Dell Inspiron Mini IM102864 10.1Inch Red Netbook
January 7, 2010 by admin
Filed under $300 - $400, Dell, Products
The Inspiron Mini 10 allows you to stay connected in style! Choose your choice of colors to carry with you. The Inspiron Mini 10 boasts 10 of stylish viewing with a suprisingly large keyboard and yet is portable enough to take it anywhere! The large 160GB hard drive makes sure you never leave your music or your life at home! ....read more Average Customer Rating
Brand: Dell Model: IM10-2864 Price: $399.99 |   | |
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4 out of 5
Almost OK
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Bought the IM 10 with TV tuner. The touchpad makes me want to scream. The only time the mouse will follow my fingers (for 5-10 seconds) is if I spit on them. Dell owes a fix and an explanation to consumers. The TV Tuner does a poor job of picking up video signals. Out of 5, 4 were local religious stations. I was surprized by the weight of the battery. Certainly not a laptop to hold in one hand. Still exploring for the pros and hope I have discovered all the cons.
Ultra Portable is handy (with some issues)
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this for my youngest daughter who needed a laptop for High School Debate. What a world huh? Laptops have become an indispensable and back saving tool for getting and storing debate evidence and arguments. Her coach is not thrilled about Netbooks, but my oldest son recently bought one (as it is easier for his daily train commute), and had very high praises, so after looking and thinking about it I decided to get the Dell Mini.
What I figured was the big down side was the lack of an optical drive, but I figured well, it has USB ports so I’ll just hook up my external DVD writer, and she’ll be in business. Unfortunately, Dell in a smart business move but bad consumer relations idea, put no DVD encoder in the unit, and directs you to pay for an encoder. Or, one assumes, if you get the add on DVD unit for the Mini, from Dell (for about $100) one assumes that will take care of that. But here’s my deal on that, for the extra money I could have just got her what the coach wanted her to have in the first place.
All in all, it has been working all right for her, and the light weight is a big plus. Several software companies, have accommodating downloads just use the license key on the software disk to activate (for example MS Office 2007), and Kapersky even makes an internet security suite specifically for “Ultra-Portables”.
The Netbook has a very good wireless pick-up, it works at any location in the house, which is more than I can say about some of my other devices that were a lot more expensive.
So here’s the deal, I’m sold (at least for now) , but not overjoyed (yet).
Great Netbook!!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
These netbooks are great. performance is perfect for everyday computing… web browsing, word processing, simple spreadsheets. i use it every day around the house to look up recipes, check my facebook page, google whatever comes to mind without running upstairs to the big desktop.
The keyboard is a great size. the touchpad takes a bit to get used to, but i have never used one like this before. Afrer a day, its no problem. i would definitely recommend this product.
horrible cust service don’t buy a dell
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Don’t buy a Dell unless you want to talk to an Indian customer service call center where all they are trained to do is say is: “No! No! No!”, they are rude and talk over you, and finally disconnect the call. Don’t buy Dell! I will never make that mistake again. This company will not survive- sell the stock if you have any!
Some dialog boxes don’t fit the screen.
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
10.1″ netbooks with only 1024×600 resolution, instead of the standard 1024×768 resolution, do not have enough resolution to display many of the dialog boxes that you will encounter. You wont be able to move some of them around to display the accept or decline buttons, for example. This has a way of getting on your nerves.
Can barely handle word processing and web browsing
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
My office purchased this computer and I’ve been using it strictly for word processing, web browsing, and office-related instant messaging. Nothing gets saved on this computer, as it all gets saved to our shared office drive, and the computer is only 2 or 3 months old. However, the machine’s lag is killing my productivity. It takes forever to switch between different windows, and it takes forever to switch between tabs within a given web browser window. On a typical day, I will have perhaps 3 different Word documents open and perhaps 6 tabs in a given web browser window, which I wouldn’t expect to be excessive. In addition, the machine takes so long to shut down that I need to start the process 5 minutes before I plan on leaving for the day and, similarly, I have to plan accordingly when I arrive in the morning. Knowing what I know now about how long it takes to do simple tasks, I would never purchase this machine for myself. I thought these basic tasks were what a netbook was designed to handle.
1366×768 High-Def Display Makes the Mini 10 Worthwhile
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’d been wanting a netbook for quite awhile for reasons I can’t explain. I already have a laptop (XPS 1530) which I use as my main computer most of the time. So this was purely a want… not a need. I found a good refurbished Dell mini 10 through Dell’s outlet store for around $300 (there was a 15% coupon code available) that was configured almost exactly as I wanted. Here are the upgrades present in the unit I chose:
Ice blue color
1366×768 High-definition display (I believe it’s LED-backlit)
Intel Atom Z530 1.6 GHz processor
6-cell battery (56 WHr)
Integrated ATSC digital TV tuner
Bluetooth
Even with a fairly standard package savings of $179, this configuration new costs $564 (non-package price is a staggering $743). It’s really not worth $564 for any netbook, and $743 is obviously completely out of the question. Refurbished units from Dell are certified and come with a one-year warranty (two years with new) and the same lackluster India-based service that their new units come with.
However, if you can find this configuration for under around $350 ($375 at the very most), my opinion is that it’s well worth it.
First, the mini 10 is well-built. Everything fits well (save the battery, which I’ll cover later), and it just looks like a quality machine. The edge-to-edge glass covering the display is a very nice touch, and the colored case is beautiful (red and blue were really the only two non-black colors I’d have chosen). I personally think it’s tacky for Dell to charge an eye-popping $40 for colors in their new configuration process (black and white are standard colors). I could understand $10 or even $15, but $40 is a bit much for just getting a different-colored top shell.
The keyboard, said to be 92% of a traditional full-size laptop keyboard, is frankly outstanding. I was very, very pleasantly surprised. I’m a fast touch typist and had no problem adapting in minutes to the mini 10′s keyboard. There is no discernible keyboard flex, and the keys themselves respond well and feel natural under my fingertips. The full-sized right shift key is appreciated and the navigation keys (such as home, end, page up, etc.) are logically located, unlike those on the high-end XPS 1530 I have.
The display is gorgeous. I honestly cannot gush enough about it, and the resolution is what sets this netbook apart from nearly all others (including the standard mini 10 and the mini 10v). Going to 1366×768 from the near-ubiquitous 1024×576 in the netbook market is a near doubling of overall pixels, and a 33% increase in horizontal resolution. The effect is noticeable in the extreme. The display is LED-backlit and is incredibly bright, putting my CCFL-backlit XPS laptop to shame. In any sort of dimmed ambient lighting, I turn the mini 10′s screen brightness down to its minimum setting and it’s still plenty bright. This was my #1 requirement for the refurbished units I considered… it had to have the upgraded display. I would be hesitant to recommend the mini 10 over other excellent netbooks were it not for this option. It’s that impressive. Very, very few other netbooks offer a HD screen option, so this really sets the mini 10 apart.
I didn’t really care about HDTV, but I have to admit, it’s pretty cool. Opening the TV wizard initiated a scan and within a couple of minutes, 23 channels were locked in, and the pictures were sharp and beautiful. Now, the internal antenna isn’t particularly strong so Dell includes a nice little external HDTV antenna that plugs into an MCX port on the computer’s left side. The antenna can be set on its base on the table, or mounted to the top frame of the display with its included slide/clip. It works very well, but I can’t deny you would look like a chicken-fried dork sitting at a coffee shop with a rabbit-ear antenna protruding from the display of your netbook. HDTV is a cool option, but it wasn’t something I had to have. This pre-configured refurbished netbook just happened to have it, and it’s a neat little treat, but not at all necessary for me.
The tiny speakers on the mini 10 are out of sight, placed on the front underside of the chassis. Since the underside curves a bit, the speaker holes are not covered when the netbook is placed flat on a table. I have found that for system sounds, spoken dialog, and non-demanding sound effects, these speakers are perfectly adequate. They’re obviously lacking when it comes to music and more robust sound effects (explosions, etc.) — really, no surprises here. There’s a lovely 1/8″ headphone jack on the side that yields much better audio results, same as any laptop or netbook.
I got the upgraded Intel Atom Z530 processor (1.6 GHz from the 1.33 GHz of the standard Z520). There are plenty of techie reviews available that can quantify the difference between these processors. For my part, the Z530 seems to handle Windows XP just fine. My understanding is that the Z-series of Atom processors are more energy-efficient than the much more common N-series that proliferate in netbooks nowadays (N270/N280). So far, I have no complaints with the processor. Hard drive storage is the standard (and impressive) 160 GB at 5400 rpm. The drive is very quiet when being accessed, adequately fast, and doesn’t seem to run hot at all.
The integrated graphics are okay. Obviously this machine is not going to fare well when compared with full-featured laptops with discrete 256 MB or 512 MB video cards, but that’s not the niche the netbook seeks to fulfill. For most casual applications (watching videos on YouTube, uploading VGA videos shot with digicams, etc.), the mini 10 responds with aplomb. I haven’t tried using the HDMI output to stream video to a large monitor or TV, but my understanding is that the integrated graphics chip can’t really keep up with that sort of demand.
The mini 10 does tend to run warm after awhile, but reasonably so. My XPS 1530 gets noticeably hotter. I believe the mini 10 is fanless. There are four ventilation ports on the underside for passive cooling.
The 6-cell battery is a double-edged sword, to be certain. It’s ungainly, could have been designed better, is somewhat ill-fitting (it’s slightly loose even when latched securely into place), and obviously adds weight. But the benefits are unquestionable: I easily get 5.5 to 6 hours’ runtime between charges, and were I to switch everything down and go into major power-saving mode, perhaps only running WiFi with a dim screen, that might add another 30-40 minutes. It’s not a jaw-dropping battery life like some we’ve seen (8 hours), but it’s ample and sufficient for me. The 6-cell battery elevates the rear of the netbook when placed flat, so it facilitates cooling and also angles the keyboard nicely. It’s only when the computer is not in use that the added bulk of the battery is cumbersome. The AC adapter is slightly smaller than a deck of cards, well-designed (there’s no “brick” in the middle), dual-voltage, and relatively lightweight. A white LED on the adapter end (that plugs into the mini 10) indicates power.
Speaking of white LEDs, there is one on the mini 10 itself, the power indicator, that is incredibly obnoxious in a darkened room. It’s very bright, and, while when using the computer it’s not a problem, when you close the screen, the light is incredibly bright. After the computer goes into its hibernation mode, the light “breathes” and it’s equally annoying. White LEDs are great, but not in every application.
The touchpad has been roundly maligned in almost every professional review I’ve read. While it’s not the best touchpad in the world, the integrated buttons DO actually click and I’ve not had too many problems with the pad itself. It supports multi-touch gestures such as scrolling, zooming, flipping (like through pages or a folder of photos), rotating, and a couple of other shortcuts. One I like is just laying your hand (usually all your fingers) on the pad to immediately minimize all windows and show the desktop. Very slick. Discrete buttons would have been nice, but the way it is really isn’t awful, and I use a cordless travel mouse most of the time anyway.
Wireless communication features have been excellent. The integrated WiFi and Bluetooth cards have both worked flawlessly. No complaints at all. I have only the standard a/b/g WiFi card installed. The integrated 1.3 MP cam works seamlessly. My chat programs (MSN/Windows Live, Yahoo) detected and incorporated it easily. Quality seems to be good, as is the case with the adjacent microphone.
The weight of the netbook with the 6-cell battery is not bad, still under three pounds. It’s not breathtakingly light, but it’s very manageable, and it’s really only the protrusion of the upgraded battery that prevents the mini 10 from being sleek and light all around.
Probably the most egregious and glaring fault of the mini 10 is its non-upgradable RAM. The 1 GB DDR RAM installed on the machine is actually soldered to the motherboard. I’m sure Dell had some semblance of a reason for doing this, but they should have found a workaround, or included 2 GB to begin with if they truly had to solder it. It’s certainly no dealbreaker as 1 GB is largely sufficient in most XP application scenarios, but more memory is pretty much never a bad thing, and it was short-sighted of Dell to include only 1 GB of memory if it was going to be non-upgradable. This shortcoming has been lambasted on forums and comment boards, and rightly so. It is, in my opinion, the mini 10′s Achilles’ heel.
Overall, however, this netbook is very good. For me, the upgrades to a true HD display and the inclusion of HDTV (albeit gimmicky and geeky all at the same time) are what help the mini 10 stand out in a forest of distressingly similar netbooks. One need hardly even read the spec sheet of any 10″ netbook produced in 2009: They’re all the same, save some negligible differences. The real distinguishing factors are design and ease of use (keyboard, touchpad, etc.) — the mini 10 excels in its design and the keyboard is excellent. The touchpad gets about a 6 or low 7 from me (out of 10), and as mentioned, it’s the high-resolution display that pushes this one firmly into the “recommend” category. But with a slight caveat:
Would I pay $500 for the mini 10, even as equipped here? No. But at $300, or even $350, it’s well worth it. It’s an attractive and capable netbook, and is set apart from the herd by its color options and optional HD 1366×768 display.
Pros: Super-bright, gorgeous HD display, good build quality, excellent keyboard, several color options
Cons: Non-upgradable RAM, bulky 6-cell battery, small touchpad with non-discrete buttons, those color options cost $40
Overall: Great little netbook overall, but I think only if the HD screen is part of the package. Check out Dell Outlet and if you can find the configuration you want at a sub-$350 price point, snap it up. Full price? Pass on it.
Cute and protable
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
It’s a good option when I’m on the go and needed something small enough to carry around easily.
Nice portable netbook for people on the move.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’ve had this netbook for about two weeks now, and I can say I am very pleased with my purchase. I have the Dell netbook mini 10 in the black/shiny color. It does pick up fingerprints easily, but that does not bother me. The keyboard is about 92% of a full sized one, and is not a problem for even someone like me who has very long slender fingers. It takes about 2 days to get used to the keyboard, but after that it’s fine.
It does not come with an internal DVD/CD drive, so you will have to pick one up or download all of your software from online. It comes with Microsoft Works, Not Word, so you will have to download the 90 day free trial from online; however, it does come with Outlook, which I enjoy using. The operating system is XP, which takes some getting used to for Vista users.
Overall, this netbook was a great value (I got it for only 299), and it’s durable as well (I mistakenly dropped it while multi-tasking and it was fine). The internet works great, just enough hard dive so that it is not bulky, but I would have loved more than 160GB. The power cord adapter is very long, so it will reach almost anywhere, and it’s not bulky. The mouse can be a little tricky when cutting and pasting and moving it up and down the page while sufing the net. The camera, and computer screen are very clear (displays a good picture).
This is a great mini for those who are always on the go, or don’t want to lug around a full-sized laptop. I don’t recommend this mini as an only computer; however, it is a great second laptop. It would also work for young children since it’s very affordable.
Awesome netbook in a very attractive package!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Note: This review is for the Dell Mini 10 (Product) RED edition. It has the same specs as the regular Mini 10, but comes with a limited edition green patterned design on the case.
What’s great about it: Sharp looks, great keyboard, fast program launch, solid build
What’s not so great: Nothing, really.
“Yes, the Dell Mini 10 has the exact same specs as about a dozen other netbooks on the market right now. Very little sets one netbook apart from the next. As someone who owns a few different models and has used a few others as well, I have to say that I am very pleased with every aspect of this Dell.
The keyboard is wonderful – better than even the Toshiba Mini or the HP Mini, and that’s saying a lot. Touch-typing is a dream – I was up to 100% accuracy within minutes, and the keys really feel substantial and sturdy under my fingers. They also have a very satisfying “click” that makes me happy.
The overall build of this netbook is very solid, and it seems like one of the most sturdy ones of its kind on the market right now. This Product model has a wonderful glossy screen with no bevel around the edges, which makes it wonderful to look at. Further, the nifty green cover (special edition) is great, making this as much a fashion accessory as a business tool. This model also has a tv tuner which worked very nicely in the Best Buy store. I have yet to try it out at home, but I have high hopes for it.
The mouse pad area is rather small – I suppose you have to sacrifice something to get the great keyboard – but this is tolerable. The mouse pad is a bit twitchy, however, and I am hoping that I will be able to adjust that once I get into things more. This is not a deal breaker, because so many netbooks out there have this problem.
Programs launch pretty quickly on the Dell Min 10, although boot up seemed to take forever. Windows XP runs very smoothly here, and the machine seems to do exactly what it was designed to do. A nice bonus: this netbook comes with restore discs for XP, Works and all the drivers, something I haven’t seen in all the other netbooks. And my experience with Dell tech support has been great over the past year.
As someone who owns the Averatec Buddy (rebranded MSI Wind) and an early Asus Eee PC and who was eyeing the next generation of 11.6 inch netbooks, I have to say that I am very pleased with this Dell and, as usual, glad I made another Dell purchase.
If you are looking for a compact, attractive, solidly-built netbook that more than holds its own against the competitors, I highly recommend this special edition Dell Mini 10. I am thrilled with it, and I think it will soon become my new best friend.”
Perfect For Travel
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I love this little computer! It is so much easier to travel with than my 17″ Inspiron. It takes a little time to get used to the smaller display but totally worth it for the lighter weight and less space in my carryon. I don’t mind scrolling down to see everything. I do use an external mouse with it (I don’t with my larger laptop) as the touchpad has been difficult to use. The pink color is fun too!
My Dell mini
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Works good, light weight and portable. Could be a little faster when using sites that require a lot of memory space. Memory cannot be expanded.
Excelent choice
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is an excellent choice if you want to use your computer while you are traveling.
Horrible trackpad
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
This could be a great netbook except for one big drawback. That is the trackpad. In my opinion the integrated buttons are a terrible design decision. If you stick with Windows you may be ok with this trackpad. But if you want to load something else (e.g. Ubuntu) you will have a horrible experience with the trackpad. So if you are into loading other OS into your notebook buy something with proper buttons. Appart from this the computer is great.
A Great Investment. Whats with the Bad Reviews?
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R18EGV5ST2E6C0 I just purchased my Dell Mini 10 (Blue Cover) and I have to say that this was one of the best investments I ever made. If you think you are getting a high end laptop for the price of three-hundred bucks, then you are sorely mistaken. This is basically a smart phone PDA increased to the size of a ten inch screen with a keyboard attached. Most of the bells & whistles are intact.
At first it took me some time to get use to the screen. Websites are slightly altered due to the 10 inch screen, so and with the tool bar on top that includes (File, Refresh, etc) it can seem like there’s hardly any room to view webpage’s, but you’ll get use to it. Viewing any site that you would on a regular desktop will have certain parts of the page moved around when viewing it on your netbook & this is to be expected because of the size.
I know everyone is complaining about the keypad, but it’s really not that bad. It does take a few tries before you realized what works best for you. I’ve learned from having a Dell Studio Laptop that the best thing to do is just utilize the free space as a mouse and click. Don’t bother trying to hit down on the key, but just double tap on the keypad to pick a selection. If you don’t, you will find the experience of navigating through websites, typing a document on word, etc to be a horrendous experience.
Otherwise, if you are looking for a great small compact netbook to stay connected to the web, check email, browse a few sites – then this is the netbook for you. There isn’t much customization due to the small size of the netbook that feels very light just a little under three pounds and practically smaller and skinnier then the new Twilight book. I would have it ordered it on amazon, but it was cheaper through Dell.
Overall, I am very pleased with my purchase because it’s a great investment for anyone who needs internet access on the go. The only complaint I have is the price. I know its three-hundred, but I own a regular laptop with a 15 inch screen & that HP was only three-hundred. Sure, it was not a high end groundbreaking laptop, but it does the trick & power wise, it’s stronger than the mini. I really feel the price point should drop by hundred bucks. Otherwise, this is still a great PC tool to have.
Pros:
Light weight (Less then three pounds)
Customizable Cover with different colors
Windows XP (Thank GOD – Vista is so WHACK)
Keyboard is 90% size of a real keyboard
Wi-Fi
3 USB slots
160GB Memory
1.66 GHZ
1GB RAM
Cons:
A bit pricey IMO – It really should be two hundred & under
No DVD Slot
Nice travel and secondary computer
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’m a big Mac user, but I really needed something inexpensive and small for travel. While this lacks a lot of the power and conveniences of a full-fledged laptop, this is great for my purposes.
The boot-up time for the Inspiron Mini is acceptable. Programs that I run frequently, such as [...] (a free office suite) and Firefox load respectably quickly as well.
Video playback from sites such as [...] is smooth, at least on my home network, though the images do seem to be a bit more pixelated than the playback on faster computers with better graphics cards.
The keyboard is a bit smaller than what I am used to, but it doesn’t take too long for my fingers to adjust to the smaller keys and spacing between keys. The trackpad is configured to use “gestures” to control horizontal and vertical window scrolling. It took me a few days to figure out how to use the trackpad gestures. Even so, the trackpad is a bit cheap feeling, cramped, and sometimes non-responsive to the gesture movements for scrolling. More often than not, I use a cheap USB mouse to avoid using the trackpad.
Battery life is about 2 hours for standard use — expect much less for intensive use such as video playback.
The small screen size is usually not a problem. Occasionally, a window pops up which presumably continues off the bottom of the screen. In those cases, I usually anticipate the next action and hit ENTER for OK, ESC to cancel. So far I have gotten away with that solution. However, most software and Windows XP recognizes right out of the box that the screen is of a reduced size, and software responds accordingly. Though I do have some software on this computer to edit photos and make drawings, I don’t plan on using this computer for any routine work — the screen is too small and quickly becomes cluttered with windows and toolbars to be useful for any image editing and creation software (in my case, GIMP and Inkscape).
Overall, I would highly recommend this product to people looking for a secondary computer for travel. I would suggest that, if you are looking for something to use regularly, you spend an extra $200 and get something that will be bigger, faster, and more comfortable. Set your expectations at the right level, and the Dell Inspiron Mini will surprise you.
MAC USERS: It just takes a bit of know-how and freely available Apple software to get this to print to shared printers and share files with other Macs on your home network. The most useful tool is the Bonjour for Windows program, allowing you to connect to shared printers. I have a few gripes about Windows XP, but for simple tasks XP works sufficiently.
As a side note, I purchased this product through Dell directly and I was able to add Bluetooth capabilities to the Inspiron Mini for a mere $[...] extra.
beware!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
My Netbook was delivered defective and now Dell claims the warranty does not apply because “it’s a software problem.” They haven’t actually seen the computer yet so they don’t know what’s causing the problem. I guess they’re told to say that.
Be certain this is the netbook you want
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
You read through the reviews on this netbook and have to be a little nervous and apprehensive about ordering one. My own personal netbook is a Lenovo S10, but a friend wanted a Dell Mini 10 and I helped by buying it and using it for two weeks.
Fortunately, the unit presented no issues right out of the box. The six-cell battery charged up and the computer worked fine. In its favor, the keys are larger than on the Lenovo. That’s about the only area where I find the Dell superior to the Lenovo.
The Dell screen is glossy; the Lenovo’s is matte. The touchpad on the Lenovo is far better. Just read the comments on the Dell’s touchpad in the other reviews. Connecting to WiFi is far easier with the Lenovo. It’s a bit more of a process with the Dell. The Dell came with a 6-cell battery. Great battery life, but the larger battery sticks out below and makes the netbook somewhat bulky. In fairness, a 6-cell battery on the Lenovo would look much the same. Screen resolution on the Lenovo is better. The bottom of smaller windows on the Dell are cut off.
Bottom line: I find the Lenovo bettr in more areas, and comparing the reviews of these two netbooks appears to support that conclusion.
Not worth buying
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I wanted to surprise my wife by buying a netbook so she could watch movies on the plane when she travels for work. I bought this because I thought the name DELL meant it was a quality netbook. I was so wrong. We downloaded several movies… and on her first trip the battery died before one movie ended. I contacted DELL, and each time they keep referring me to another department. The DELL customer service is really bad and doesn’t try to help people. Just keep this in mind when purchasing this netbook.
No Bluetooth
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
despite as indicated in the description of the product, this netbook does not have bluetooth…
Good little laptop
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’ve had my laptop for several weeks now. The only problem ive found is the touch pad. However,i started using a portable mouse and that fixed my problem. Great little laptop.
WONDERFUL SMALL AND VERY SMART -HAS ALL YOU REALLY NEED
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Windows XP is very easy to work and 1 GB is more than enough with it. This laptop doesn’t make any noise at all. The design is very beautiful, very light weight. The audio and camera are awesome. Image is perfect. Also it is very easy to clean th screen. And most of all, I really trust DELL products more than any other manufacturer.
Don’t do it!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I bought this 4 days ago and am sending it back tomorrow. It is a good idea, but it just doesn’t pan out. The keyboard is a nice size and that is about the best thing that I can say. The online “instruction manual” is laughable. To be able to write a document you have to buy another program – fair enough, but I was unable to even use the note pad. Oh, and the Windows program from Dell was about $30 more expensive than what I could get it for on Amazon. It would not give me the prompts to load photos/music/other documents to the unit. I called tech support and was assured that all I needed to do was enter the key number from my Word Home/Student program to get the unit up to speed (so to speak). The problem? THERE IS NO PLACE TO DO IT!!! O.K., load the program onto a flash drive and load it that way – but with no prompts to import, it can’t be loaded. Pictures, music – same problem – no import. I called to get a return number/shipping label to send it back. I was told that I could not return it – the first two people I spoke with refused to give me a return label and wanted to “diagnose” the problem AGAIN. I’d already spent about an hour or so with other tech people and declined, I insisted on a return label. I was told that there was no way that the unit was damaged when I received it and there must be a problem with me. When I had given the express # on the unit to the techs I had spoken with I was told, on three occasions, that the number did not exist – even though it was clearly labeled on the unit that I was holding in my hands. I insisted on speaking with someone else. After close to two hours of being on hold I was transferred to a person who said that he would send me a return label and I insisted that we stay on the phone until the label came into my Mac. And we waited. And waited. I finally asked him to send it “again” and it did come through. After I checked it out I thanked him and the interminable phone call was finally ended. Dell – you could not GIVE me one.
Like it’s big brother
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I have learned the hard way to avoid anything with the Inspirion label. XPS is great but the Inspirion line is total garbage in every sence espessially the 15″ model which blue screens and crashes every 20 mins even if your not using it due to the cheap poor hardware. Netbooks are for the most part complete trash anyhow and don’t last too long, the ACER net books are ever less durable.
Dell-Poor Quality worse tech/customer service
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Just bought Dell mini 10V for son. In first 24 hours, several keys on keyboard would not work, then it would not “wake-up” from sleep mode. Battery would have to be removed from back to restart. Called Dell (on phone for 2 hours with techs in India-which I could not understand).
No one offered to replace this obvious lemon. My son has to wait for Dell to send out someone to pick it up and ship it somewhere else to repair-no such thing as in home repair.
Stay clear of Dell products unless you like to be on the phone for hours talking to a foreign call center only to be told they can’t fix their “lemons”.
Maybe if I bought it from a retail store instead of online, I could get it replaced-no such luck buying from Dell.
The touchpad is NOT that bad!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I don’t have much to add, almost everything has been said.
But I want to comment on the touchpad.
I keep reading how horrible it is. Well, I actually like it!
It has a learning curve and it will take time to get used to the multi-touch, but once you get it, it’s very easy to be used.
I have to say that I have small hands, perhaps that’s a point, but for me the multi-finger functionality is great and I wish my other laptop had it.
In my opinion this is a very good netbook. Just not five stars because of the video resolution.
Dell Inspiron Mini Review
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Pros:
I installed heavy apps and no problem excellent Wireless networking reception, product is shipped with widows XP, I downloaded and installed Windows 7RC, faster performance ( 1GB Memory ) all drivers loaded ok without installing additional drivers Just go to Windows update and all devices are configured automatically.
Cons:
No CD/DVD Drive included, but dell has a new feature ( for me ) to boot operating system from USB or external devices so you can copy operating system files and boot from a USB.
I would like to say that absolutely it is a good product.
A Little Disappointed
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I don’t have too much to add to the other comments. I agree that the touchpad is awkward and problematic to use and video playback is choppy at best. One thing I didn’t see mentioned is that, because of the small screen, it cuts off some of your windows. For instance, when I was trying to set up the Wi-Fi wizard. it would cut off the bottom of the screen where you click “Next” or whatever. The workaround is to just hit Enter on your keyboard. However, when I tried to use Outlook to enter Contacts information, it cut off the bottom of that window where you would ordinarily enter address information. There is no workaround for that except to change your screen resolution. Then you can’t see your entire screen (desktop screen for example)without scrolling back and forth and up and down. Very awkward. I’ll probaly just make do with it since I have another primary computer. But if I had known the limitations, I probably would have just forked over the cash and gotten a laptop.
Update: Wish I could change my rating to 4 stars. I talked to a second tech support guy over at Dell and he was able to walk me through changing the screen settings so that windows don’t get cut off. So now I really enjoy this little guy!
Great
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This laptop is an all around great aspect to my life I would recommend it for anyone. It’s lightweight easy to travel with and very sleek. Only thing is the mouse pad hard to use at first but u will get the hang of it.
Good product
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
very fast machine … runs xp very well…
a little problem with de video out put.. is only for a hdmi and not VGA (is the most popular input for projectors)…
runs Visual studio 2008 and sql sever very well…
and runs warcarft 3 too…
the sreen is a little small but is very portable…