Dell rolls out the Inspiron Mini 12
We all knew it was coming, the question has always been ‘When?’ Well Dell answered that question yesterday when it launched the Inspiron Mini 12 in Japan. The United States will see the Mini 12 arrive sometime in November. The Mini 12 packs a 1.3GHz or 1.6GHz Atom processor, up to an 80GB drive, 1GB of RAM, Bluetooth, Wifi, and a 12 inch screen with 1280 x 800 display all within a case measuring a little under one inch and 2.72 pounds. The downside is that 1GB is the max on the RAM, which is a huge disappointment considering the first wave of the Mini 12s will come with Vista Home Basic. The XP and Ubuntu models are to follow late this year, but even those would benefit from having more than 1GB of RAM. The 3 cell battery will provide about three hours of use and there is an optional six cell battery. Overall it looks nice and is basically a bigger brother to the Mini 9. Netbooks have traditionally featured smaller screens from 7 to 10 inches so this bump to 12 inches may mix things up a bit. However, with the 1GB of RAM the functionality is going to be severely limited. The price too is a bit of a stretch with a price of up to $600 when it hits the Dell site next month. A bit spendy and you can definitely find a full featured notebook for less than that.
Full Hands-On: APC Mag