The Inspiron 11z: Dell's affordable thin-and-light (or, Netbook Plus?)
(Credit: Dell)While much was made of Dell killing off its Mini 12 Netbook recently, one question raised was: what might fill that 11-to-12-inch void in the future? That question is answered, in part, with today's announcement of the Dell Inspiron 11z, an 11.6-inch thin-and-light weighing only 3 pounds. How thin? At its thickest point: 1.02 inches, according to Dell's specs. This is Dell's first real entry into thin-and-light, a category that's been gaining momentum recently (the Acer Aspire Timeline 3810T, MSI X340, and Lenovo IdeaPad U350 to name a few).
Inside, there's no Atom processor, but instead a single-core 1.2 GHz Intel ULV Celeron 723. Equipped with a three-cell battery, Dell promises long battery life in a chassis that's "24 percent smaller than 14-inch laptops" (but this is an 11.6-inch laptop, so how is that fair?). Unfortunately, that "long battery life" equates to 3 hours in the press release, but we'll remain optimistic. The keyboard is 92 percent standard-size, close to a regular laptop experience (although sometimes we've found that small differences in ergonomics can be disorienting). Like a Netbook and most thin-and-lights, the 11z has no optical drive.
One of the best features is the price: Dell's Web site lists the Inspiron 11z as $399, the same cost as a Netbook.
So, you might ask, why get this over a Netbook? For one, it runs Windows Vista SP1 Home Premium--while Windows 7 is just around the corner, this OS qualifies for a free upgrade. And the 11z also breaks through the XP Netbook barrier of RAM/hard drive space, with 2GB and 250GB respectively. Other notable features include HDMI-out and a 1.3-megapixel Webcam. The Inspiron 11z comes in Obsidian black with silver tones.
Full specs below, as well as more product shots after the break. ... Read more
We've been following the tale of Dell's quasi-Netbook, the Mini 12, for some time now -- from its first behind-closed-doors appearance over the Summer to the official late-October announcement, with actual availability and price TBA, as they say.
Dell was closed-mouthed as recently as a few days ago when we asked when the system would be available for order and, more importantly, when it would be shipping.
Dell is now taking orders for the Mini 12, essentially a Netbook in a slightly bigger case, on its Web site, with an estimated ship date of December 8 -- a little later than we had expected, but still in time for the holidays.
The Mini 12 starts at $549 for a 1.3GHz Intel Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM, and a 40GB hard drive (no solid state options are available), and you can upgrade the HDD to 60GB or 80GB, as well a bumping up the CPU to the slightly faster 1.6GHz version of the Atom.
We've heard some grumbling that the only OS available is Vista Basic, which based on early reports, doesn't run too smoothly (especially with 1GB of RAM as your only memory option). Windows XP has been promised as an option, and hopefully we'll see that soon.
Dell's new Mini 12. We assume the pen is there for scale.
(Credit: Dell)We first got a glimpse of Dell's 12-inch take on the Netbook behind closed doors a few months ago. After that, it kind of vanished from our radar screens, only to pop up Sunday, in an announcement that the system is making its debut in Japan.
It's an interesting hybrid of the ultraportable and Netbook formats, combining a 12-inch laptop chassis with the basic heart of a Netbook, namely the Intel Atom CPU. Most Netbooks have a 9- or 10-inch display, so the jump to 12 inches makes for a very different experience. Less portable, to be sure, but perhaps just big enough to win over those who say tiny Netbooks are too small and too hard to use, even for a quick trip to the coffee shop. Even with the bigger footprint, it still starts at 2.7 pounds and tapers from 0.92 to 1.09 inches.
We're already big fans of Dell's current Netbook, the Inspiron Mini 9--it's pretty much the same as almost every other Netbook out there, but Dell offers more configuration options than most. The new 12-inch version has a few notable differences--the hard drives are traditional 60GB and 80GB platter drives, not the SSD drives found in the Mini 9, and the OS choices have been expanded from XP and Ubuntu Linux to also include Windows Vista Basic (in fact, Vista Basic is the launch OS, XP and Linux are expected by the end of the year).
At first, the Mini 12 is only going to be available at select retail outlets in Japan, but it should show up stateside by late November, for less than $600.
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