Dell's Mini 12 bites the dust (but the Mini 9 is still hanging on)
Dell's Netbook line, creatively called the Mini, has seen a few lineup swaps recently. While most of the Netbook market has gravitated to 10-inch screens, Dell was one of only a handful of PC makers simultaneously hawking smaller 9-inch Netbooks, as well as (relatively) massive 12-inch ones. Now that 12-inch model has officially been given the boot, while the 9-inch, which had been pulled off Dell's official list of systems in June, is still available in a handful of configurations (as noted a few weeks ago by our own Sharon Vaknin).
Of the Mini 12, which never really hit its stride, Dell says on its corporate blog:
So, should you read anything into this as far as Dell's commitment to the Netbook space? Nope. It really boils down to this: for a lot of customers, 10-inch displays are the sweet spot for Netbooks. That's why we offer two different 10-inch Inspiron Netbooks for Mini 10 and the Mini 10v. And on the Latitude side, the Latitude 2100 Netbook is finding a home in schools all over the place. Portability is one of the key points for Netbook customers. Larger notebooks require a little more horsepower to be really useful. More to come from Dell on that later.Bottom line, if you're a customer in the United States who wants a brand new Mini 9, you can order it from this link. Also, both the Mini 9 and Mini 12 are still available for U.S. customers through @DellOutlet. Click on the respective product links to see what configurations we've got on hand.
Lenovo and Samsung also have 12-inch Netbooks (and HP has the Netbook-like HP dv2, with AMD's Neo processor), but we've always felt that when a Netbook moves up to the 12-inch size, there's a psychological difference in consumers' expectations. When you have a chassis that gets closer to the look and feel of a regular dual-core laptop, you expect it to behave like a standard laptop, and the performance limitations of Netbooks are harder to overlook.
Additionally, Dell saddled its Mini 12 with Windows Vista--a kiss of death for a Netbook if there ever was one.
A good point is also made by TechCrunch's Michael Arrington, who writes that, "Dell may also be seeing customers who would otherwise buy a dual-core 13-inch or 14-inch Inspiron choosing the lower priced (and less profitable) 12 inch Netbook instead. That's something they aren't going to be happy about."
Will we see a move to bigger Netbooks in the future (11.6-inch models are starting to trickle out), or have we reached the perfect balance with the 10-inch screen? Or perhaps new developments such as Nvidia's Ion GPU and Intel's next-gen Atom processors will clear the way for a entire class of laptops of all sizes, powered by low-cost hardware. Weigh in in the comments section below.
New York native Dan Ackerman, a former radio DJ turned journalist, has written about technology and music for publications including Spin, Blender, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. He hosts the weekly Digital City podcast and the New York edition of Editors' Office Hours. Dan's new album, Tales Out of Night School, is available now. E-mail Dan. 
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The number one reason why you would hear and read comments posted such as the one above is simply because Microsoft wants the netbooks to go away because they can't compete, specially with the ARM power netbooks and Intel going Moblin. Oh yeah here comes the windows 7 rational; Yes most of these pro-microsoft writers will tell you that windows 7 is great and that is awesome on a netbook, that might be the case but for $298-$350 a pop Microsoft or OEMs cannot afford to put windows 7 at the same price XP was put on these bad boys. So If you are in the market for a netbook do your research don't listen to the biased writers and form your own conclusion and opinions; try and search for articles which will give you both sides of the spectrum.
What makes you think that manufactures base there profits on how much the machine cost to make?
Do you honestly think they would choose to keep the same low profit margin by lowering their prices? If you do your a fool.
Also you mention that the return rate for Linux and Windows netbooks are the same that is also false. Just go ask walmart.
you are one of the same folks I mentioned in my reply. I said Dell stated this about the return rates not me as I'm no market analyst. But the point that I'm trying to make is that if your in the market for a netbook you should do your research. I know from your post it does not seem like you would want people to inform themselves of the said product because you immediately are trying to scream loud as hell just like the people in the health care debate. All I'm trying to say is if your in the market for a netbook do your research and think about what you need it for. That is all!
Also the reason why I mentioned Windows 7 and how much it costs is because what makes you think OEMs are willing to pay $45-$55 per copy? why? See http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/06/microsoft-currently-asking-45-to-55-for-windows-7-starter.ars. Also windows XP was $25 per copy and this was hurting Microsoft badly, also why do you think they trimmed the fat out of windows 7 is not because they wanted to is because they had to in order to compete which is damn good. All I'm saying instead of you trying to come down my throat start educating consumers, go ahead and focus on that.
I have never heard less of an educated statement before than that. I am currently a college student majoring in computer software engineering, so i know what i'm talking about. I own a Dell Studio XPS desktop with the top of the line core i7 processor, 6Gb DDR3 ram and dual 320GB 7,200rpm hard drives. People love netbooks because of the basic reason they exist: portability. I own one and i guarantee i know more about computers than you ever will. People read your cynical comments and instantly realize you have no idea what you are talking about and are in way above your head. Netbooks are built for one purpose: mobile computing. Most people get netbooks just for that reason, to have lightweight, ultraportable computers they can use anywhere. Only a moron thinks people actually use a netbook as a full fledged computer. People usually have another computer in which they do there main computing on, the netbook is simply a tool to make things easier. Obviously, you just don't get it, and you should refrain from posting any more ill-informed comments or ideas.
and seriously insulting my intelligence just shows how immature you are! Not to mention the fact that it says you really can't make an argument!
Are you freaking kidding me? An ultraportable for under $600. What are you smoking? And cheap has nothing to do with it. I spent over fifteen hundred dollars on my desktop and simply wanted a basic laptop for mobile computing. Your argument against the concept of netbooks shows you are simply overlooking the facts. People buy netbooks because they are cheap, lightweight, and ultraportable. They don't want the larger laptop and like saving the money. No one in their right mind relies only on a netbook. Ask most people why they bought a netbook and they will say the exact same thing; it is used as a basic computing device and is handy because of its light weight and portability and they already have another computer on which they do the bulk of their work. Your argument is the equivalent of saying that people buy scooters to be used like a regular vehicle. People buy them cuz their cheap and fuel efficient. Your arguement makes no sense because you seem to think that people are complete mororns (admittedly there are a LOT). Most people know exactly what they are doing when they but a netbook and purchase it because of its many beneficial qualities.
And one more thing. Scroll down a bit and you will see the comment by Dan Ackerman, the guy who wrote the freaking article and who works at CNET. He uses netbooks. I think he knows what he is talking about.
last week I purchased an acer aspire timeline, acer's flagship model for about $540 WITH TAX I am not smoking anything! It has HD everything, multi-gesture touchpad,and intel's shinny new laminar jet cooling technology. Facts do show that almost 60% or netbook owners buy a netbook expecting it to have the same functionality as a laptop. If you are one of the pore souls that had this happen to them I am truly sorry, but if your one of the 90% of informed buyers that knew what they where buying then I fully respect that decision. I must add though that acer sells a version of the timetine that is 11.6" and runs vista home premium, just thought you may want to know thou it is more expensive than the 15.6 model. with you last reply you have earned my respect
Ok, although i wouldnt really call a 15.4in laptop an ultraportable, i will cede the point and agree with you that many ill-informed people buy a netbook expecting full laptop functionality. You too have now earned my respect. Truce.
Look, I'm not anti=Apple or anything, but there is no way in hell a tablet is going to kill the netbook market, no matter how awesome it is.
bloated as Windows. I ran ubuntu remix on it for a while and it ran like a pregnant cow. Moo
No it is not the fastest machine I have owned, but it is as stable as any windows machine I have ever owned. Netbooks are here to stay and I think they will continue to increase in speed and usability, The screen may never get much above 10", but that's part of what a netbook is: small portable and usable.
But I'm moving to a 10" netbook with a near full sized keyboard. Going to hack the Toshiba NB205, which arrives Tuesday. Great keyboard, great trackpad, 8 hour battery. Not as cute as the mini 9, but still 3 pounds and smaller than a 13" laptop.
I have Ubuntu on one machine and it's not bad at all. It's stable, light but it's still not friendly enough, and it lacks the GUI polish of OSX or Vista/Win7. Until you can had the computer to grandma for a year and she never has to ask you what a command line is it's just not going to fly with the general public.
The reason the early eee PCs with Linux flew off the shelves is that they were being bought by people experienced with computers who treated it like a novelty, a hobby item. I'd guess that 90%+ of early eee PC buyers already had a laptop and desktop they relied on. As soon as the mainstream started buying them and they wanted them to be their #1 laptop, things changed and people who had never even heard of Linux were buying and weren't interested in learning something new and wanted something familiar.
IMHO there are 2 reasons to buy a netbook, and some people buy them for 1 or the other or both. Reason #1, netbooks are cheap. Reason #2, netbooks are portable. There are a few key reasons people don't like netbooks. The biggest are keyboard size and screen size. If you listen to most netbook users they are satisfied with performance. This is because they work fairly well and can do 90% of what average users do on their computers. By far the most common use of a computer today is surfing the web, beyond that is basic wordprocessing/emailing and basic photo/video storage and organization (few people do extensive video or photo editing) and a netbook can do these just fine. And since they are both small and cheap people expect a reduction in performance. The complaints are centered around size being too small, thus the reason the netbook market has focused on the 10-10.2 screen and the engineers/designers have increased keyboard size. These sweet spot 10" models are still very portable and very usable and very cheap. The high end netbooks will have some difficulty catching on and the small ones are fading away as toys. Its interesting to hear people say they are dying out. The reality is their percentage of market share capture has grown remarkably and that growth is slowing, but this is not reason to say they are dying out. They also hit the mainstream at a perfect time, the global economic crisis made a cheaper computer a great alternative that attracted many consumers. So, what does the future of netbooks look like? I think they continue to take marketshare but level off in the near future, a good percentage of folks will always crave a larger 13-17 inch screen, a real full size keyboard, and more powerful processing/graphics. Also, basic laptops are priced just above netbooks, so economically netbooks won't be viewed by all consumers as a better value than a slightly more expensive larger model (for a percentage of Americans, bigger will always be better, heard at many a big box retailer "but this has a larger screen/harddrive/ faster processor/etc."). I think the last netbook evolution that we have to wait and see is if a slightly more expensive netbook with a discrete graphics card (starting to arrive now) will create a market for technophiles and gamers (average consumers don't understand the value of video cards) will create a mini upper market for netbooks in the 500-650 dollar range. I think these more expensive netbooks will survive but not thrive like their cheaper brothers. Most users that want the graphics power also want the screen size/quality to take advantage of it. To summarize, the two reasons people buy netbooks and love them are size and cost, and those same consumers expect a reduction in performance for those same two reasons. This expectation makes netbooks a success, its not perfect, but consumers don't expect it to be.
I agree with you 100%. We all have desktops computers at home for gaming and big screens and video and all that jazz. A laptop with a 15" in the living room for anybody just wanting to do stuff in front of the TV (usually my wife has that now). The kids have their 10" netbooks for college. Price and portability with reduced but acceptable performance were the clinchers for the 10" screens.
So I must purchase way too much computing power for my modest computing needs.
I say, buy a used Pentium 4 laptop instead, with a real keyboard. For the price you can pick up an extra battery and still spend far less than a new netbook.
I read email, browse websites, make short documents...and use it as an intermediary to transfer images from my camera to the attached hard drive. It also serves as a Television watching computer! It's small enough that I can browse and email while watching television and it doesn't get in the way. Plus, it's weight and the fact that it doesn't get so super hot is a plus!
Couple all that on top of the fact that I paid under $200 with shipping from Dell, and it really is a no-brainer! To me, $200 is the sweet spot...any more and it's just not worth it. I can't imagine spending $300-$400 or more for something like this...it's plain stupid really...especially when you can get a laptop for close to that!
Ed
Everybody had their own reason for getting a notebook or a netbook. 9" was better than 7" because the extra resolution means less having to scroll sideways on many web pages. Not higher pixels per inch .. more pixels wide and high. I think the move from 9" to 10" was more because of the keyboards being just that much more usable by more people. Above 10" an increase in size has less benefit for the increased weight. But size and weight are more important if you want portability. I don't think all those consumers failed to understand. There are a small number that still love the 7" screen and keyboard because they really prized the pocket-ability of their netbook more than anything. More people prize the 9 or 10" form factor. For many the portability factor really drops above that size.
Also have a look at these 10 gagdets
http://www.techmasher.com/top-10-must-have-gadgets/
Thanks
maX
A Mini 10 would be great and that is the next one I am getting.
I was impressed with the thin design, light weight, 1280x800 resolution display, long battery life and effective heat dissipation, even though it had no cooling fan! I also liked the design and thought it could have passed for a pricier ultraportable to the casual observer...
But there were a few 'fatal flaws'- the pokey 4200rpm PATA hard drive, 1GB RAM max, weak Atom Z530 processor/Intel GMA 500 graphics and less-than-comfortable keyboard were all deal breakers! Performance with XP Home was mediocre, at best.
- by ralamar August 17, 2009 11:09 PM PDT
- I absolutely LOVE my Dell Mini 9. Sometimes I find myself using it over my brand new laptop or my PC, which are both high-powered high-end machines. I only paid $159 for it. And with hackint0sh on this bad boy, one of the fastest boot-up times I've ever seen. I wish these were available 10 years ago!
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