DellMini12
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Dell Mini 12 quietly discontinued
There was no official announcement of this one, but a look over Dell's website will reveal the truth -- it looks like the Mini 12 has been shuttered. It's not hugely surprising news considering its companion, the Mini 9, was recently given the axe as well. We'll miss them both. Sniffle.[Thanks, Drew]
AT&T kicks off $50 netbook-with-a-catch trial
We'd already had some indication that Dell's Mini 9 and Mini 12 netbooks were headed to AT&T stores, and it now looks like those and a few more are now finally available from the carrier -- in Atlanta and Philadelphia, at least. From the looks of it, Atlanta is the real test bed for the trial, with customers there now able to snag netbooks with built-in 3G at prices "starting at $49.99," assuming they also sign up for AT&T's "Internet at Home and On the Go" broadband bundle, of course, which itself starts at $60 a month for a 200 MB per month mobile data plan and basic DSL service. AT&T only goes so far as to say that it's offering "similar mini laptop promotional rates" at eight AT&T stores in the Philadelphia area. In addition to the Dell netbooks, you can also choose from an Acer Aspire One or the little known LG Xenia (apparently an MSI Wind rebadge), or even a full-fledged Lenovo X200 ultraportable, although the latter will set you back between $750 and $850 depending on your choice of plan.[Via GigaOM]Update: According to AT&T, that "similar" pricing for Philly actually starts at $99, with the premium apparently resulting from its lack of residential DSL in the area.
Dell Mini 9 and 12 headed to AT&T stores?
You can already get an HP Mini netbook or a Sony VAIO P not-a-netbook up and running on AT&T's network with relative ease, but it looks like your options could be about to get more convenient still, at least if this seemingly authentic screen courtesy of The Boy Genius Report is any indication. Apparently, both Dell's Mini 9 and Mini 12 netbooks will be finding their way into AT&T stores at some point in the not too distant future, although there's unfortunately no indication of an exact date or price. As the Boy Genius speculates, however, it seems likely that they'll be at least somewhat competitive with the $99 that Verizon will be asking for the HP Mini 1000 on a two-year data card plan, which will apparently be available sometime in May.[Via Electronista]
Hark! Dell Mini 12 kitted with an SSD
Like a proclamation from On High come the words: "Rejoice! No longer do you have to put up with a slow Dell Mini 12!" The kids over at Portable Monkey have taken a good look at Mtron's 1.8-inch SSD (the inelegantly named MSD-PATA3018032-ZIF2 is going for ¥26,800 -- about $294) and not surprisingly, the thing has far out-classed the Mini 12's default 4200rpm HDD in benchmarks. On the other hand, the drive does draw a considerable bit of power, so battery life may be an issue -- and at a height of 8 millimeters (as opposed to 5 millimeters for the standard drive) some folks have had a hard time installing the thing. Are you the type of person who gets giddy at the prospect of souping up your hardware? We thought so. Hit the read link for all the juicy deets.
Intel Atom coming to larger notebooks?
Why does Intel have to be so darn stubborn? First it insists on only bundling the Atom processor with their own graphics (simultaneously breaking poor NVIDIA's heart), and then there's whole thing where it restricts the CPU to netbooks under 10.2-inches. But like all good things, this too might someday come to an end. According to Gadget Mix, HP is currently negotiating with the chipmaker with the intent of using the processor in notebooks 13-inches and larger. This isn't without precedent -- the Dell Mini 12 is Atom powered, after all, and there is certainly a market for folks who only need a notebook for web browsing and productivity apps -- but we'll see if people are willing to sacrifice performance without gaining portability.
Dell Inspiron Mini 12 gets more netbook-y with Ubuntu, XP options
Dell's Inspiron Mini 12 was already blurring the lines between netbooks and traditional laptop when it was shipping with Vista and Vista only, but it looks like Dell is intent on breaking down the walls between the two categories, with it now offering both Ubuntu and Windows XP on the, er... system. Expectedly, there's no changes to be found on the hardware side of things, and you can get either of the new operating systems installed on both the 1.33GHz and 1.6GHz models, the former of which now starts at $499 with Ubuntu pre-installed. And, yes, you can still get Vista if you like -- at no extra cost, no less.[Thanks, TxdoHawk]
