i.e. Vostra) for systems delivered without a litany of begware, and "trial" crap software. All that junk largely makes the out of box experience suck for MANY users -- their new machine barely faster than the one it's to replace - due largely to preinstalled junk they have no interest in and will never use. Again, dell mgmt couldn't give a sh*t and in fact likely supports contamination of new equipment with this crap as that it lines the corp's pockets with the proceeds these assclown software makers pay them for the opportunity to infest.
They might have some luck pawning these new machines off to low-end customers - but I suspect this product is bound to be another dell TV/ tablet PC product. Lots O' hype - not much thought, originality or consideration of the market they THINK they are trying to reach.
Maybe Wal-Mart can buy Dell and further ingrain the low-end, made-in- china, no-quality/just-quantity mindset that now seems to pervade dell.
Hard to type on eh? Well it looks like all that time I spent cheating in typing class so as to not have to learn to type is finally paying off. Behold the rise of the hunt and peck!
is the pencil included?
It must be meant to be used for typing, I guess...
Dude, your getting a Dell! (sucks to be you. Dell can't do anything right, and is a load of crap. Dell is gonna eventually get kicked to the curb. NOBODY should waste there money on a dell. It will mess up, it will break, and you will be forced to buys something that works