There's no doubt about it - netbook prices are creeping upwards. For around $500 you can still score a capable mini such as the Acer Aspire One or Dell Mini 9. So why should you look at more expensive machines like Dell's new Mini 10?
LCD and touchpad
Like the ASUS N10 and S101, the Mini 10 is a larger screen machine with some classy design touches like the 16:9 widescreen LCD glass that goes right to the edge ("edge to edge LCD"), and multitouch technology, so there's no trackpad buttons.
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| Dell's Mini 10: larger screen than the Mini 9, and a 1.3Kg starting weight |
Digital TV
Which is all well and good, but doesn't grab us as much as this - an internal digital TV. It's not available in the Mini 10 just yet, but Dell says it's coming this year. Suddenly Dell Mini 10 will have an extra TV they can move around the house, watch from bed or the kitchen.
Under the hood
As well as the aforementioned edge LCD and multitouch trackpad, the Mini 10 has Intel's Atom, 1GB RAM (not upgradeable), 160GB HDD, and is running XP. It weighs 1.3Kg and comes with 2GB free online Web storage.
Colour options
Like ASUS, which has the green F6V, Dell's bringing out the Mini 10 in different colours. For the moment it's black or white only, but more colours are planned (Dell's online photos show red, green, blue and pink).
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| The Dell Mini 10 in Pink and Cherry |
Responsiveness and battery life
We were reasonably happy with Dell's Mini 9, though as we noticed in our First Look, our review machine was quite slow. In our brief (10 second) play with the new Mini 10 this week it seemed snappier than its smaller cousin.
The only not-so-great thing about the Dell Mini 10? The 3-cell battery. Dell claims you'll get around 3 hours of Twittering or blogging, which is good, but it will be interesting to see if it keeps up with ASUS netbooks. The ASUS S101 and N10 both lasted more than 3 hours in our tests, but that was during our punishing intensive use tests.
Price
Dell's Mini 10 starts at $799, which puts it in the same ballpark as other more expensive netbooks like HP's Mini Note and ASUS N10 and S101. As we've explained above, you're getting a classier piece of hardware for your money, and we'd recommend 10in screens over smaller models for most situations. The promise of digital TV also makes the Mini 10 a more enticing option than cheaper models.
That said, if you're on a budget, and all you want is basic Web and email, then a $500 machine like the Aspire One will cover the basics.
If you're willing to wait, and have a bigger budget, we also recommend you keep your eyes peeled for more news on Dell's not-so-secret Adamo luxury laptop in the coming month or so.