Inspiron11z
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Sprint invites Dell Inspiron Mini 1012 and Inspiron 11z into the dual-mode 3G / WiMAX league
It's been a good long while since a Dell Mini 10 with WiMAX crossed the FCC, but it's finally headed to Sprint next month, and its big brother the 11.6-inch Dell Inspiron 11z is along for the ride as well. Both sport Intel Centrino Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 chips to serve up Sprint 4G and 802.11n WiFi, plus EV-DO Rev. A for 3G speeds on an unspecified secondary card of some sort. The Mini 10's mostly your standard 10-inch Atom N450 netbook, but we're happy to say this one comes with a six-cell battery, and the Inspiron 11z got a modern 1.2GHz Core i3-330UM processor under the hood, which should contribute favorably to both longevity and speed. The Mini 10 is free on two-year contract, while the 11z will set you back $150; find both at Sprint stores starting November 14th. PR after the break.
Dell adds dual-core SU1400 CPU, other options to Inspiron 11z
Dell's 11.6-inch Inspiron 11z just went on sale last month, and already the outfit is opening up the options for those not entirely pleased with the single $399 model. Starting today, a $479 configuration is available to ship with a 250GB HDD and Vista Home Premium (with a Windows 7 upgrade, of course), and if that's still not enough, prospective customers can soon select their 11z in a variety of colors. We're talking Alpine White, Ice Blue, Jade Green, New Cherry Red, Passion Purple and Promise Pink, with the latter contributing $5 to breast cancer research. As for optional hardware upgrades, you can slot a dual-core Pentium SU1400 CPU in there alongside 4GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive. As of this very moment, Dell has yet to open up the CTO doors, but we're guessing an admin is on that as we speak. Right, Dell?
Dell Inspiron 11z reviewed with high hopes, disappointing realities
Dell's 11.6-inch Inspiron 11z sure looks promising, with a sub-$500 price tag and an Intel Celeron 723 / non-Atom processor, but if you ask the gang at Notebook Review to describe it, it's unfortunately a pretty big letdown. Some minor issues with the body from the get-go, it's apparently got one of the worst touch pads the site's ever seen, and the 1.2GHz processor ended up underperforming compared to its Atom-based competition (although we gotta wonder how using Windows 7 instead of Vista might help here). There is some good here, with the GS45 chipset and X4500 graphics allowing for decent 3D performance and smooth 720p playback. Still, we can't help but have some hopes dashed here -- better luck next time, right? Hit up the read link for the full review, with video.
Dell's 11.6-inch Inspiron 11z thin-and-light now on sale for $399
Dell may have ditched the 12-inch Mini netbook, but for those still looking for something a touch larger than 10-inches, there's the all-new Inspiron 11z. Strictly classified as a "thin-and-light," this three-pound machine measures in at just one-inch thick and ships with a 1.2GHz Celeron 723 processor, a 1,366 x 768 LED-backlit panel, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a 250GB (5400RPM) SATA hard drive, GS45 integrated graphics, WiFi, a 3-cell battery and nary an optical drive to speak of. There's also a 1.3 megapixel camera, twin stereo speakers, an Ethernet port, three USB sockets, a 3-in-1 multicard reader and an HDMI output, though we get the feeling Windows Vista won't be too happy with the hardware. Thankfully, you can drop your $399 now and snag Windows 7 on the cheap here in just a few months.[Thanks, Joe]
