Dell Mini 5 to be the vanguard of 'a family of tablets'
By Vlad Savov 
posted February 26th 2010 10:29AM
posted February 26th 2010 10:29AM
posted February 26th 2010 10:29AM
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my wallet and i cannot wait for this thing to debut
MUCH better then the I-maxie-pad.
@Xtole
This isn't meant to compete with the iPad FYI. iPad is more netbook like in that you won't really whip it out when you're walking down the street. Chances are you'll do just that with this phone.
@BigJayDogg3
I know :). What I meant was, since they are roughly the same price, the Dell does more overall then the Ipad at the same price point. Sry I was not clear.
@Yankees Win The only thing that could crush my dream of owning this device is if it had a $500+ price tag. $499 would be beyond awesome for this device.
@Yankees Win
Not to talk about my bank manager
Damn it, looks like I will have to switch to AT&T?
@One Love
Well Dell has hinted before that they intend to sell it unlocked with AT&T offering it as well. I just hope it's not $9999999 or $199 with a 2yr contract from AT&T.
@Xtole
Once again, Dell proves they know ergonomics and form factor. This phone is just what the doctor ordered....too big to replace an iphone, too small to replace an ipad, too weak to replace a netbook....I guess Dell has the Droid in it's cross hairs with this. But it's too big to replace a Droid. May be it works with a man bag!
I can see a run on these phones. LOL.
@jaffreywali
You have dell and apple confused.
The iPad is too big to carry around everywhere
But too underfeatured to replace a netbook / 12 inch laptop with ULV Core i3 and touchscreen.
The mini 5 is however small ENOUGH to carry around
and big ENOUGH to be significantly better than a smartphone for web browsing and 'content consumption'
@Bratyr exactly why im getting one. its the perfect tradeoff for size. just small enough to fit in your pocket, yet a nice big screen. and ive also seen pics/videos of people using it like a regular phone up to their ear. its a bit large but not crazy big or anything. id totally use it that way.
@jaffreywali "too small to replace an ipad"
Who buys an iPad just to replace it with a Dell Mini 5?
@formetopoopon It's almost certainly running 2.1 since dell have confirmed it'll be running something newer than 1.6 which leaves 2.0 (which wasn't out for long before 2.1 was so unlikely), 2.1 and 2.2/5 etc)
More: http://ping.fm/4gJN7
@Bratyr
The iPad will likely outsell the Dell Mini 5 by 10 to 1. Why? Because the iPad will have far more prestigious content the the Mini 5 and also Dell customer service is not very good.
@MosesusedaniPad
Why should any device need to worry about "prestigious" content?
This balkanized media world that the Apple fanboys are salivating over is nothing to look forward to. Content should be brand and device neutral. You shouldn't have to worry about whether or not it will display on your iWhatever and should not need to shoehorn it to fit if it doesn't.
@BigJayDogg3 Are you kidding? It sounds like not only this,but another tablet (at least) will indeed be competition for the iPad - directly.
They both run Phone OSes (although this one can make a call), they both have app stores, they both have ebook reader software... I'd say that the Dell is definitely a direct competitor to the iPhone/iPad lineup. If Dell ships a bigger form too, well, it will be interesting to be sure. Great for Google/Android too.
Never thought I would say this, but rock on Dell!
@MosesusedaniPad
You do realise this runs android and there are already over 30k applications in the Android market alone, there would be about another 10k apps you can download from third party source (something you cant do with the iPad). Then throw in the front facing webcam (Skype Video anyone) and 3G/Mobile support and the iPAD starts looking like a toy for the mentaly challenged.
@MosesusedaniPad Dell customer service is *excellent* from my experiences.
@MosesusedaniPad
no it wil outsell it because the apple fanboys will be ignorant of the dell mini 5 usefullness
@jaffreywali Thats what I was thinking this looks ridiculous.
@masta vaan
Just like all the Apple fanboys bought Apple TV? Your argument is extremely week, and you're just regurgitating what someone else told you. Get an opinion of your own
@Xtole True, but this thing is whippable AND has a nice sized screen. and it's also a phone.
Chrome OS on the larger tablets would be more interesting
@BogdanGC
Question: Why Chrome? I'm not being a hater, but I haven't seen anything lust inducing out of Chrome.
What am I missing?
@BigJayDogg3 I'd be more interested in seeing WP7 implemented on one of these devices. The UI definitely seems to be easily scaled... and probably would look gorgeous on a slate or tablet.
@BigJayDogg3 I think large phones like this are the few gadgets that could take advantage of Chrome's focus on "the cloud".
@BigJayDogg3
i wasnt talking about the Dell mini5, i was saying that on a bigger tablet a phone OS like Android seems a bit out of focus. The Chrome OS with it's cloud computing and all the Google applications would be more productive o a large slate.
Funny how i was downranked into oblivion for wanting a more complex OS on a tablet and not just a phone OS. When the iPad surfaced everyone was bitching exactly about this, now it's all good
@BogdanGC : Have you seen Google Apps lately? The document word processor is just a tiny bit more sophisticated than a email editor. The presentation app sucks and the only the spreadsheet is kind of usable. But however you look at it, the interfaces all suck big time, they look like apps from 20 years ago. Why would anybody prefer to use them?
@ckeledjian
I've heard straight from a Google employee's mouth in person that the web versions of Powerpoint and Word from Office 2010 will work on chrome. So you don't have to use Google Apps (which are terrible).
@Evster88 I think microsoft and hp are already working on a windows 7 tablet.
@krosref he said Windows PHONE 7, not win7
No thanks Dell why don't take your crappy tablet to T-Mobile or something. I prefer another tablet than you guys at Dell
@Inspector Gadget80 - If they're trying to get these things out the to "masses", then T-Mo certainly wouldn't be a good choice. Go with AT&T and you've instantly got the second largest network in the US.
Another tablet on AT&T? Like what?
@MRCUR
Not to mention the fact that with T-Mobile, unless you go to Korea, AFAIK, no other network uses those bands.
With AT&T, at the very least, I can go to Canada and have 3G. (IDK what bands are available in Europe)
@MRCUR
Just what AT&T needs, more traffic on their crappy overloaded networks.
Personally, I'd like to see it on Sprint, perhaps with both 3G and 4G support.
@BigJayDogg3 With AT&T, I think you have international coverage as well
HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100 - European Bands
HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100 - American Bands
@Spiny Norman - AT&T's network works just fine for me...
@MRCUR
Why aim for number 2?
@Spiny Norman We see what happened with the Palm Pre when released on Sprint,absolutely nothing. No device no matter how hyped it may be can seemingly bring anyone to Sprint.
@zakany - Fair enough... I'd rather see this on my personal carrier though, so I'm happy with Dell's choice.
@zakany Cause #1's networks only work in the US.....
@XChrisX
I have a hunch that the reason the Pre didn't sell well has more to do with Palm, and less to do with Sprint.
Put this Android tablet on Sprint with a $29.95 a month data plan, and it's sell in spades.
@MRCUR
Carriers? whatever. Just sell me the device and leave the carrier choice to me. Thanks.
@dansus - Ah, now we're talkin! I'd love that as well.
So who else feels extremely dirty touching the android?
@Christian Martin
Who else thinks of a shotgun wielding bad-ass when they hear vanguard?
Anxiously awaiting official statement on specs/price/release date.
GEEZ I want this thing!
I think a release date of NOW is in order.
@AlexSanchez
Ha, I love how you Apple haters are totally uninterested in a use case for... things that compete with the iPad.
What are you going to do with this again? It's an oversized phone? Meh?