Dell Inspiron Mini 10 - Intel Z520, 160 GB HDD - $429

[Rehan]

http://www.dell.ca/twitteroffers currently has the Mini 10 starting at $429, with no extra charge for choosing one of the colours. You can't drop any options to make the price any lower, but upgrade options such as 6-cell battery are available.

Also, they have the Mini 12 with XP for $529.
Or you can get the Mini 12 with Ubuntu for $479 from http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-inspiron-12?c=ca&cs=cadhs1&l=en&s=dhs

(Neither the Mini 10 or the Mini 12 is a good Hackintosh candidate.)

[gohtor]

isn't it still possible to put hackintosh on it?

[Rehan]

isn't it still possible to put hackintosh on it? The GMA 500 chipset is incompatible with OS X 10.5.

[gohtor]

The GMA 950 chipset is incompatible with OS X 10.5.

sounds like 500 and 550 (mini 10) are the ones to avoid. i tried mini 9 and it had the gma 950 chipset if i'm not mistaken.

http://www.hackint0sh.org/forum/f133/63634.htm

[henrycao8]

how iz z520 anyway? how powerful is it compare to n270?

[horco]

Yes anyone have this or any reviews?
Thankshttp://www.*******************/user1/sper.gif

[Jaremy T]

There is some talk of the difference here:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/156766/intels_atom_grows_up_moves_out_of_netbooks.html

also a comparison here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Atom_microprocessors

looks like they use a different chipset and are less power hungry in exchange for more $$. I didn't read any head to head benchmark's so someone else could probably provide more info.

[MooseTits]

Don't mean to threadjack but does anyone sell 3G compatible netbooks in Canada?

[johndoe]

The mini 10 has 1 GB of ram and thats the max, apparently its not removable or upgradable to 2GB like the mini 9.

The mini 9 will accept a 2GB DDR2 SODIMM and I believe the extra ram will help make your Hackintosh perform better.

Also the Mini 10 has two CPU choices a 1.33 and a 1.6, I dont know how the performace of those two CPUs compare to the 1.6 in the mini 9, but its something you should be aware of.

[don_lee103]

1GB of ram + 1.8" hard drive = slow as hell

[Rehan]

sounds like 500 and 550 (mini 10) are the ones to avoid. i tried mini 9 and it had the gma 950 chipset if i'm not mistaken.

http://www.hackint0sh.org/forum/f133/63634.htm Right you are... :)

[drool]

1GB of ram + 1.8" hard drive = slow as hell

Well its a netbook, you would play crysis on it http://**********************/s/happy.gif

[don_lee103]

Well its a netbook, you would play crysis on it http://**********************/s/happy.gif

I agree but 40-80gb is certainly not a good number neither. If the cpu can't handle crysis, I want it to be able to carry lots of music at least.

[alpha441]

very fast boot, due to ROM storage, other hdd access is slow but it is ok

Internet browsing / preiinstalled MS office suite / MP4 playback is lanching like a normal laptop and no lagging

make sure go for $50 upgrade from Z520 (1.3) to Z530 (1.6)

Z530 and N270: different is HT / lower voltage and etc.....

I would love the N280 (1.66) / BlueTooth / WWAN included in the price, and not option charge, too bad!

mini10 had a HDMI port, amazing.

I won't go for mini12 for $5xx dollar, where a normal notebook would be a better choice

mini9 screen too small

[Lord Denning]

scary that they are discounting it so heavily already.

Listed for the first time last week for $499US. At today's dollar that is almost $650, and already the sales are on.

[rivet]

Is there a HDMI port? Thanks.

very fast boot, due to ROM storage, other hdd access is slow but it is ok

Internet browsing / preiinstalled MS office suite / MP4 playback is lanching like a normal laptop and no lagging

make sure go for $50 upgrade from Z520 (1.3) to Z530 (1.6)

Z530 and N270: different is HT / lower voltage and etc.....

I would love the N280 (1.66) / BlueTooth / WWAN included in the price, and not option charge, too bad!

mini10 had a HDMI port, amazing.

I won't go for mini12 for $5xx dollar, where a normal notebook would be a better choice

mini9 screen too small

[zulu888]

there IS an HDMI port but the stupid thing is you can't upgrade the RAM

[Sushi Roll]

Seems like it has an HDMI port,

http://images.macnn.com/esta/content/0902/dellinspironmini10-handson4.jpg

But I can't seem to find any VGA port.

http://images.macnn.com/esta/content/0902/dellinspironmini10-handson3.jpg

[Raocorp]

damn the mini 12 only has a 40GB PATA Hard Drive (4200 RPM). thats terrible. and only has 60/80 gig options. both also being 4200rpm pata options. thats brutal.

i think i'll stick with my u100

[mystery]

1GB of ram + 1.8" hard drive = slow as hell

Actually 1GB is enough for Windows XP. The Mini 10 has a 2.5" 5400 rpm hard drive, which isn't slow.

I might get one of these (in red) for my mother who only needs to word process and maybe surf the 'net.

[rahzel]

Price now down to $399 without colour choice.
$399 laptop with HDMI... I've read that this GMA500 chipset supports video acceleration which would make this a very neat little HTPC if it can handle 720p and 1080p. Anyone read anything about this? I can't seem to find any good reviews.

[Magoomba]

Would you guys take this over the Asus 1000HE?
What's the battery life like on the Dell Mini 12 with 1.6GHz processor and the 6-cell battery?
How would performance compare to 1000HE?

Thx.

[Justin]

I am unable to find the 6 cell battery upgrade for the Mini 10. How much extra is it?

[Cjohnson202]

Took a week for my dell to ship, should be here next week :)

[shawn99]

is this laptop FANLESS? The fan and the churning very annoying on laptops

[rahzel]

Would you guys take this over the Asus 1000HE?
What's the battery life like on the Dell Mini 12 with 1.6GHz processor and the 6-cell battery?
How would performance compare to 1000HE?

Thx.

I believe this netbook is fanless. There is no option YET for a 6-cell but rumour has it that it will soon be available with a 1360x768 16:9 10" screen. Currently it has a 1024x576 so you lose 24 vertical pixels. I find 600 barely enough so I'm holding off until the 720p screen becomes an option. Battery life of the 3-cell is around 2:45. I'm not too sure what chipset the 1000HE uses but this one uses a GMA500 that is supposed to do hardware video acceleration. Even with the 1.33ghz processor, it should be able to do 720 and 1080p. O, and it's got an HDMI out so it would be a simple 1-cable connection to bigscreen LCDs. Pop in a wireless keyboard and mouse to one of the USB ports and you have a portable HTPC.