Dell was a latecomer to the netbook game but in recent months has jumped on
the bandwagon with models under the Inspiron mini tag. The Inspiron mini 9,
which sported a nine-inch screen, was soon joined by the larger screened
mini 12. The Inspiron mini 10 was conceived to fill the gap between these
two sizes but the smallest-screened model was officially discontinued at the
end of May and the 12-inch version now seems to be unavailable from Dell in
the UK.
The Dell Inspiron mini 10 landed on my desk a few weeks ago and an attractive
little package it makes. It’s a good bit smaller than a sheet of A4, weights
a slinky 1.2 kilos and has a good-looking glossy exterior in one of six
colours or five artistic designs (supposedly to show your unique
quirkiness). That glossy shell looks lovely but naturally attracts
fingerprints.
As for ports, it comes with three USB ports – one power USB and two USB 2.0s.
The power port means you can use it to charge up other devices even when the
netbook isn’t switched on.
One surprising option is the inclusion of an HDMI output, allowing you to
stream audio and video from the mini 10 to a high-definition television.
The first thing you notice when opening up the Inspiron mini 10 is its
keyboard. Dell claims it is 92% of the size of a full-size keyboard and it
extends out to the very edges of the casing. Not being able to type easily
is one of the major criticisms of smaller netbooks so those who find the
keyboards of the Asus Eees too cramped will prefer this. However, size does
not necessarily mean quality. The keys feel a little too plasticky and have
a tendency to wobble alarmingly under your fingers.
That large keyboard means less real estate for the trackpad and this has
resulted in the two mouse buttons being incorporated into the pad itself,
which can be annoying if you are used to a larger laptop with separate
buttons. That said, the trackpad is a rather clever – it allows multi-touch
gestures like the Apple iPhone and Macbook. This means you can pinch to zoom
in and out, drag two fingers to scroll around the screen and three fingers
to minimise and expand windows. You can also customise and disable these
gestures, if you prefer something different. If you haven’t used this type
of interface elsewhere, you will tear your hair out but persevere to get the
best out of it.
The next thing you notice is a very scrummy LCD screen, 10.1 inches across the
diagonal. The edgeless design is reminiscent of the Macbook models and a
clear improvement over the earlier Eee netbooks, whose screen surrounds
looked as though you could clip postcards underneath them.
The base model comes with a 1024x576 WSVGA screen but it’s worth paying the
extra £20 to upgrade to the 1366x768 HD screen.
At the top edge, there is a built-in webcam, complete with a light for
illuminating you when lighting conditions are poor.
As far as performance is concerned, there are the usual netbook challenges.
The mini 10 comes in both XP Home and Linux versions. The Linux version is
£100 cheaper and comes with an 8GB solid-state drive instead of a hard
drive. Under XP with 1GB of RAM, you can get away with running two or three
hungry applications before things start getting sluggish. Processing power
comes from an Intel Atom chip: there are three options, a 1.33GHz N270 (on
the mini 10v model), 1.33GHz Z520 or 1.60GHz Z530.
The standard models comes with a three-cell battery, which gives around three
and a half hours on very light use or more like two and a half if you have
wi-fi running the whole time. Business travellers would do well to shell out
the extra £40 for the six-cell battery. After a few hours running on mains
power, the underside became noticeably warm.
If you are looking at this model, you will also want to take a look at the
Asus Eee 1008HA Seashell, which is more expensive but has the slight edge on
looks and build. You might also want to take a look at Sony’s new netbook,
the Vaio W, which will come out later this summer but will cost nearer £400.
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