Dell launches Inspiron Mini 10

Here in an atypically small press conference in the desert, Dell has just served up its Mini 10 netbook, complete with an "edge-to-edge" 720p 10-inch display, a built-in TV tuner (!), integrated 3G WWAN / GPS, multitouch support and an Atom Z530 CPU. Moreover, you'll find an "edge-to-edge" keyboard (no wasted space, we guess), a gesture-sensing touchapd and expanded design studio choices. Check another image after the break, but don't expect any pricing or release information, 'cause Dell ain't squealing.

[Charles R Hamilton @ Jan 9th 2009 11:46AM]

Touchscreen?

[Roroco @ Jan 9th 2009 12:07PM]

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.

[Oli D @ Jan 9th 2009 12:15PM]

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.

[Mickey @ Jan 9th 2009 11:47AM]

Awesome!!

[Dan @ Jan 9th 2009 11:49AM]

makes the mini 9 look even crappier. really glad i jumped on that when it first came out

[Raja Bill Dub @ Jan 9th 2009 11:53AM]

I 2nd that...

[Frank @ Jan 9th 2009 12:15PM]

I was about to buy a Mini 9 these days... guess i'll have to wait.

[Miranda @ Jan 9th 2009 11:49AM]

Re: Touchscreen? That would be super sweet and persuade me....

[Josh @ Jan 9th 2009 11:52AM]

i think the tv tuner persuaded me, probably my next purchase

[htd @ Jan 9th 2009 11:50AM]

any link for details? it sounds like they are doing everything right... is it too good to be true?

[Raja Bill Dub @ Jan 9th 2009 11:52AM]

I 2nd that...

[upumop @ Jan 9th 2009 11:57AM]

Hope that's not a real picture of the screen because that is not really edge to edge!

[GenBanks @ Jan 9th 2009 12:10PM]

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.

[CosterMonger @ Jan 9th 2009 3:20PM]

Damn marketing terms!

[Corwin @ Jan 9th 2009 3:25PM]

@GenBanks:

That may have been the most enlightening piece technical jargon I've heard all week...

[Corwin @ Jan 9th 2009 3:27PM]

Hmmm... I could have sworn there was an "of" in there.......... oh well.

[shelby @ Jan 9th 2009 11:59AM]

A TV tuner on a 10" screen.... Awesome.

[ichheissesuperfantastisch @ Jan 9th 2009 12:09PM]

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.

[jon @ Jan 9th 2009 12:15PM]

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.

[Shyam D @ Jan 9th 2009 12:25PM]

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.

[Eric @ Jan 9th 2009 7:11PM]

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 @ Jan 10th 2009 11:02AM]

@ 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

[Kevin M @ Jan 9th 2009 12:01PM]

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.

[Joshua K @ Jan 9th 2009 12:07PM]

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.

[unzarjones @ Jan 9th 2009 2:41PM]

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.

[Canis_Minor @ Jan 9th 2009 12:02PM]

Maybe my eyes are deceiving me, but that picture does not make the screen look "edge-to-edge"

[jj @ Jan 9th 2009 12:16PM]

Agreed, quite a bezel on that baby.

[mian @ Jan 9th 2009 12:32PM]

It's from the edge of the bezel to other edge of the bezel =P

[Adam @ Jan 9th 2009 12:04PM]

The keyboard is edge to edge. The screen has a large bezel.

Right?

[joee @ Jan 9th 2009 12:06PM]

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!!

[Adam @ Jan 9th 2009 12:10PM]

Hopefully it's not an analog tv tuner..haha.

[diana @ Jan 9th 2009 2:43PM]

OMG I almost spit coffee all over my Mini9 screen reading that comment!

[Dee @ Jan 9th 2009 12:12PM]

I hoping for < $500 for MSRP.

[Yem @ Jan 9th 2009 12:26PM]

I doubt it - this is pretty clearly a premium level netbook (Z530 CPU). Should beat the Sony though.

[tino @ Jan 9th 2009 12:12PM]

Giant bezel to giant bezel.

I am impressed by the screen though. Hope somebody else will use it soon.

[Steve @ Jan 9th 2009 12:14PM]

What's the keyboard size on it? Is it bigger than the mini9?

[Fanfoot @ Jan 9th 2009 2:09PM]

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...

[GenBanks @ Jan 9th 2009 12:18PM]

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.

[dagamer34 @ Jan 9th 2009 12:31PM]

You want to game on a netbook? O_O

[mian @ Jan 9th 2009 1:08PM]

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.

[Rotaryfan @ Jan 10th 2009 12:20AM]

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.

[Andrew @ Jan 9th 2009 12:22PM]

Is this the same size as the Mini 9, dimension wise?

[Justin @ Jan 9th 2009 12:23PM]

Yeah, if this has the nVidia Ion chipset, count me in.

Otherwise, I'm out until Ion hits.

[KilgoreTrout @ Jan 9th 2009 12:24PM]

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.

[dr @ Jan 9th 2009 12:27PM]

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

[Frederik @ Jan 9th 2009 12:30PM]

Huh, why would they use a UMPC processor (Z530) on a machine that is technically on the netbook class?

[dagamer34 @ Jan 9th 2009 12:31PM]

Probably for power requirements.

[444turbodiesel @ Jan 9th 2009 12:32PM]

Since when does "edge-to-edge" include 3/4" of cheap plastic framework?

[ethana2 @ Jan 9th 2009 12:35PM]

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...

[panicopticon @ Jan 9th 2009 12:38PM]

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.