Dell Inspiron Mini 12 reviewed: bigger, not necessarily better

After toying with our heartstrings for like, ever, Dell finally gathered up the courage to formally introduce its 12-inch netbook late last month. After arriving at the testing facilities of Laptop Mag, critics quickly found a lot to love about the relatively expansive display, "excellent" battery life and spacious keyboard. In all fairness, there really wasn't anything to complain about on the surface; the first kvetching we heard was soon after bootup -- er, a fair while after bootup, we should say. The biggest knock on Dell's Mini 12 was its sluggish performance under Vista, not to mention the lethargic hard drive shoved in there. In sum, critics frankly pointed out that the "Mini 12 doesn't have the right hardware to handle this OS," and recommended holding off for one with WinXP / Ubuntu if you were dead set on the design.

[bill cant fart @ Nov 8th 2008 3:21PM]

Uhh... That's what she said?

[The Dude @ Nov 8th 2008 3:26PM]

Perhaps.

But this Bill's inability to flatulate intrigues me more.

[KAIKAI @ Nov 8th 2008 4:15PM]

i fart in your general direction

[High Ranks make you sterile @ Nov 8th 2008 5:37PM]

Impossible....

She only talks when she gets mai permission

.....what?

[dennis @ Nov 10th 2008 5:56PM]

i saw the video on the time it takes to boot up this netbook with vista. what was dell thinking? it's like it's lauching this product to sabotage themselves from good press. by the time, this product launches, it will have gotten all the negative feedback to stir any buyer.

[Virtuous @ Nov 8th 2008 3:48PM]

Vista is a resource pig. It has no place on netbooks of any kind.

[Chris Riccio @ Nov 8th 2008 3:53PM]

Do you own a netbook with Vista? I do, and it runs great. An Acer Aspire One with 1GB of RAM runs Vista Ultimate x86 perfectly fine. And I have a quadcore 3.0GHz desktop w/4GB of RAM to compare it to. I actually find is faster then when It had XP on it which is probably due to Superfetch. Not to mention battery life is leaps and bounds better in Vista then XP. Vista's power management is far more advanced.

In other words, I speak from experience, do you?

[OziD @ Nov 8th 2008 4:07PM]

Chris: What video card do you have? The only reason I ask is because Vista doesn't run well on dedicated video with less than 2gb of ram. If your video card is sharing 256mb of ram or even 128, you're left with a dismal amount of system memory for Vista to function. I have a notebook with a GMA950. It ran Vista great on 2gb of ram, but was unbearable when I dowgraded it to 1gb and used its ram in another notebook.

[Dubb @ Nov 8th 2008 4:41PM]

I'm in agreement with Chris, I have seen and heard of many Aspire One's running Vista. The key and this is hard to grasp for the average end user is the removal of unnecessary bloatware provided by many manufacturer's Vista OEM installs. The way to remove this bloatware is either to uninstall the bloat which leaves behind unnecessary Reg entries and system folders. I would recommend the user download a copy of Vista from P2P (gasp) that is a straight OEM copy of Vista with no added programs upon installation. Simply use the key provided by your manufacturer to install the Vista copy. Always, always, scan anything you receive from P2P for viruses with an appropriate scanner (I recommend Clamwin Portable installed on a USB stick).

With that in mind another key is installing the appropriate drivers. Intel provides these drivers on their website, which you are perfectly capable of getting to even with the manufacturer installed drivers. Once those drivers are installed, I have seen reports of very good performance even with Aero turned on and Flip 3D in use, this was also Vista SP1.

To anyone ordering the Aspire One with intentions of installing Vista, I would recommend purchasing an OEM Premium copy that can be found on Newegg for $99.

Something to be on the lookout for is the new Samsung NC10, according to specs it runs the latest version of the Atom architecture, which allows for the use of DDR2 800, which is faster than the current memory used in the Aspire One.

It's sad that Vista gets such a bad rap, when it's the ignorant consumers who should be getting the bad rap and the company's who were unprepared for the launch of Vista, mainly in terms of support for x64 drivers.

[Patriks7 @ Nov 8th 2008 3:51PM]

12 inch netbook? I'm betting this thing will be fairly expensive.. Why not just add a couple $$ and get a normal 13" notebook? From the specs I saw, this thing is running a 1.6 Atom.. most 13" notebooks I've seen are running a normal Core 2 Duo and are usually fairly cheap..
And don't come to me with the "size" bullshit, as I know that the couple centimeters you will be adding to the size of this will not make a difference..

[Bleck @ Nov 8th 2008 3:51PM]

At 700$ I would get a refurbished Dell XT that is better in everyway... really no excuse not to get a Dell XT vs a Dell Inspiron Mini 12.

[Keff @ Nov 8th 2008 5:08PM]

Exactly - I just bought 5 months old Dell D630 with 2.5yrs of NBD warranty, in a perfect state for this price. It is a little bit heavier, but it is a beast with Core 2 duo, dedicated GPU, and 3h with wifi on standard battery. Much better deal.

[Joe H @ Nov 8th 2008 5:28PM]

Exactly what I did, $700 for an XT with the DLV screen, 1.3GHz Core2Duo, 120GB hard drive, Bluetooth, 45W power supply, and a/b/g Wifi.

Admittedly, I had a 20% off coupon, but still. This is lightyears ahead of the Mini 12.

[Skazer @ Nov 8th 2008 3:55PM]

"Still, application open times were decent, with most programs (including IE and Windows Media Player) starting within 10 seconds, though some took 15 seconds."

Nice.

[Cubfan786 @ Nov 8th 2008 4:08PM]

Just an off topic question. im thinking of getting either a pmp or a netbook what do engadget readers recommend.
I would basically use it to watch videos listen to stuff, and read a pdf file or 2 on the bus. what do you think is a better bang for the buck.
i also am interested in battery life
Any models or info are appreciated (preferably something with wifi and a browser)
thanx

[Damien Guihen @ Nov 8th 2008 4:20PM]

Have a look at the iPod touch if you are just casually reading PDFs. The screen is small but it is good for light browsing. The battery life is very reasonable and the instant on/off can't be beaten. A netbook would fulfill these tasks but might not be as suitable for use on a bus. Another factor is that the iPod can be carried in a pocket while the netbooks generally need some sort of case when the screen is anything over 7".

[Billy @ Nov 8th 2008 4:21PM]

Personally, I'd get a netbook. I have a first gen eee 701 and I still love it (using it to post this). At this point you'll get a way better deal than I did for the same amount of $. I have a couple of 16gb SDHC cards to store games music and video. Someone stole my Ipod right before I bough this and I haven't missed it. I use it on the bus and at work and a bunch of other places, and it's just so much more useful than the ipod ever was. Only drawback is I can't stuff it in my pocket and jog with it but I have an old creative mp3 player for that which was like $10. Go with the netbook, you'll be way more entertained.

[Cubfan786 @ Nov 8th 2008 4:26PM]

my problem was with battery life.
But im leaning towards a netbook prolly when the new eees come out.

[BryanSD @ Nov 8th 2008 4:17PM]

With the hardware given...strikes me curious as to why Dell would choose Vista on this laptop in the first place? Perhaps, Dell was trying to please Microsoft before pleasing customers? Ubuntu and even Windows XP should show a much better boot time. Then again, this netbook was introduced first in the Asian market...where I believe Linux isn't as popular as Windows.

[Skazer @ Nov 8th 2008 4:25PM]

Good question. I'm getting sick of huge American manufacturers ruining their netbooks by sticking Vista on otherwise great netbooks with freaking Intel Atoms and 4,200 RPM hard drives. Are they trying to increase their profit per unit while alienating the informed minority, or is Microsoft persuading them to do this for some unknown reason?

[Fanfoot @ Nov 8th 2008 7:03PM]

As I understand it, 15th hand, the XP drivers for the Poulsbo chipset and stuff haven't been released yet, or aren't very good.

[Kai @ Nov 8th 2008 9:44PM]

If I'm not mistaken it's because Microsoft only allows OEMs to bundle Windows XP with netbooks and not with other laptops. There's some restriction to screen size (10" or something) so since the Dell Inspiron Mini 12 exceeds this screen size Microsoft wouldn't let them put XP on the thing.

[Ian @ Nov 8th 2008 4:25PM]

I put a 5400rpm 250gig Seagate Momentus and an extra 1gb (2gb total) stick of ram into my MSI Wind U100 and it runs Vista swimmingly. I have absolutely zero complaints. My main PC is a Phenom X5 9950 @ 3.4ghz with 8gb of DDR2 1066 so I know what a fast machine feels like too as a comparison.

[OCEAN 'CLAK' 20th @ Nov 8th 2008 4:41PM]

dell needs to preinstall OSX Leopard for this machine to perform better

[OCEAN 'CLAK' 20th @ Nov 8th 2008 4:59PM]

i recommend dell preinstall OSX Leopard for this machine to perform better, and make it silver with one usb port and an apple logo with premium price, then this would fly off shelfs into the AiR and into steve jobs keynote speech

[ethana2 @ Nov 8th 2008 5:41PM]

Call me when Apple gets their heads out of their butts enough to let companies like Dell even _do_ that.
Also, http://i36.tinypic.com/fxqb9w.jpg
That second part there is for you.
Furthermore, stock OSX would perform horribly on a netbook. Not only is its hardware support utter garbage, it's so much code it needs a fricking DVD just to install. And why OSX? Aperture? AfterEffects? Illustrator? On a netbook? Good heavens no.

[ethana2 @ Nov 8th 2008 5:43PM]

A certain webmaster is |----| this close to getting the ol' Kaczynski treatment.

Your code is crap, it's pissing everyone off, ditch it.

[liv @ Nov 8th 2008 6:09PM]

you know what's interesting? I just realized that you aren't as stupid as you had us thinking... I sense sarcasm in this post... thus an interesting phenomenon happened in you subconscious Apple-infected mind: you just stopped being a troll for a second! there might still be HOPE for you yet!

[liv @ Nov 8th 2008 6:10PM]

that was meant to be a reply to clak

[simon @ Nov 8th 2008 7:31PM]

The keyboard could be bigger. Look at the wasted space on on both side of the keyboard. The shrunken , . / keys are bad design.

Glossy screen sucks.

6-cell battery is ugly as hell, it is like nuts of a laptop. If you have truck nuts on you truck, this Mini 12 with 6-cell battery is a perfect match for your truck.

[zervin @ Nov 8th 2008 7:47PM]

I've been itching for a netbook, but havent been able to rationalize the purchase yet. I have a Dell M1330, which is a pretty sexy notebook by itself. Barely weighs 4lbs, 1.3mp webcam, slot loaded dvd burner, wirelessN, 160gb 7200rpm sata, and ive tossed in a ATT 3G internal broadband card...With the 13.3 widescreen, its not alot bigger than the 12in dell min, but packs a much bigger punch...4h+ on the battery to boot.


Wake me up when something other than the mini9 has a free mini pcie slot for my broadband, a dual core atom, and can give me 4-5hrs without a humpback battery addon. Not frying my hands on the palmrest would be nice also...Sincerely, Happy M1330 owner.

[bidur @ Nov 8th 2008 8:31PM]

good work. actually i like it. next is 14'' and 15 '' dell MINI with intel atom processer.


good work dell.. and by the way i heard dell has recalled its battery from most of its unit ? good job !

[Abuzar Baloach @ Nov 8th 2008 8:32PM]

You sound ALMOST sarcastic. Like you are making fun of Apple. Almost, but not quite there.

[silverblackvoid @ Nov 9th 2008 4:25AM]

i just want a portable tablet netbook. is that too much too ask?

[PEXZ @ Nov 9th 2008 6:40PM]

So the issue us Vista, then? I wonder how it would run with a beta of Win7. In any event, SOMEONE out there please intall XP.. I guess it would [hopefully] run as good as the m9.

I am personally waiting for the atom duallys :) Throw a GPS in there too, ok?

[Adrienne @ Nov 15th 2008 11:30AM]

I'm looking to buy a Mini 12, because I've been happy with my Dell experience so far but am looking for something lighter, smaller, and more travel friendly.

I use my laptop for:
Microsoft Word and Powerpoint (sometimes)
Internet (email and facebook)
Video chatting (I currently use skype)
Solitaire
Storing photoes (no real photo editing or anything like that)

Would I be fine with Vista or is it best to wait for XP?

[Pete Zaitcev @ Nov 22nd 2008 11:46AM]

It would be great if the editorial staff explained in an article what the difference is between Mini 12 and E4200. The price for sensibly equipped ones is $700 and $2700 respectively. Size and power are the same, so what is 4 times better the E4200? I already noticed that the 4200 comes with 3 year warranty. Still... it's a bit much, because I can buy more than 3 minis for the price of the E, then replace them each year and still come out ahead.