News Bits: Dell Inspiron Mini 12 Artist Editions, Struggling Economy Impacts Notebook Industry

Dell comes out with Mini 12 artist editions

On Friday Dell added artwork to its Inspiron Mini 12 netbooks. The five different editions were designed by Tristan Eaton. The artwork adds $50 to the price of the Mini 12.

Full Story (Electronista.com)
Via (Engadget.com)

Declining demand affecting notebook chassis makers

The demand for mid-range and high-end business-class notebooks is expected to decline sharply as businesses cut spending. Many of the higher-end notebooks use magnesium-aluminum alloy chassis; makers of these chassis are beginning to feel the effects of reduced demand. Netbooks are expected to bolster notebook sales in the fourth quarter.

Full Story (DigiTimes.com)

Dell exceeds profit forecasts with cost cutting

Dell was able to beat its earnings forecast due to its cost-cutting efforts. The company cut 8,300 jobs last year, and is working on restructuring its business model. In the past, Dell used its direct model to serve customers, but is now relying more on retailers to sell its products.

Full Story (NYTimes.com)

Left 4 Dead game now available

Left 4 Dead, a first-person shooter based on the Source engine, is now available, and our forum members have been playing it vigirously. In the Gaming forum, members are commenting on the game itself and how well it runs on their systems.

Many of our forum members are part of the NotebookReview.com Steam Community Group - they can be found playing co-operatively online every day!

 

Mini 12 is awesome WAY better then the 9's also L4D Baby!!! this game alraedy went gold i wonder how much they will sell?? Stay tuned.

 

I'm sorry, but whether on the Studio/Inspiron full-size line, or on these netbooks, I cannot say that I like those artist lids. They just see soooo busy and in odd colors, I would much rather save my money or put it toward upgrades for components....

Oh well, that's why there are choices-something for everybody

I noticed that it's using an IGP designed for embedded/kiosk applications (Intel GMA 500) and the Atom processor, rather than the GMA 950. I wonder if that's why they aren't offering Vista Home Premium? I tried Googling and read a short sales flyer from Intel about it, but came up empty. If that's the reason, then it's quite the disappointment, esp. considering that other netbooks like the EEE 900HA have GMA 950 graphics that handle Aero effects easily.

 

So who wants to guess which electronics company will be the first to ask for a bailout?

The Mini 12 is pretty nice. I agree that those artist lids are too busy, but at least they're just optional. I'm rather surprised to see Dell posting good news about their business. Hopefully they continue to improve and the effects start running over into other divisions.

 

Left 4 Dead is way too much fun, I've been playing quite a bit recently.

I am still not taking the netbook bait, the practicality is simply not there for me. Too light on power (can't run a full HD video), not enough battery life with the standard battery, and in general too small of keyboards. The Inspiron 12 is the best one yet I must say.

 

Red_Dragon, no offense but 80% of your posts recently have somehow involved a statement like that.

 

The Discuss link went to the Random Thread.

 

Seriously, what is the deal with DELL just putting some random art work on the lid alone . Anyone can do this by pasting a custom skin..Why cant they make real artist editions like HP ?

 

I was hoping dell would have a full keyboard(as in all the key's pressent)... oh well, still not buying a netbook.

 

Thanks for the info, Chaz!

The Inspiron Mini 9 also has these lids...

Because I am now torn between color choices, etc. I am ordering both the I9, and the I12 in 2 different colors. Cherry Red and Muse Orange!

I plan on playing with each for a week, and sending back the one that doesn't work for me!


Cin

 

I would think so. The Dell Mini 12 is using the new "Poulsbo" single-chip chipset with the 2.5 W Atom Z530 rather than the old 945GSE/ICH7M chipset with the 4.0 W Atom N270 like the other netbooks (excepting the VIA-powered HP Mini-Note 2133 and the AMD Turion X2-powered Everun unit.) The Poulsbo only supports 1 GB of DDR2 memory as a maximum, while the 945GSE officially supports 2 GB. We all know that Vista loves its RAM and does poorly with less than 2 GB, so any version of Vista on a machine limited to 1 GB RAM will be the most stripped-down version possible. On a related note, the Mini 12 should run pretty decently with Windows XP or Linux.

The GMA 950 is the name of the IGP in the Intel 945 chipset family, which includes the 945GSE northbridge used in the Eee and most other netbooks. The GMA 950 was the first Intel IGP able to handle the Vista Aero graphics (there was a huge flap about putting the "Vista Capable" sticker on Intel 915/GMA 900 IGPs that could NOT handle Aero.) The GMA 500 in the Poulsbo chipset used in the Mini 12 came along well after the GMA 950 was developed, but I don't know how well it can handle Aero.

Wikipedia has a decent overview of the various Intel GMA IGPs (type in "Intel GMA.") Intel's specification website (ark dot intel dot com) has much more in-depth information.

EDIT: I would have posted URLs except the system won't let me do that until I have posted 15 posts. I am guessing it is an anti-spam-marketer feature, not a bug...

 

Dell is following Toshiba's lead with the outrageous lid design and I'm sure this'll be a trend, maybe just to spite the naysayers. I don't know if the x305's chassis contains any elements of titanium but they knew where to make price cuts that work. Unfortunately for the Toshiba X305 q708 it had to strike at a time of financial crisis or I'd already have bought one.