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mini posts

AMEX DIGITAL's Mac mini Blu-ray drive upgrade kit is not what it seems

by Thomas Ricker posted Nov 11th 2009 at 4:51AM

A Blu-ray "upgrade kit" for Apple's revamped Mac mini... sounds like the ultimate for home theater buffs right? After all, such a device holds the promise of adding Blu-ray playback to a relatively powerful, off-the-shelf micro computer starting at $599 that'll run any of the amazing media center apps available for either Windows 7 (with some extra legwork) or OS X. Not so fast bub, remember, OS X still doesn't support native playback of Blu-ray discs pressed by Hollywood's media fairies. As such, Blu-ray films purchased on disc can only be played by booting into Windows -- under OS X you are limited to reading and writing data assuming you already have software like Adobe's Premiere Pro CS3 with Encore or Roxio's Toast with Blu-ray plug-in. Unfortunately, AMEX Digital is purposely unclear on this point by suggesting that the kit will simply "play Hollywood Blu-ray Disc movies on a properly configured PC or MAC." For the extra $199 required to take the BD-UG1 home, we'd suggest a native PC solution, cheapo standalone Blu-ray player or PS3 and avoid these headaches altogether. Image of the drive laid bare after the break.

[Via I4U]

Continue reading AMEX DIGITAL's Mac mini Blu-ray drive upgrade kit is not what it seems

Verizon prepping HP Mini 311, Mini 110 for launch

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 19th 2009 at 5:31AM

Wait, hold up -- before you sprint down to your Verizon store (sprint... Verizon... never mind) to pick up that catchily-named Gateway LT2016u that just launched, you might want to mull over the next batch of netbooks primed to hit the carrier's outlets in the coming days. Subsidized netbooks still haven't proven themselves as viable products -- at least, so long as they're not subsidized down to $0 -- but Verizon's ready to keep on trying with the launch of a global 3G-equipped HP Mini 311 on October 22. Sickeningly, they want a full $249.99 on contract after $100 mail-in rebate -- but in exchange, you'll be getting ION, Windows 7, 1366 x 768 resolution on a 11.6-inch display, and a 1.6GHz Atom N270. Moving on, the carrier's current Mini 1151 will ride off into the sunset and be replaced by a Windows XP-equipped Mini 110 featuring a 160GB hard drive and 1GB of RAM; it'll launch once 1151 stock is depleted for $199.99 after rebate with a new two-year deal. Follow the break for details and specs on the 110 (spoiler: it's like pretty much every other 110, but with more voodoo subsidy math).

Continue reading Verizon prepping HP Mini 311, Mini 110 for launch

HP Envy, dv8 Quad, Mini 311, and numerous other Windows 7 machines now available to order

by Ross Miller posted Oct 18th 2009 at 1:59PM

Since today really needs a good heap of news to somewhat balance out yesterday's glut, HP has updated its online store to give it an abundance of new and revised Windows 7 machines, including the Envy series (Beats edition and all), Pavilion dm3 with AMD Neo or Intel CULV chips, Core i7-packing dv6t/ dv7t / dv8t Quad editions, and the not-so-netbook CQ61. We're still not seeing the previously-leaked dm1 ultraportable anywhere, but the Mini 311 and a slightly updated Mini 110 are, with the option to jump from Windows XP to 7 for a cool $50 / $30 respectively. Most everything in the store, desktops and laptops, has been updated to at least include Windows 7 as the standard shipping OS, and while all claim free 2-day shipping, estimated shipping dates begin sometime the week after 7's Oct 22nd launch -- no early chances here, folks. Browse the read links and keep an eye on the shiny red "new" icons (no flashing GIFs, we're afraid) for the entire revised lineup.

Update: As a number of you have pointed, the Envy product page is a bit, well, sloppy. Typos and missing commas notwithstanding, it seems to biggest laugh is the cost of customization, i.e. $800 more to downgrade from a 500GB HDD to 320GB or 250GB (same price), or $900 more to downgrade from 6GB or 4GB of DDR3 memory. Yeah, it might be best to hold off on that one until HP get the kinks worked out.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Read - Desktop lineup
Read - Laptop lineup
Read - Envy series lineup

HP Mini 311 set for spec bump, Windows 7 Professional

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 12th 2009 at 8:47AM

With the overdue passing of Windows XP into the next world comes the cheery note that Microsoft's ceiling on netbook specs will also be no more -- and the Mini 311 is among the first to get upgraded in time for the new king of Windowstan. The already competent performer will be getting the full (non-LE) ION treatment, max memory of 3GB, an 80GB SSD option or up to 320GB of the old school storage stuff, and a choice of Windows 7 flavors up to the Professional level. This info comes from the machine's maintenance guide, so we can't be certain of when the upgrades will be ready for consumption, but HP's track record would suggest the answer to that is soon.

[Via Liliputing]

Dell bringing Mini 3i Android set to AT&T?

by Nilay Patel posted Oct 7th 2009 at 5:22PM

Dell, Android, and AT&T have been mentioned in an awful lot of whispered sentences over the past few months, so today's Wall Street Journal report on a Round Rock-sourced Android set for Ma Bell isn't exactly a huge surprise. Apparently Dell's making some tweaks to the Chinese-market Mini 3i in preparation for a 2010 Stateside launch -- obviously the China Mobile-specific OPhone build would have to go away in favor of full-flavored Android, and we'd bet that WiFi and a nicer camera make their way into the casing as well. That's really all we know for now, but we're sure Dell's soon to hold an 8AM event where some random exec will pull it out of his pocket for 10 seconds before putting it away and announcing Inspiron laptops can now be ordered with giant Affliction dragon logos painted on them. You just keep doing what you do, Dell.

[Via Phone Scoop]

HP Mini 311 reviewed with earnest, ION-enhanced affection

by Ross Miller posted Oct 6th 2009 at 10:04PM

It's taken longer than we thought for a honest-to-goodness NVIDIA ION-powered within arm's reach, but sure enough the HP Mini 311 accomplishes just that. Laptop's managed one of the first reviews, and much like what the site intimated with earlier benchmarks, you're looking at a surprisingly capable and sleek $400 netbook with good battery life. In fact, the only major complaint seems to be a trackpad that's a bit too rough for the reviewer's tastes -- probably a sacrifice worth making if you're definitely in the market for a new ultraportable right now. Hit up the read link for the full review.

Dell's Inspiron Mini Nickelodeon Edition oozing out now for $329

by Darren Murph posted Oct 2nd 2009 at 9:08AM

If you've ever had a yearning for a slime covered netbook, today's your lucky day. Dell's Inspiron Mini Nickelodeon Edition -- which is absolutely SpongeBob-approved -- is now up for order starting at $329. As for specs, it's pretty much a standard Mini 10v underneath, with a 10.1-inch (1,024 x 600 resolution) display, Windows XP Home, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a GMA950 graphics set, WiFi, 3-cell battery, 1.3 megapixel webcam and a totally played 1.6GHz Atom processor. Oh, and a slimed lid and palm rest, which are likely the one two aspects that truly matter here.

[Thanks, Simon]

INQ Mini 3G review

by Vladislav Savov posted Sep 18th 2009 at 2:00PM

The INQ Mini 3G is quite the intriguing little phone. It has the dimensions and outward appearance of a standard issue featurephone, yet aims to provide the multifunctional utility of the bulkier QWERTY keyboard-sporting smartphones that now roam these lands. With deep integration of Facebook, Twitter and Skype, it's designed to be a do-it-all social networking device, so we thought we'd run a few status updates through it to see if the latest spin on an award-winning heritage lives up to its billing. Make the short journey to Engadget Mobile, via the read link below, to find out.

Gallery: INQ Mini 3G Review

ASUS TS mini home server makes its blurrycam debut

by Ross Miller posted Sep 12th 2009 at 3:29PM

If these China-borne blurrycam photos are to believed, ASUS is following Acer into the home server market with the TS mini. Along with the images came some alleged specs, conveniently sized up with its rival's easyStore Home Server, showing it to be lighter, taller, and half the width, but also having room for only two 3.5-inch SATA drives versus four in the Acer version. It's all run by a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 with 2GB RAM, an ethernet port, and storage expansion options including six USB 2.0 and two eSATA ports. What's that, you want price and release date? It seems no one can confirm this device has even gone beyond the prototype stages, so don't pencil this into your holiday wish list just yet.

[Via We Got Served]

HP Mini 311 listings appear on support site

by Ross Miller posted Sep 9th 2009 at 1:51AM

The HP Mini 311 may not be confirmed by the Mothership just yet, but that isn't stopping the ION-equipped netbook from popping up on the company's support pages, in 37 different sub-flavors (don't read too much into that, it's just the way the company works -- after all, Pavilion z2300 has 31 entries of its own). It still doesn't answer the question of when we'll see the potent portable, but at least we know it's inevitable at this point.

Update: NotebookItalia has a boatload of press shots, and we must say, we're digging the style.

[Thanks, onelove]

Nokia N97 Mini press photo outed, existence still not official

by Ross Miller posted Aug 25th 2009 at 5:23PM

We've already gotten quite an eyeful of Nokia's N97 Mini -- so much so that it's hard to believe this thing still isn't official. So be it, though, here's the first official press shot we've seen, from the same site that revealed the N900 pic earlier. Feeling any more excited about it now than you were yesterday? Us neither.

[Via Mobile Bulgaria]

Nokia N97 Mini previewed: not so mini, not so great

by Ross Miller posted Aug 24th 2009 at 4:46PM

As sure as the sun, Mobile-review's Eldar Murtazin managed to nab a very early look at the still yet-to-be-announced Nokia N97 Mini, and as if we needed another reminder, the FCC filing wasn't kidding with that 1:1 scale. Turns out it only takes "around a centimeter" difference to earn the "mini" nomenclature in Finland, and in addition to that peculiarity, the company's apparently managed to make the keyboard actually worse than its predecessor -- no small feat, if you ask us. Of course, we haven't had a chance to try it ourselves yet, but the prognosis so far isn't so good. Perhaps more interesting is good ole' Eldar's teasing about a number of other touchscreen Nokia devices, some without keyboards, that'd target the same segment as the N97 Mini, including one he'll be revealing and previewing tomorrow -- and no matter what it is, we can all but guarantee with supreme confidence that it'll have a more compelling raison d'être than this thing.

PSP Minis, Digital Comics get their own promo videos

by Nilay Patel posted Aug 18th 2009 at 8:39PM

The PS3 Slim might be getting all the attention today, but the new PSP Minis bite-sized games and PSP Digital Comics service are actually potentially game-changers as well -- so of course they get their own promo videos. Minis are 100MB or smaller games that will launch on the PlayStation Store the same day the PSP Go arrives, and while the launch lineup doesn't have any standout must-haves, we think they'll be quite popular. The real sleeper might be the Digital Comics service, though, which will launch with Marvel titles and eventually add more publishers -- although pricing and other details haven't been announced, we've got a feeling quite a few PSP owners will be into the idea of getting comics on the go. Innovative new ideas or clever reaction to games and ereaders on the iPhone? Hit the break, watch the videos, and sound off.

Continue reading PSP Minis, Digital Comics get their own promo videos

Sony announces 'snackable' 100MB Minis for PSN Store

by Darren Murph posted Aug 18th 2009 at 1:23PM

Over in beautiful Cologne, Germany, Sony has just confirmed what we've suspected for months now. Exclusive to the PSN Store, loyal Sony gamers will soon have access to a new segment of titles, ones that'll be available anytime and anywhere that there's an internet connection. The 100MB (or less) selections -- which are being officially called Minis -- are designed to take advantage of the "smaller development cost on the PSP," and if all goes well, we'll see 15 games (such as Tetris, Hero of Sparta, MiniGore and Fieldrunners) launching on October 1st. There's been no mention yet of how expensive these "snackable" apps / games will be, but we're holding Sony to its promise of 50 by the end of 2009.

Update: Press release after the break.

Continue reading Sony announces 'snackable' 100MB Minis for PSN Store

Inspiron Mini 13 now listed on Dell Canada website

by Nilay Patel posted Aug 18th 2009 at 12:51PM

Dell might have axed the Mini 12, but it seems like there's quite a few models waiting to fill the void -- we just saw the Inspiron 11z go on sale this morning, and now there's a mysterious link for an "Inspiron Mini 13" showing up on the Dell Canada site. We're assuming that means the hot new Inspiron 13 that launched in Singapore last month is about to make its North American debut with Mini branding -- and although calling a 13-inch machine with a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo and ATI Mobility Radeon HD4330 graphics a "Mini" seems a little odd, we can't say we'd be surprised if it came to pass. We're digging for more, keep a sharp eye.

[Thanks, Chris]