Dell to Enter the Mini-Notebook Arena

[Chris Gohlke]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.notebooks.com/2008/05/28/dell-inspiron-mini/' target='_blank'>http://www.notebooks.com/2008/05/28...-inspiron-mini/</a><br /><br /></div><em>&quot;Michael Dell gave a quick look of this tiny shiny notebook at the D6 conference today. Gizmodo editor Brian Lam snapped a few pics of the notebook that&rsquo;ll compete with the ASUS Eee PCs and the HP Mini-note 2133. Dell&rsquo;s not releasing the details on this one yet, but the Dell blog did have a couple of more pics. The shiny lid looks nice, but the keyboard/palm rests looks too budget for my taste.&quot;<br /><br /></em><img border="0" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1212614764.usr10.jpg" alt="" /><br />Awfully pretty when it is closed, not so much when it is open.&nbsp; I'd like to see someone go in the opposite direction though.&nbsp; No, I don't necessarily want an ugly machine, but since these are lightweight and portable, why not put a little bit into making them rugged rather than pretty.&nbsp; I carry my Asus in my bag all the time, so I'd like to see it be able to take a beating.&nbsp; Seems that for models using an SSD, it would just be a matter of rubberizing the case and perhaps adding some protection for the screen.&nbsp;

[Felix Torres]

I dunno; I see nothing wrong with the inside.
Bland, perhaps, but the keys look close to full-size, the screen looks decent-size (9-10"), and the touchpad buttons are below, not beside the pad.
Not really much you can do with that form factor/price-point other than mess with those. Plus the storage; CPU will likely be the ubiquitous Atom, RAM will be the usual 1-2GB.
What would make it interesting would be if they bothered with a properly optimized Vista install...
Worth keeping an eye on final specs and price...

Things should get interesting in the second half of the year since everybody (big boys and small) is falling all over themselves to play in this new arena (except the boys from Cupertino).

Now lets see somebody do a slate tablet in this form factor...

These boys have a really good shot of the keyboard; looks very nice.
Some reports have it out this month, with the 1.6GHz Atom, 1280 by 800 screen and under $500.

Your Blog Blog Archive Something from Dell at D6 (http://yourblog.direct2dell.com/2008/05/28/something-from-dell-at-d6/)

[Jason Dunn]

I think it looks pretty damn good actually! Far better than the EEE in my opinion - one of the reasons why I never picked the EEE up is that is was just so damn ugly on the inside... :eek:

Guess what HP shipped to me yesterday? A Mini Note. Look for an unboxing/first impressions video later today!

[Chris Gohlke]

I hate you! :D

[Jason Dunn]

I hate you! :D

Don't hate the playa', hate the game! :D

[Jason Dunn]

HP 2133 Mini Note unboxing video posted (http://www.digitalhomethoughts.com/news/show/89443/unboxing-first-impressions-of-the-hp-2133-mini-note.html)!

[txa1265]

Love the unbox ... just got mine on Wednesday and will comment in your unbox thread. I love Dell, so it will be interesting to see what they put out ...