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Dell Mini 10 Netbook Review – 5.5/7

A newer version of this model has been released – See review.

Another addition to the Dell Mini Series of netbooks, at first glance the Dell Inspiron Mini 10 looks like just another pretty netbook – but when you’re dealing with Dell, there’s always room for a pleasant surprise.

As well as being amongst one of the thinnest and lightest 10″ netbooks, the Inspiron Mini 10 is available in a wide range of colors – white, blue, red, pink, green, purple and black. Very impressive is the HD compatible 1024 x 576 screen. And if that wasn’t enough, Dell is promising future upgrade options including integrated mobile broadband, GPS and a built-in TV tuner. ‘On a netbook?!’ I hear you exclaim. I know, I know, calm down..truly awesome indeed.

Dell Mini 10 Review – Top Features

• Durable – sturdy, solid chassis.
• Good portability – small [ 10.3 x 7.2 x 1.3] and light [ weighing a little just 2.2lbs ].
  
• Stylish – beautiful professional design available in 7 different colors.
• Great color reproduction - thanks to the Super-TFT screen, making this netbook great for watching movies on.
• Anti-glare screen – producing increased visibility.
• Spacious keyboard – achieved by expanding the keyboard panel all the way to the outer peripheries, which has allowed the inclusion of the top row of ‘Function’ keys as well as full sized ‘Tab’, ‘Capslock‘ and ‘Shift‘ keys.
• Multi-touch capability - allowing you to use the touchpad to zoom in and out.

Dell Mini 10 – Drawbacks and things to keep in

• Battery life – Unimpressive; approximately 3 hours runtime on the 3-cell battery.
• Awkward touchpad  – the right and left buttons have been integrated into the touchpad itself, leaving two small buttons that may be a little uncomfortable to use.
• No VGA port – Dell replaced the standard VGA with the higher quality HDMI port. Nevertheless, this may be a cumbersome addition, since VGA currently works for a much wider range of displays and projectors.

Dell Mini 10 Netbook Ratings

1. Price and value for money: 1.0 stars – at only $360, this is fabulous value for money.
2. Speed and performance: 0.5 – the standard 1.33 GHz Intel Atom Z520 is a little slower than standard netbooks [ you can opt in for the Z530 processor, that has the performance of typical Intel Atom N270 processors]. You can also opt for a 160 GB HDD rather than the standard 120 GB.
3. Screen – .75 stars – decent resolution HD capability.
4. Keyboard, Touchpad, Usability – 0.75 – we have qualms with the mouse buttons being integrated into the touchpad.
5. Portability and battery life – 0.75 – great portability, but battery life not so impressive.
6. Looks and design – 1.0 stars
7. Connectivity and extensibility – 0.75 standard specs [ 3 USB ports, a kensington lock slot, multicard reader, ethernet port, microphone and headphone jacks, 1.3 megapixelcamera and 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi ], with an impressive addition of the HDMIport, that will allow you to output audio or video from the netbook to newer monitors or a HD [ high definition] television. Nice. Upgrade options are available through Dell.

That gives the Dell Inspiron Mini 10 a total of 5.5 out of a possible 7 points.

Dell Inspiron Mini 10 – Our recommendation

If you like your movies, the HD screen and HDMI port will definitely draw you to this netbook. However, the lack of a VGA port means this may not be suited to the student or business user, who may have to do presentations using projectors – it may be a while yet before televisions, monitors and projects are HDMI compatible on a mass scale.

Overall, the excellent usability, the good performance and the impressive additions, make the Dell Inspiron Mini 10 a great all-round package at $360.

Filed under: Dell Netbook Review