Dell Mini 5 teardown reveals Snapdragon guts and 3G SIM (video)
By Thomas Ricker 
posted January 18th 2010 5:23AM
posted January 18th 2010 5:23AM
[Thanks, Tran Manh K.]
posted January 18th 2010 5:23AM
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2010 is indeed the year of the Tablet.
@rezaudio its incredibly sad to know that most of the general public will completely disagree with you until apple releases a tablet. its like the ipod and mp3 players, nobody thought they were popular until apple releases one
@(Unverified) I see your point.
Most people I know who have iPhones/iPods don't use their laptops any more so I think once the tablets start to come out there will be no need for laptops (for a lot of people anyway).
@rezaudio
I have an iPhone and i would go insane if i didnt have a computer to do serious stuff on.
Phones are nice for that odd web page but when you want to do some serious surfing i need a mouse and a LOT more screen resolution.
@Adamgs I think I agree with you but I'm more tech-savi than the friends in question so for simple surfing and very basic stuff I do think that tablets will take over - for the "common man" (so to speak)
@rezaudio
I agree, though my desire for an Android tablet has practically been eliminated altogether (not that there was much to begin with) by the prospect of Moorestown tablets.
It'd be great to see it become slightly more powerful, maybe have Nvidia add a powerful GPU like they did with Ion for Atom, and make it run Windows 7, that'd be the perfect tablet for me. Especially if it's along the size of that LG tablet (only with a more useful 7:3 ratio (that's 21:9 in case you're brainwashed by those marketing folks) and perhaps a bit thinner).
And the Apple tablet, if it's along the lines of 9-11 inch like some people have been claiming, I have no interest in it, far too big, and probably fragile too. (I don't like the idea of a large, thin slate with it's screen exposed under the pressure of all sorts of other gear, I don't plan on taking it as the only thing I have. Apart from that, a netbook/ULV notebook would be far easier to do some actual work/web browsing, or maybe that HP tm2, to get the best of both worlds)
@Adamgs And here comes the teardown. The unexpectedly awesome feature? The 5MP camera. The Dell Mini 5 has a 5-inch screen, and your subject fills the entire frame. It's an oddly satisfying implementation of a camera, in a super sizing kind of way. This will be dell's flagship for their tablet device. More Details: http://bit.ly/dell-mini-5-details
No tablet like this well ever gain a significant foothold in the market because it really has no purpose....its just an underpowered little computer.
Apple however has the tendency to develop entire integrated ecosystems which will be what drives the sales, not the hardware alone.
@Adamgs
word.
@Adamgs
Plus i believe this will be Apples answer to both netbooks and E-readers so that will sway some people....
I look at that Dell up there and i seriously wonder to myself what i would ever use it for. I have my phone my netbook and my desktop...i thought i had all my bases covered...
@Adamgs
I agree with you totally. That is the one piece to the puzzle that other manufacturers have yet to contend with. That's why Apple is still on top. Ease of use and helpfulness is what a PDA was originally supposed to cater to. Apple took that concept and perfected it. Others just wanted to deal with hardware.
@Adamgs Very good point. Why have many gadgets when one can do many tasks.
@Adamgs I disagree. This is exactly what im looking for and id use it mainly as an e-book reader with mini computer benefits. Ive used an axim pda for years to that end to read all my books on but i want a bigger screen and better OS and this is perfect. I was going to buy a Toshiba TG01 recently for the same purpose (being essentially the exact same thing) but decided to wait for these new slates to appear first with even bigger screens. The price however will have to be absolutely no more than £200 otherwise id have already grabbed something like an Archos 5.
@Shrikey same for me. I'm looking for something like this as my 3rd screen.
that dude has a cocaine nail hahaahahahahahahah
@bobewreckem69
...and a third arm = P
i dunno... Still think this form factor is too big for a phone and too small to replace a notebook.
@trek
Phone? Who cares about the phone bit, this is a small MID and is perfect for doing work on the road and sofa surfing.
Hopefully it comes with usb host so i can transfer files easily.
My thoughts on this tablet just gained 50 cool points
he has 3 arms
Definitely looks much better than other dell products. Did they fire anyone recently?
Looks cheap imo.
Give me a device this size that has the following. AM/FM tuner, aGPS chip with built in maps, RF transmitter (good size for a house remote), a long battery life (I know hard to do with a big screen) and Bluetooth for Skype (also through Bluetooth ability to voice control the unit.)
I know a little ahead of the game on this but that would be me dream machine almost, to be the true dream machine a company would have to have WiFi that covers the entire US so I could get rid of my cell phone.
@fatum
you should check out the archos 5 internet tablet. it has fm radio, gps, that form factor, android, and can play pretty much all common audio and video formats including true HD.
i have one myself and love it!
http://www.archos.com/products/imt/archos_5it/specs.html?country=us&lang=en
i totally want to replace my phone with this. I have big pockets and therefore no fear of walking around with a brick if it means i get a huge crisp picture when surfing on the go. This will probably never make it big with the general public (tech's lowest common denominator), but isn't engadget all about making it big with the geeks. If we all settle for only what apple will provide for the droolings, then we're not going to progress as far as i want.
When is someone going to make a sweet mobile device like this with WiMax instead of 3g? I'm ready to ditch cell phone plans and go Skype...
Ok, so I wonder if the SIM that is pictured can be removed and like one from O2, VZW, or another carrier can be put in it's place to use on something else. Just saying in the event that AT&T gets exclusivity.