Dell launches Inspiron Mini 10
By Darren Murph 
posted Jan 9th 2009 10:52AM
posted Jan 9th 2009 10:52AM
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Touchscreen?
Multi-touch pad... I don't see anything about a touch screen. I wish I were wrong though. A touch screen on a netbook would be pretty sweet.
This thing will be so light that when you press something on the touch screen it will lift up or fall over, unless its a "netvertible" then theres not alot of practicality in a touchscreen.
Awesome!!
makes the mini 9 look even crappier. really glad i jumped on that when it first came out
I 2nd that...
I was about to buy a Mini 9 these days... guess i'll have to wait.
Re: Touchscreen? That would be super sweet and persuade me....
i think the tv tuner persuaded me, probably my next purchase
any link for details? it sounds like they are doing everything right... is it too good to be true?
I 2nd that...
Hope that's not a real picture of the screen because that is not really edge to edge!
That's what I was thinking, it seems they're adopting apple's precedent of calling their screen 'edge to edge' just because the glass like stuff that covers the actual pixely part goes to the very edge.
Damn marketing terms!
@GenBanks:
That may have been the most enlightening piece technical jargon I've heard all week...
Hmmm... I could have sworn there was an "of" in there.......... oh well.
A TV tuner on a 10" screen.... Awesome.
They need to have a 6-cell version and maybe 2gb RAM (or make it easily upgradeable) and price it at about $400, otherwise people would just go for the Mini 12.
Can't upgrade to 2GB RAM because the chipset limits it to 1GB like in the Mini12. Uses GMA500 instead of GMA950 so no hackintosh either.
That limit has been lifted to 2GB for some time now. Dell just doesn't want to spend the R&D to upgrade the Mini 12 to 2GB.
Actually the issue with going 2gb is Microsoft then wouldn't let you use XP (at 2gb they say it doesn't qualify as a netbook)
@ jon
Well there has been OSX on the mini 9 for some time now.
here is a link (gizmodo, sorry engadget)
http://gizmodo.com/5058287/dell-inspiron-mini-9-now-running-os-x-leopard
My only concern (and it's minor) is that the TV tuner will require tons of HDD space and processing power, something this is likely not to have. Even so, this looks like the netbook to have.
TV tuners don't really require a lot of processing power or HD space unless you are recording or want a rewind buffer.
Assuming you can pick up HDTV over the air, those streams are just mpeg and decoding them shouldn't be hard.
If Dell farmed out the tuner to Pinnacle then, yes, it will need a lot of proc power, 50 gigs of ram and a roof mounted antenna mounted on the roof of the TV station.
Maybe my eyes are deceiving me, but that picture does not make the screen look "edge-to-edge"
Agreed, quite a bezel on that baby.
It's from the edge of the bezel to other edge of the bezel =P
I just surfed Dell.com site, not available at their website yet for Inspiron 10. Only got inspiron 12, 13 and 9. Just want to find out spec for it :)
http://www.guide2lcdtv.com
The keyboard is edge to edge. The screen has a large bezel.
Right?
Dell has really made a unit that includes almost everything you need in a netbook. Kudos to Dell. can't wait to see a review!!
Also, the picture from the back that he is holding does not look like 16:9
edge to edge keyboard.. not screen
You can see in the 2nd image, 1st bullet item "Edge-to-edge 16:9 HD 720P"
Hopefully it's not an analog tv tuner..haha.
OMG I almost spit coffee all over my Mini9 screen reading that comment!
What's the keyboard size on it? Is it bigger than the mini9?
Clearly. The right shift key is full sized. There are obviously function keys along the top, though they're certainly not "tall". And since its edge-to-edge and the screen is bigger and still has a fat bezel, the keyboard is clearly bigger...
I hoping for < $500 for MSRP.
I doubt it - this is pretty clearly a premium level netbook (Z530 CPU). Should beat the Sony though.
Giant bezel to giant bezel.
I am impressed by the screen though. Hope somebody else will use it soon.
It looks like a great package, if only they'd crammed a discrete graphics card in there (a la Asus N10 with its GeForce 9300M) as well so that I could confidently play a few non demanding or older games along the lines of Battlefield 2 or Eve Online during down time while traveling I'd be totally sold.
You want to game on a netbook? O_O
I already game on a netbook (civ, morrowind, AoE, etc). An 8.9 incher no less. And despite the fact that everywhere someone recommends better netbook graphics, 10 other people say "Wha?!?! Why?!", I'll never understand the objection.
I've gamed on wristwatches, organizers, tables, eyewear, phones (before most people knew you could, back in the days of single digit resolutions) and graphing calculators, so somehow, gaming on a full windows PC doesn't seem that odd. Put doom on a toaster, and I'd play it there too.
single digit pixel wha? I play Counterstrike on my mini 1000, runs pretty smoothly, just need to carry around a mouse. gameplay has hardly improved in the last 15 years, mostly the graphics have changed. PhysX is one of the few exceptions though. I haven't tried Q3 or UT2 on it yet, but I'd bet that they're playable on 800x600 mode with low settings.
Is this the same size as the Mini 9, dimension wise?
Yeah, if this has the nVidia Ion chipset, count me in.
Otherwise, I'm out until Ion hits.
Perfect! I'm glad I held off on buying an hp mini 1000. I just hope they offer it with linux, or at least hardware with linux support
Last summer when I bought my MSI wind it was the top dog of the netbook pack , now (even if it does a great job) is already almost obsolete.
Still it remains to be seen if the price is right, and if it will be more tempting than the new Vaio P, which at the moment is the most likely candidate to replace my trusty Wind.
I wander how much I could ask for a tricked up (2GBDDR", BT&WIFI, DTV-B120GB mem, etc.) 1 year old wind on e-bay; I'm afraid that if I'll wait much longer to sell it the hot tech of last summer will be the dead cow of next spring.
If only it had wacom tablet functionality... I'd be first in line. Why oh why is it so difficult for manufactures to just standardize on convertible tablet functionality for all laptop / netbook devices ?
Huh, why would they use a UMPC processor (Z530) on a machine that is technically on the netbook class?
Probably for power requirements.
Since when does "edge-to-edge" include 3/4" of cheap plastic framework?
Ooh, it doesn't look like crap, it has multi-touch...
Now all it needs to compete with Apple is a decent (non-Windows) OS.
Come on, Dell, don't let us down...
I'd wager edge to edge screen means no pillarboxing or letterboxing on wide screen video (wasted screen space, black bars, etc) since its a 720 display.
No, edge-to-edge screen just means there a sheet of glass running edge-to-edge that covers both the TFT and the bezel. Just like the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros....
If the price is right, this could be the netbook for me. But does wireless broadband mean HSDPA?
Why engineers always forgot bluetooth ?
I'm surprised nobody here knows what "edge-to-edge" means in screen terms. It's a misleading label, but it refers to the single glossy plastic or tempered glass layer that covers the screen area and the bezel, creating a seamless finish across the whole surface.
Yeah but it specifically says edge to edge 16:9 HD, not just edge to edge screen.
I certainly hope the 3G means AT&T and more importantly the hardware is inside, none of this 'You have to buy this through and AT&T store to get the connectivity stuff.' or this requires a 2 year data plan contract.
Dell, you put the hardware in it, I will handle the connectivity issues.
Seems like Dell's been on a "edge-to-edge" frenzy lately. All of their new notebooks are now extra shiny, not even the Mini is spared....for those who are not fans of it, it'll probably be a tough cake to swallow.
More pics at http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/20372/image1.jpg
OOOOOOOH, looks like the fixed the keyboard and put the apostrophe/quote key where it belongs! That was the dealbreaker on the previous Mini for me, Dell is back on my radar with this one.
I guess this means a resolution of 1280x720? Better than the standard 1024x600 for netbooks. Hope it gets 2MP webcam for high quality Skype video!
It seems to have a noce keyboard IMO...
I want it, I want it now!!
Release date pls!
Finally, the perfect "Travel" laptop! Everything you need for a family vacation in one compact pacakge. No extra adapters or dongles, internet virtually anywhere, large enough to be practical, small enough to be easily portable. I'm stoked! (at least until I see the price)
Where are the frickin mousepad buttons?
It's 2009. Who needs mouse buttons
Maybe they did the same thing Apple did with their 13" MB by making the touchpad a clickable button itself (and I'm not referring to simply tapping it like we can do now).
Even though I returned my Dell Mini 9 for a full refund... maybe I will reconsider Dell, as this one looks to fix all my complaints of the first one. But a 6-cell would make it a near final deal... but I still kinda want to wait for Netbooks with the nVidia Ion.
price??price???once they see most important thing,they stopp saying how nice it is.,
16:9 true HD 720 means 1366x768 resolution.
Looks like they will have the same resolution as the HP2140.
Glad to see they are putting more resolution in these 10" netbook.
nice look,super keyboard, super touchpad,n wi-fi, gps, tv tuner but atom z530:(((( ... i want atom n270 with nvidia ION!
I might be wrong here but isn't Atom z530 > n270?
Z530 http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLB6P
vs
N270 http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLB73
I'm usually not a fan of Dell products but this new stuff is very impressive. These are the specs a netbook ought to have.
Hopefully the price is right.
Is that Barry Williams, TV's Greg Brady?
I thought it was R. Lee Ermey.
Can't wait to get OS X running on that!
Guy, before you post anymore asinine comments about the screen, keep in mind that in tech jargon:
Screen: The Part on the front
Display: What you're actually looking at
Honestly, you should write product manuals for Wal-Mart furniture suppliers. That was the worst explanation of anything that I have ever heard.
All these things come at a high cost.
1) Price is going to be HIGH. At the least 1 thousand, you can't expect to get a TV tuner, 3G wireless for less unless they really cut costs elsewhere, and knowing Dell, they will cut costs elsewhere.
2) Battery life. Battery life will suffer a lot. I'd rather buy a TV tuner or 3G mini dongle than have 1-2 hours of battery life.
3) Weight. I don't want anything more than 3 pounds. Hopefully this doesn't reach 4 pounds.
4) Heat generation. Fan noise. Since it's not using the Atom, I'm wondering where these will be at, surely high.
5) Ease and ability of RAM upgradability. This is a must atleast for me.
Here is today's pricing US$512 to start : http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=bncw12a&c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&kc=productdetails~laptop-inspiron-12
Finally, we're getting tiny, pretty computers that don't suck (too much – damned Atom). Not everyone who likes small computers is a tightwad! If I hadn't just bought a new laptop I'd be all over this (assuming it's hackintoshable).
I hope it is still affordable for a netbook.
I don't believe you will all be hawking of the Mini10 once you see the price. Well above $500. With a high price tag I will stick with my Acer Aspire One. and if I want a TV tuner I will just purchase the USB one that Dell sales for $50
The first company to have a built-in drive has my vote. It doesn't have to be good, as long as it reads your basic cd's and dvd's and then an option for an upgrade. Ahh well, there are slightly bigger models out there with drives like the dell inspiron 13.
DVD is archaic. It can't even produce 720p video without deinterlacing the source. With Bluray disks now shipping in volume any netbook worth its salt should really have a BD burner, at least 4X, and even better 6X to 8X. If they're not going to offer that I don't know why they would even bother...
Base price: $399
TV Tuner option: [add $80]
Integrated Webcam: [add $20]
720P LED Option: [add $50]
HSPA WAN Slot: [add $50]
Studio Design : [add $50]
@dan:
Is that a guesstimate or are you getting your data for real somewhere? I've been revisiting the dell.com website ocntinually to get an update on pricing and specs, and googling elsewhere - care to share your sources on this?
This Mini 10 could be the sweetspot for me - weight, battery life, hackintoshable... just need the price. Grr.
with all above, i ordered one for $299
I haven't seen anyone mention the HDMI out port on the side of this sweet little gem. That would make it very easy to play any .avi's you might have on your HDTV. This is easily one of the most underrated features of the Mini 10.
-Beer
Nice keyboard, except there's no dedicated page up & page down keys. Instead, it's a combined with Function key and Up/Down arrow keys. I think PgUp/PgDown and Up/Down arrow keys should be separate since these are frequently used in reading documents, web pages, etc. The hard disk and memory should be accessible so that consumers can upgrade it anytime.