Sep 4 2008
Dell Inspiron Mini is going on sale today. The price for the 2.28 lb device with a 8.9 inch screen is $399 for the Windows XP and $349 for the Ubuntu processor. It has about 3 hours of battery life and comes in 4, 8, and 16 GB SSD options. There is built in Wi Fi, webcam and Bluetooth.
Via Gizmodo .
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Sep 04, 2008 @ 11:55:50
What? No red? Bah. I’ll wait until more colors come out.
Sep 04, 2008 @ 12:27:42
I have a hankering for a 7″ mini-lap. I have sepnt the last two days trying to buy an ASUS eee pc 8g and not managed it yet. Any advice re: repitable online stores with this in stock?
Sep 04, 2008 @ 14:00:21
Emily, I’m not sure which particular model or OS you’re looking for, but there are a few different models of the Asus UMPCs available through BestBuy.com and Amazon.com.
Jane, that little Dell is way cool. If I didn’t already have the 12.1″ HP, I’d definitely consider it. At 2.2 pounds, it’s still a little heavy to be used as my main ebook reader, but it would be a great solution if I had to choose only one all purpose device.
Although I have to admit that this Dell and some of the UMPCs concern me because they are offering Windows XP instead of Vista. Yes, I know Vista can be a PITA, but whether Microsoft replaces it quickly as it did with ME, or whether it continues to improve it, I worry about buying a device that has an older OS installed. Especially knowing that I couldn’t upgrade the OS without considerable additional expense and hassles to accommodate a resource hog like Vista. And while I know there are other OSs available, like Linux, it all goes back to needing a way to read my gazillion .LIT ebooks.
In any case, if Astak doesn’t come through with .LIT support on their 6″ eReader (and assuming Kindle 2.0 doesn’t add support for .LIT), I’ve been debating whether to go ahead and get the Asus, but it’s the XP that’s had me hesitating.
Sep 04, 2008 @ 14:06:24
I’d wait for more memory and disk space. Max RAM is 1 GB, unless you want to pop it out and install your own, which then voids the warranty. SSDs are great…but the price point is too high for what you get. If you have to haul around an external HD, what’s the point of a UMPC?
Sep 04, 2008 @ 14:36:57
I am after the ASUS EEE PC 8G model–Amazon is out of stock, buy.com gave me the run around until I cancelled out of frustration, newegg is out of stock, bestbuy lists no 7″ models. I have been trying, it seems not to be had from any major retailer that I know of.
Sep 04, 2008 @ 14:40:11
Do you have a Costco membership? I know that you can order them online through costco. I’m intrigued by the Dell but am waiting for a Touchscreen.
Sep 04, 2008 @ 14:46:17
Costco don’t seem to list anything below a 9″ :( I may end up saving some money here….
Sep 04, 2008 @ 14:51:10
I’ve been trying to find it somewhere local. I need to actually be able to type on the thing to justify buying one, and I won’t know that until I actually try it. Office Depot claims to have it, but I haven’t found it anywhere around here. Might just have to order it online and take a leap of faith.
Sep 04, 2008 @ 15:05:12
The other day, in the Perfect eReader comments, Barbara mentioned that she had an HTC Advantage. It’s a Windows Mobile PDA phone with a 5″ screen- although the strong magnets make it not such a good idea to carry in a purse with credit cards nearby.
BTW, after mentioning the weight on the Dell, I got curious about the Asus’ weight. WOW! I was surprised that even the smallest one weighs in at 2 pounds (in contrast, my iPAQ weighs about 6 oz). I may need to rethink my backup plan if Astak doesn’t come through for me.
BTW, does anyone know if I’m right in assuming that Microsoft Reader will NOT run in Linux?
Sep 04, 2008 @ 17:43:31
The lack of Vista on most netbooks is due to the hardware, isn’t it? Most netbooks have less RAM and slower processors and as a result, Vista just won’t run as efficiently or well. My impression has always been it’s a sacrifice of power for portability and affordability.
Sep 05, 2008 @ 01:58:18
Emily…Target has Asus computers on their website. Both the older and the newer.
Sep 05, 2008 @ 08:46:10
Thanks, gwen. they also don’t have the 8G but I gave in and ordered the 4G with XP. Which does save me some money.
Dec 08, 2009 @ 17:27:37
The best deal I have found so far is at http://www.mynetbookdirect.com. I got a huge bundle with a MSI Netbook, cooling stand, wireless mouse, case, usb drive, dvd-rw, and a ton of software. They also had easy pay which made it an even easier decision.