Mini10 -- Engadget

Mini10 posts

Sprint lights up WiMAX in NC, Chicago and Dallas, launches subsidized Mini 10

by Darren Murph posted Nov 2nd 2009 at 9:44AM

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together? Or better yet, when a leaked roadmap doesn't get delayed in the slightest? After months upon months of waiting, broadband-lovin' citizens in the North Carolina Triangle and Triad will be celebrating alongside DFW residents and Chicago natives as Sprint's 4G WiMAX service rolls into town. As of right now (that's today, junior), consumers in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point and Charlotte, NC; Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas and Chicago, Illinois can roll into a Sprint store and snag a U300 3G / 4G WWAN modem on a $69.99 monthly data plan. We're told that San Antonio and Austin will get lit up later this month, while Honolulu and Maui, Hawaii; Salem, Oregon and Seattle, Washington will join the fray before 2010. Oh, and did we mention that Palm's favorite carrier finally snagged itself a WWAN-equipped netbook? 'Cause the Dell Mini 10 is available starting today for $199.99 at select Sprint stores in the metropolitan Baltimore area.

Update: Looks like Sprint changed "Baltimore" to "Bay Area." Odd.

Read - Sprint WiMAX in the Triangle
Read - Sprint WiMAX in the Triad
Read - Sprint WiMAX in Charlotte, NC
Read - Sprint WiMAX in Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX
Read - Sprint WiMAX in Chicago, IL
Read - Sprint's first netbook is Dell Mini 10

Dell Mini 10v reviewed with Ubuntu Moblin Remix

by Darren Murph posted Oct 14th 2009 at 5:54PM

Dell's "highly experimental" Mini 10v with Ubuntu Moblin Remix may not be ready for the mainstream just yet (though it is on sale to everyone who dares), but it's more than ready for the enthusiasts over at ArsTechnica. After purchasing a $299 base unit, they proceeded to take a closer look at just how Moblin fared on a netbook -- probably because the actual hardware specifications are the same as always. Reviewers noted that the UI they were graced with looked an awful lot like the shell they saw back in May, though this build was decidedly more stable and "complete." That said, they still managed to uncover a few bugs, and they were indeed saddened to find that the integrated web browser was downright "weak." All told, critics were impressed with the progress on Moblin, but they still proclaimed that it has a long ways to go before it'll be "ready for regular users." If you've been thinking about exiting your comfort zone and picking one of these up, you owe it to yourself to give that read link a tap.

Dell announces Moblin Mini 10v at IDF (updated with pricing)

by Nilay Patel posted Sep 23rd 2009 at 1:25PM

Dell just announced the first shipping Moblin netbook, a developer-edition Mini 10v that runs Canonical's Moblin Netbook Remix. No pricing info yet, but it'll go on sale tomorrow, September 24, on Dell.com. We're told they have units on the show floor for us to play with, we'll be back with way more details soon.

Update: Dell tells us the Moblin Mini 10v will be $299 to start and available with the usual customization options, but that they're not really aiming it at consumers just yet -- the idea is to give Moblin developers best-of-class hardware to work on. That said, nothing's stopping you from snagging one tomorrow, since they won't be requiring proof that you're actually a dev. You sneaky Linux-loving dog, you.

Continue reading Dell announces Moblin Mini 10v at IDF (updated with pricing)

AT&T's subsidized Acer Aspire One, Dell Mini 10 and Lenovo S10 netbooks launching nationwide

by Nilay Patel posted Jul 20th 2009 at 1:09PM

Not sure what AT&T's thinking as it takes its subsidized netbook lineup nationwide, but it just announced the Dell Mini 10, the Lenovo S10, and the 10-inch Acer Aspire One will now be sold online and in stores, priced at $200 each with your choice of two-year contract: a totally pathetic $40/mo 200MB plan or a $60/mo 5GB plan. Yeah, that's some stiff kitty for two years of XP on last year's netbook hardware -- especially since you can score the similar Compaq Mini 110 from Sprint for just 99 cents on sale with the same $60/mo 5GB data commitment. Of course, we're still standing by our suggestion that you just grab a MiFi and share the 3G love with as many machines as you can, but if these numbers somehow seem tempting sales should be starting in the next few days.

Dell's Mini 10 getting GPS / WiFi tracking upgrade next week

by Ross Miller posted Jun 30th 2009 at 8:19PM

Dell's Mini 10 already offers GPS with an integrated 3G chip, but if you're not interested in mobile broadband, starting next week you can opt instead for a wireless 700 location solution, a hybrid of Broadcom's assisted GPS and Skyhook's WiFi positioning technologies. We had a chance to sit down with a few of the product managers working on the device, and even within a brick-laden office building it did a pretty fine job of finding us within 30 meters and integrating with Flickr, Loopt, and Yelp using the Loki plug-in for Internet Explorer / FireFox. Impact on battery life was said to be "immaterial" although a ballpark estimate was about a five percent hit when in use. For $70, it'll come bundled with CoPilot turn by turn navigation software. It requires the $30 HD display upgrade, but even then, an extra Benjamin total for a large-screen navigation device is hard to pass up if you're looking to get a netbook anyway. If you're still not sold, Dell promises it'll be available for other Mini options, with and without the HD upgrade, in the near future. Now how about a few words on the Mini 11, eh Dell?

Dell's Mini 10v gets unboxed, cracked wide open, fitted with OS X

by Darren Murph posted May 31st 2009 at 2:08AM

Not that Dell's other Mini machines aren't perfect candidates for creating your own hackintosh, but it's stellar to know that the outfit's newest member is as well. After going on sale earlier this month, the Mini 10v has been procured, unboxed and dissected, all in the name of unabashed discovery. Interestingly, it seems as if the RAM slot requires that the keyboard and motherboard be lifted for access, but for even the mildly seasoned computer user, that's absolutely nothing they can't handle. If you're into hardcore, uncensored splayings of newfangled netbooks, the read link is where you need to be, holmes.

[Via MyDellMini, thanks Erik]

Dell adding Mini 10 TV tuner, passion purple color options today

by Ross Miller posted May 21st 2009 at 12:02AM

When Dell said its Mini 10 TV tuner was coming this summer, well, we didn't expect it to be so soon. The company's dropped us a line to say we should expect to see it as a customization option starting sometime today, presumably along with the external antenna that's needed when the signal's low. The cost is an extra $50 and it'll net you over-the-air ATSC -- that's the new HD format, for those who haven't been keeping track. Additionally, a seventh color, passion purple, is being added to the library, and if your heart's set on cherry red, you'll be happy to know they're now a part of the (PRODUCT) RED portfolio, meaning Dell will donate $5 to the Global Fund with each purchase. No pics of the new hue just yet, but if any of these new additions sound enticing, you might wanna hit cancel on that late-night order we caught you placing.

Dell Mini 10 TV tuner option coming this summer, Mini 10v goes hands-on

by Paul Miller posted May 12th 2009 at 5:37PM

While Dell originally mentioned a TV tuner option back when it launched the Mini 10 in January, it's still working on bringing the feature to market. The latest news is that the configuration will tack roughly $50 onto the price, includes an external antenna (which is only required in low-signal situations), and should be available "this summer." The couple of channels we saw in action seemed plenty good on the quality front, but nothing groundbreaking. Meanwhile, we also got a look at the new Mini 10v, which swaps HDMI for VGA, lacks the flush "glass" styling of the Mini 10 display, and bounces over to the Atom N270 processor. The version we were looking at included a 6-cell battery (a $30 add-on), which added a considerable amount of lift at the back -- it might be ergonomic, but it sure isn't pretty. Unfortunately the TV option won't be available for the 10v, so if you were holding out... maybe you should be spending more time with your family.

Gallery: Mini 10v goes hands-on

Dell Mini 10 6-cell battery gets pictured

by Nilay Patel posted May 9th 2009 at 11:49PM

Dell finally started offering the Mini 10 with a six-cell battery just a couple weeks ago, and it looks like the first batch of orders has started to arrive. As expected, it's a big honking six-cell battery hanging off the edge of an otherwise sleek netbook, but it should provide hours of Atom-powered XP fun. Sadly, current Mini 10 owners can't pick one up separately yet, but we're guessing that'll change soon enough.

[Thanks, Peter]

Dell's $299 Mini 10v netbook spotted, SSD options added

by Thomas Ricker posted May 7th 2009 at 6:22AM

Looks like the first iteration of the Mini 10 evolution is getting ready for retail. The Mini 10v (aka, "Bear" or model 1011) has just made it's first appearance in Dell's May catalog with "mid-May" anticipated availability. The 10v swaps out the Z-series Atom for the netbook standard N270 while remaining true to its 120GB disk, 1GB memory, XP, and 1.3 megapixel webcam origins. The big news here is price: the Mini 10v costs $100 less than the base Mini 10. Also spotted on Dell's retail site are new 32GB or 64GB SSD options for the current Mini 10 for an extra $75 or $125, respectively. Sorry kids, no Android option yet (which might not be a bad thing). SSD screengrab after the break.

[Thanks, Willy N.]

Update: The Mini 10 can now be ordered with Ubuntu, hooray!

Read -- Mini 10v [see last page, Warning: PDF]
Read -- SSD [click Hard Drive view]

Continue reading Dell's $299 Mini 10v netbook spotted, SSD options added

Is Dell cooking up an Android-powered netbook?

by Darren Murph posted May 6th 2009 at 10:14AM

Um, okay? Straight out of the left-most corner of left field, software provider Bsquare has just outed Dell's newest netbook -- or so it seems. The same company that recently announced that it was bringing Adobe Flash to Android has just revealed that it'll be doing likewise for "Dell netbooks running Google's Android platform." Specifically, it'll be Flash Lite 3.17 making the leap onto these heretofore elusive machines (casually referred to as the Mini Inspiron 910, or Mini 9, in the release), but details outside of that are mum. Consider our interest piqued. Full release is after the break.

Update: Dell just pinged us with an adorably terse response: "The Bsquared news release erroneously mentioned Dell and is being recalled. Dell does not offer an Android based netbook." Well then.

Continue reading Is Dell cooking up an Android-powered netbook?

Dell Mini 10 gets six-cell battery option, added pizzazz

by Donald Melanson posted Apr 23rd 2009 at 1:54PM

Dell's Mini 10 netbook has been a bit more of a work in progress than some early adopters may have hoped, but it is at least getting increasingly more usable, with Dell now finally offering the oft-requested six-cell battery as a selectable option. That'll set you back just $30, and should give you a sizable boost over the stock three-cell battery, which is lucky to get three hours on a charge. If you're looking for a little something extra, you can now also now get the netbook emblazoned with some of the snazzy designs seen on other Dell laptops, although those will set you back up to $60 extra compared to the basic black or white options.

[Via Portable Monkey]

Dell netbook roadmap leaks out, get ready for the Mini 11

by Nilay Patel posted Apr 4th 2009 at 8:54PM

Oops, it looks like a Dell middle manager somewhere got a little too excited and let a full set of netbook roadmap slides leak out. The biggest news is a planned Mini 11 due sometime between now and the end of Q3, but the Mini 10 is where most of the action is in the short term -- the current model will get options for Vista, a 3G modem, and potentially a 1.86GHz Atom on April 17th, a new 1.6GHz Atom N270 SKU will arrive in May and everything will be updated again in the second half of the year with Intel's Pine Trail processors. Interesting, but we're wondering when Dell will realize that the Mini 10's HDMI output and 720p screen are useless unless it can handle true HD video -- Ion, anyone?

How would you change Dell's Inspiron Mini 10?

by Darren Murph posted Apr 3rd 2009 at 11:13PM

After a rocky, if not comical launch, Dell's Inspiron Mini 10 is now shuffling out in full force to legions of soon-to-be netbook owners. For those of you who already bought in -- via QVC or the more traditional street corner vendor model -- we're wondering what you'd do differently if magically given a mythical Do Over token. Would you simply offer up the options (TV tuner, for one) promised during the machine's announcement? Would you tweak that trackpad at all? Add a little bulk in exchange for a beefier battery? Paint the whole thing fuschia and make it reek of week-old bananas? Feel free to get as crazy as you'd like in comments below; who knows, maybe Round Rock's tuning in to just see what you have to say.

Dell finally adds 720p LCD option to Inspiron Mini 10

by Darren Murph posted Mar 30th 2009 at 5:55PM

So far as we can tell, Dell's Inspiron Mini 10 was supposed to have a 720p screen option from day one, but after the ridiculously weird launch, we're not at all shocked to see that said selection is just now being offered. Starting right about now, prospective Mini 10 buyers can upgrade that stock 1,024 x 576 display to one with a native 1,366 x 768 resolution, or plenty to watch bona fide 720p content. The pain? Just $35 -- but you'll have to keep waiting if you're looking for inbuilt GPS, a TV tuner or a certificate of authenticity autographed by this guy.

[Thanks, JC]