News - Dell raises netbook stakes with Inspiron Mini 12

[HEXUS]

If you've been waiting for a netbook that offers something a little different, here's one with a 12in widescreen display.

Read more.

[directhex]

Now here's a funny thing.

Microsoft's preferential pricing for XP on netbooks comes with a maximum spec attached - if a netbook exceeds the following, no discount rate XP:
* 10.2" screen
* 1 GiB RAM
* 160 GB disk
* 1.6 GHz CPU

This one is obviously in excess of that (hence why they offer Vista instead of XP) - but how much will it affect the price delta between Windows and Linux models?

[miniyazz]

Now here's a funny thing.

Microsoft's preferential pricing for XP on netbooks comes with a maximum spec attached - if a netbook exceeds the following, no discount rate XP:
* 10.2" screen
* 1 GiB RAM
* 160 GB disk
* 1.6 GHz CPU

This one is obviously in excess of that (hence why they offer Vista instead of XP) - but how much will it affect the price delta between Windows and Linux models?

Surely, though, to exceed that spec, each section within it must be exceeded. So yes, the screen is in excess, but unless it means 'meet or exceed' then the hard drive does not exceed it, being only 80GB; neither does the cheaper of the two CPUs. And if it means 'exceed' then neither the RAM nor CPU exceed it either.

Slight overuse of the word 'exceed' there, sorry :-p

[R3MF]

rubbish idea.

give me a 12" MSI Pr211 using the PUMA platform, at roughly the same cost and ten times as powerful.

[MSIC]

If a machine built around PUMA could cost the same, then i'd agree to go with that, although weight may still be an issue for some. I'd guess this would weigh around 1.5kg, and i'd like to see a low cost laptop weight that little.

I still think there is a market with this however, and it adds more choice for us.
Increasingly, the main rival for this would seem to be the Macbook air? And what does that cost - over a £1000?

Ol' Trusty Rev's has this on it's site, claiming a weight of 1.2kg (nice) and £390 ish (!!!)
http://www.trustedreviews.com/notebo...ron-Mini-12/p1

Looking at something like a Samsung Q210, obviously that has a much improved performance angle, however at closer to £700 and nearly 2kg, the Dell still has some good points, if your needs are small.

[Webby]

Hexus said 2.7lbs which is 1.25kg also the different CPU compared to the majority of netbooks is more than just a lower CPU TDP I think it may actually use a different chipset which may mean that battery life is significantly improved Will wait for a full review or at least some english specs

[directhex]

Surely, though, to exceed that spec, each section within it must be exceeded. So yes, the screen is in excess, but unless it means 'meet or exceed' then the hard drive does not exceed it, being only 80GB; neither does the cheaper of the two CPUs. And if it means 'exceed' then neither the RAM nor CPU exceed it either.

Slight overuse of the word 'exceed' there, sorry :-p

No, all items in the spec must be under the limit. You can't get preferential pricing on a 3ghz core2 machine just because it has a small screen & not much RAM.

[kingpotnoodle]

Does the use of a Zxxx CPU indicate it will not be using the pants 945 chipsets and will in fact be partnered with a 'Poulsbo' chip? Wonder how that would perform outside of MID territory...

Interesting product if the price is significantly lower than other 12" notebooks of similar weight (the Samsung mentioned above for example)...

[MadduckUK]

personally, im waiting for a netbook with a 15.4" screen and a core2.... oh hang on

[Webby]

If it does utilise the Poulsbo chipset then it will have a combined TDP for CPU and Chipset (<5W) of less than the TPD of the scaled down 945 chipset (5.5W) used in the current crop of netbooks. It remains to be seen what benefit that will have on battery life though and what the graphical performance of the newer chipset is like as it was designed for phones and mobile internet devices not netbooks which are expected to do a little bit more.