We got a nice helping of slides dropped on our virtual doorstep this evening, fleshing out
Dell's upcoming netbook -- which they seem to be calling the "Dell E." Um,
Eeenteresting name choice, but that doesn't seem set in stone, and there's plenty else going on here to ponder over. Dell's breaking the Dell E into two device types, a 8.9-inch model clearly meant to take on the Eee 900, and the 12.1-inch "E Slim" which actually looks positioned to take on the MacBook Air and X300, at a mere 0.8-inches thick, though perhaps in a lower-end capacity. Even the 8.9-inch model will have some distinctions, with E Classic model for super low-end use, and E Video and E Video+ for more RAM, larger flash storage, webcams and Bluetooth in the + model. Rollout looks to be slated for August for the E, August / September-ish for the E Slim, and a followup for both of those in October of WWAN, with WiMAX after that. Dell even has a second version of both devices slated for Q2 2009, but that's all we know about those so far. Perhaps most interesting is that all of these run Linux and Windows XP, and while it's not clear if there's a full-featured Linux OS onboard, there does seem to be an instant-on,
Foleo-esque Linux included on all of them called BlackTop. We're not sure if there's any relation to
Splashtop, but the janky-ass interface and email / calendar / contacts apps seem to be telling us no. BlackTop will support WWAN and WiFi, and Dell plans to move the 2.0 version to the Latitude and Vostro lines in a year or two. Peep the slides below for all the gory details. Oh, and the price? Dell E starts at $299.
posted June 12th 2008 9:44PM
My primary machine is a Mac, but I also run Ubuntu, and I have been very curious about these small, low-cost notebooks for browsing the web on the go or jotting down notes.
I'm not particularly enthused about Dell products. However, it would be interesting to see how these stack up to the other mini notebooks.
What's the screenshot where it has the Google homepage pulled up supposed to show?
Is that a version of Linux that may be on it and thats the browser?
I'm guessing that was a demonstration of the BlackTop instant-on feature.
Diamondville for the E and Silverthorne for the E Slim? Am I missing something? Shouldn't it be the other way around? The only way I see it being like that is if Silverthorne is too expensive for the E.
Both are different versions of the Atom processor. The Diamondville was designed first for low cost and then low power. The Silverthorne was designed first for low power and then low cost. The Silverthorne chip is also smaller than the Diamondville chip.
The performance of today is overkill for most people and I would say this is the proof/indication. Instead of sticking to the original idea of the Eee (small, light and inexpensive) these "low-cost" laptops have started to grow in size and price to be able to fit more normal needs than the 30 min surf session. I mean, what use could you possible have for a 12" computer@3-3.5lbs when the main idea is to use it for quick notes and internet use? At 12" we're comparing it to fullsize laptops running a dual core cpu at 2Ghz or more.
The Atom cpu is more than capable to handle most normal needs (office duties, surfing, most movies, listening to music etc) and a 16GB SSD will fit quite a lot of documents, programs, music.
If a C2D is overkill for most people - why then use it? Even the optical drive is starting to lose its appeal since more and more things can be found on the internet and our pipes are gettin wider.
Maybe this is our honourable way of from the Megahertz race? It's easier to jump to a new lane than to slow down..
this isn't yet on dell UK's site is it? or the US one i don't care which.
...So does this deli sandwich come with chips?
(did you get it did you get it did you get it)
I would like some picture of the keyboard. Last time I checked, they had moved around the keys on the far right-hand side (between P and L and ENTER). On a Swedish keyboard (since I'm from Sweden), those keys are used for alphabetical letters, and it would be cumbersome to type on it should it turn out those keys have been misplaced or, in worst case, removed. And I'm not that happy about messing with the right SHIFT key, either.
Apart from that, this system looks mighty interesting. Hm. Hm. Wind, [Acer] Aspire One, [Gigabyte] M912 or this... Ah, the choices...
I really want something small to run Vista Basic on ... it looks like i may have to go with a normal 12" notebook.
Wait and see, the price seems very low to me
Meanwhile, over at ASUS:
"You mean we could've used just one E?"
"Eee...."
"You're fired!"
How about a hybrid between this Dell E, and the Dell Latitude XT tablet? That would be great. Maybe next year.
It's getting better and better -- two versions the smaller with SSD, the larger with HDD, and starting at $299! I wonder what the increments in price will be? Reasonable to me would be $299 for the E, $349 for the E Video, $399 for the E Video+, $499 for the E Slim and $599 for the E Slim+. I'm thinking the E Video+ for me in green or red, IF the price is right.
so will the cheapest version have a 2.5 sata slot you think? i have a 160gb hdd im not even using that i want to throw in there.
This sounds exactly like what I need.
"New Dell E" aka "The capital of India"
i want the green one
@ Tim00101
that was funny cause you brought up a good point- now Dell is telling us the cities where we are getting out tech support from
I am going with MSI Wind.
8.9" screen means ugly wide bezel or tiny keyboard. Either one is unacceptable for me.
No, don't get MSI wind. They lie about $499. They are selling at same price as eeePC 1000H in Taiwan. They both are around US$630. However, eeePC 1000H comes with 3 cells battery while eeePC 1000H comes with 6 cells battery.
http://www.tkec.com.tw/pt.aspx?cid=515&hid=541&pid=089956-0420
http://www.tkec.com.tw/pt.aspx?cid=515&hid=536&pid=090067-0420
Why are the photographs in the gallery dated December 6th 2008?
I used Leopard until 10.5.2 and although I enjoyed the OS it wasn't very stable on my 1.25Ghz Powerbook. I ended up selling the Powerbook because Dell running Vista was a newer machine and I enjoy using Vista. I'm also running Ubuntu 8.04 and it works great as well. All 3 of these latest OS's are great, I really don't care about politics they all work. My only bone to pick with Apple is that they are somewhat limited in their offerings. I loved my 12 inch Powerbook problem was it really is tough upgrading the hard drives on them, so I sold it. None of the new Mac notebooks interest me at all but that could change.
Dells have always worked great for me can't wait to see these new ultra-portables.
LoL most of you are surprised with the "low priced" Dell E at $299...but of course this is Dell we are talking about here and that means the "starting" price $299 is the lowest of the lowest specs, you probably gonna get a bare bone with everything else "optional". This happened to me when I was gonna buy a Dell X51v (PDA), it was around £250 but everything that I really needed pushed it up to £400 ($800). I guess the only thing I could say is let's not keep our hopes up high.
On the other hand if the $299 (£150) priced comes with a decent spec, then no questions about it, this is no longer the Asus rival as the EEE died a while ago. Somehow other manufacturers don't seem to notice this.
Another website is claiming the E Video will come in blue, yellow and pink and the Video + will only come in black. He's claiming Engadget as the source and links to this page. I don't see anything that narrows down the colors by model. Am I missing something?
I would guess he's using the Configuration Options picture(12 or 13) from the gallery, that has the colored dots above the models, thus blue, yellow and pink for the Video and only a black dot for the Video+. These are probably early docs from DELL, not necessarily set in stone yet.
Interesting name Blacktop....
Blackberry + Laptop = Blacktop
Doesnt have a thing to do with the OS.. Just what Dell is shooting for with this machine..
These look OK, but I'm a bit disappointed in the HDD size, the small HDD put me off the EEE and if Dell are going with a similar HDD size on their new E I'll probably be going for a WIND.
I'd love a small laptop that I could take on my holidays without it taking up all of my hand luggage. I ideally I'd be able to transfer my photos to it while I'm away, but to do that I'd need a decent HDD.
If they can squeeze 160Gb into an iPod Classic they should be able to squeeze 80Gb into the Dell E.
Uncle Steve and Uncle Bill @ M$ are putting a limit of 60 GB HD and 1 MB of memory for the UMPC with Win XP. This is a concession to keep the unwashed from switching to Linux.
id rather get a macbook air with my education discount for $1600...i personally dont like the compromises in processing, storage, and RAM...
the color options are nice though...i wish apple did the logo coloring directly from the apple store like you see here www.icolours.ca so that your warranty isnt voided :P
and i dont see why XP is getting so much crap...id take xp over vista any day...i have xp running on a virtual machine on my macbook...the only thing i like about vista is the visual style...and that can be changed with styler freeware on xp...
How do you get a MBA for $1600 with the educational discount??
The price looks like $1699 for the base model for most educational discounts.
they look nice but...
I have and never will again get a Dell laptop.
Even if it looks nice..
(the white logo on the red one looks quite ugly IMO)
kidcanuck @ Jun 13th 2008 1:26AM
So what would the consensus be? Dell or MSI? I am not really that knowledgeable, as far as comparing two different computing brands goes, so for all the laymen reading this (me), what does everyone think?
********************************************************************
Hi I'm with the kid here, I'm a secretary, a mom, not a techie. just need a starter for my kid and possibly somethng to check in with my job when I'm on vaykay (check e-mail, produce documents, set up meetings). I've looked into the Dell E, Acer Apsire One, Asus EEE, MSI Wind. Figured I'd read some folks who know what they're talking about. Help me geeks, you're my only hope.
Interesting specs, but bad design, just like the acer. I guess i may go for the wind once batterylife and ssd capacity improves. Until then, im perfectly happy with the original 7" eee.
This appears to be competition for the EeePC, but not for the MSI Wind, why?
8.9" screen (too small), tiny Flash disk (too small and poor value, especially when HDs can power down), only 0.3M camera (pathetic), 512KB memory at low end (1GB is so cheap), Linux (still not good enough software and hardware support e.g. Directory Opus wipes out Windows Explorer, and the Gnome and KDE file browsers, but runs poorly under Wine), and WiMAX seems stupid (more dangerous than mobile and WiFi radiation, when lower power WiFi and a 3G USB dongle seem better suited to mobile use).
MSI Wind vs the Dell E that no one has seen yet?
I don't know why everyone is knocking a laptop that no one other then a few factory insiders have even seen yet. Let it be released then you can be so very judgmental. Personally I have had good experiences with Dell's, number one being they are CHEAP! Plus they run forever, I have a Dell Inspiron Laptop that just will not die, pentium 3 and I have only reformatted the original hard drive once in about 8 years now! I think the Dell E will rule because of price, I saw the MSI Wind today here in Malaysia, cute but too much bezel for me and its keyboard is a bit cramped the Dell E's look closer to the HP mini-notes as you can actually type on them. Don't know why people love the Winds so much, they are expensive I saw them selling here in Malaysia at about 200 bucks more expensive then the Asus. Good luck people.
It is said that the Dell E will be unveiled at a press conference on Tuesday:
http://netbookusers.com
@El Taco
i believe people hate dell so much because of the idea of a "System Builder" true system builders see companies like dell and hp and go..."why would i buy this computer for $500 more than i can build it myself for"
these are people that don't care about things like warranties and customer support.
because they ARE warranties and customer support.
if you could build your own netbook, i'd have done it already.
Just one question - will this come with a 3 pound, proprietary (can't use a lighter universal) power supply with a chip in it that blows up after the warranty runs out so that you can no longer charge the battery without paying $60 for a replacement charger, just like the other laptops? After all, Dell has to make sure that no one can use a power adapter that might be "insufficient) to power the laptop.
Seriously - before you buy this, take a look at the size of the power supply. Dell x300 weighs about 2 lbs, but the power supply weighs at a pound.