Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Laptop Review & Specs

Review

1. Dell Inspiron Mini 10 (Pine Trail) at laptopmag

Dell’s netbooks have always been in the middle of the pack. They’ve typically offered sleek designs and plenty of customization options, but not the best ergonomics or battery life. This time around Dell took full advantage of Intel’s new Atom N450 processor (Pine Trail) to give its Inspiron Mini 10 a major boost of endurance. Thanks in part to this more efficient CPU, the Mini 10 offers over 9 hours of battery life without a bulging battery. We especially like the more distinctive look, not to mention the several fun color options. You also get a 250GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, and Windows 7 Starter Edition. At $369, the Mini 10 is fiscally attractive, too. But has Dell done enough to catch up to the likes of Acer, ASUS, and Toshiba?

2. Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Netbook at cnet

As a master of the build-to-order PC, it’s no surprise that Dell has managed to create a reasonably customizable version of the Netbook. While most vendors offer them as one-size-fits-all solutions (or with only very minor options, such as color and hard drive), the Inspiron Mini 10 has plenty of ways it can become the perfect Netbook for you.

Our $593 review unit has some features that are far from the Netbook standard, including a higher-resolution 1,366×768 screen, an HDMI output, a TV tuner, a funky lid design, and an edge-to-edge glass overlay on the display. Shell out even more, and you can get built-in mobile broadband or GPS.

Of course, at nearly $600, this is getting dangerously close to mainstream laptop territory, and we could think of several better ways to invest that kind of money in a laptop. And, if you’re just a fan of the wide flat keys and reasonably slim design of the Mini 10, you can get virtually the same experience from the budget-friendly Mini 10v, which starts at just $299.

Specs