The Official Dell Inspiron Mini 12 Thread!!!

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1210/en/sm/inverter.htm#wp1128796

FWIW: Official docs are once again posted at Dell's site...

 

that is interesting thanks for pointing it out, higher than i would have expected for japanese market

it's 89,800 YEN which converts (today) to about $930 US or a whopping $1440 AUS. i sincerely doubt the aussie version would be more than $999 though.
i guess each region has a starting price for it's release which may or may not convert well to another region
wait and see game now

 

As always! Thanks so much, Somms!

Yes, that is high pricing... And, yes it is a *wait and see* game
Maybe it will come down for certain regions! *hope*

Cin

 

im pretty sure the normal price will be cheaper.. well they would have to be cheaper.. otherwise the HP Mini 1000 kills this model.

 

Oh, so agreed..the HP Mini is very nice looking! So many Netbook choices being released now and in the future..Will make a strong market for pricing/specs, etc


Cin

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzW59yck8sY

 

It will be much cheaper in the US compared to Japan.
Just compare the local prices of any laptop in Japan and usually it is a few hundred to several hundred dollars cheaper in the US.

Some direct conversions.. compare those to local prices.

eg.dell xm1130:
119,980.00 JPY in Japan. (1,215 USD)

asus eee pc 901 12G
54,700.00 JPY (554 USD)

acer aspire one
49,800.00 JPY = 504.346 USD

 

Hey J...Thanks for posting that vid'
Very interesting, indeed!


Cin

 

Dell Inspiron Mini 12 First Impressions; The $600 MacBook Air??
http://blog.laptopmag.com/dell-inspiron-mini-12-first-impressions-the-600-macbook-air

Nice pics.

Strange though that this seems very pre production, so it might take longer than thought.

 

Went to the store in Tokyo and played around on one for a few minutes. Nice looking machine. Looks well built and looks more like a laptop than a netbook. Japanese keyboard is a bit cramped though. No problems navigating around the desktop with the trackpad. Everything worked smoothly and was relatively snappy.

Interesting thing is that 2 aisles away, they were selling a new Thnkpad X61 also with a 12.1in screen, C2D T7250, 1GB ram, 80GB HD, fingerprint reader and Intel a,b/g wireless for the exact same price. Not much difference in size and weight but much more PC for your money IMHO.

 

That isn't good. I'd take the Thinkpad over the Dell any day. The Atom cannot even compete with the the C2D.

 

Thanks for all the info & the linky's, Phil!
*taking a further look*

Cin

 

At those prices I would agree. Although I don't like the looks of the Thinkpad. Here in the Netherlands the cheapest Thinkpad X61 is 1200 euro. I'm hoping the Dell will be half of that.

What's the price in Tokyo?

 

both the inspiron 12 and the X61 were JPY89,800 or roughly US$900

 

Thanks. Interesting that Tokyo already has them in the shops while the US has pre-production samples. I wonder why that is.

 

It is strange, but nothing like as strange as the pricing!! The Japanese get very expensive Dells and cheap Thinkpads.... Exactly the opposite of Europe.

 

I agree, I would've hoped it would be a US release first...


Cin

 

Because this one of the few (only?) places in the world they can sell it for US$900 and actually get some people to buy it. Very few are paying that much directly though. It is being sold only in a few retail stores that are actively tying the purchase to a 2yr contract with a mobile broadband provider. It is "only" US$500 with a 2yr contract. Or you can get an Asus EEPC for free with a 2yr subcription. Clearly, about US$400 is being kicked back to the netbook maker so Dell is getting about US$900 for a machine that from the comments on this board, appears that no one in the US will buy for more that US$500.

 

X61's are being closed out in the retail stores and are 50% off. Gotta make way for the X300's. Usually laptops are around 30% more expensive here in Japan compared to the US.

 

http://chinese.engadget.com/2008/11/06/dell-08-11-media-workshop/

more inspiron 12 pictures on Engadget

 

Those are great comparison photos, from Engadget!!! Thanks alot for sharing the linky with them


Cin

 

Sad to see the shrunken punctuation keys. And all that room to the sides of the keyboard.

 

Ta.

Interesting and it shows how slim the 12 is, but it's a pity they didn't do a side-by-side with the lids closed to show the overall thickness.

 

Yep, saw that! But I thought they weren't bad pictures for a comparison


Cin

 

I can't wait for some real world opinions on how it runs. Maybe they will even let you overclock or at least make it easy like the MSI to overclock the processor. I know that is wishful thinking.

 

I'm looking forward to that, also! ....
You never know on the overclocking..


Cin

 

Yea, but it just doesn't seem like a Dell kinda thing, but I guess the fact you can't upgrade the memory (according to online facts) is confusing me on dells netbook marketing and build campaign.

 

seems they don't want the atom 12" compete with their centrino2 12" market...
and the fact that the memory cannot be upgrade seems frustrated if running vista...

 

Yea, 1gb on vista seems like a MS suggestion thing. Maybe its a stripped down version of vista. We know they have plenty I wish I could think of the name but there is even a version of vista specifically made for third world countries.

 

It's not stripped down, looks like normal Vista Basic to me.

 

I guess vista basic won't be bad personally I use more than 1gb for XP, but from what I hear vista basic isn't so bad with 1 gb. I think I actually used a PC with 1gb (desktop) that was using 1gb and basic it didn't seem bad. It still seemed better with tweaking tho.

 

Full review by Laptopmag:
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/dell-inspiron-mini-12.aspx

Ouch the six cell sticks quite a lot.

"The Mini 12’s 60GB, 4,200-rpm hard drive boots Vista out of the box in a sluggish 2 minutes"

 

seems vista on inspiron 12 is a pain...
and the 6 cells... not slim anymore...

 

Those boot-up times are dreadful.

It looks more and more like a missed opportunity, but for those that don't need the performance, the 12" screen may make it worthwile.

Dell said they waited while other manufacturers released netbooks and made mistakes so that the Mini 9 would be better and 'just right'. Will other manufacturers look at the I12 and decide they can do better. Will Acer/Asus/MSI et al put out a 12" with an N270 and a 2.5"HDD or SSD?

 

Oohh.. I don't know if I like the looks of that 6 cell on the I12..

By it sticking out that far..it takes away from the look of the I12...

My 9 cell on my 1530 doesn't stick out like that at all! It's placed flush with the rear of the 1530, leaving it more *elevated*!!! Why couldn't they do something like that vs. the way it sticks out?


Cin

 

Definitely not getting one of these now.

 

u can use it as a handle.. =)

 

Yeah, true!

But still...it just doesn't look right...(well to me it doesn't)
I just don't like things sticking out, and to me this was a silly way to have the 6 cell attach to the I12...(to each their own, I guess) Evs.


Cin

 

well then dont have a 6 cell.. lol..
at least it tilts it upwards for ergonomy..

 

That's why I said to each their own
Yes, it tilt's up, for good elevation.. but a better design like with the 9 cell on the 1530, would've worked and looked better, I feel.

And, if I were to get it, yes..it would not be with the 6 cell.


Cin

 

In a nutshell:

The same size keyboard as in a 10" netbook. Shrunken punctuation keys.
Slower hard drive than in other netbooks.
Glossy screen.
Funky battery.
Vista.

Fail.

 

The only netbook with 12" screen.
The only netbook with 1280*800 resolution.

I'm still interested.

If it comes at a good price I'll grab one and install XP on it.

 

The slower hard drive isn't necessarily a deal breaker since you can probably opt for the SSD. But the other things are true:

Small keyboard for a larger chassis
Non-LED screen
Horrendous battery placement
Only upgradeable to 1gb of RAM
Borderline expensive for its capabilities
Vista

 

A "real" SSD would be prohibitively expensive. Unless you mean the "ASUS" version, which also has its issues.

 

Nice ......Hopefully it will be a good, affordable price.


Cin

 

Any availability dates on this one?

 

I've been checking daily and nothing as of yet

(First one to post the latest news on the release date, gets a homemade cookie)!


Cin

 

Ok, but how will you send me the cookie?

 

Well, one of my dearest friends lives in the Netherlands, so I would have to bring with me when I visit this Spring!

And, then I can drop it off somewhere nearby, or something LOL


Cin

 

Ok I'll be checking the Dell Us website every minute