Dell launched new subnotebook: Inspiron Mini 12
On Sunday, the Dell Inspiron Mini 12, a larger version of the Mini 9, makes its debut—in Japan. Dell had reached an exclusive agreement with VIC Camera, Kojima, and SofMap—all Japanese retailers—to make the early announcement overseas. According to Dell, the Inspiron 12 will ship in the United States by mid-November. The Mini 12 is officially the first netbook to house a 12-inch widescreen; the largest so far have been 10-inch models such as the Lenovo IdeaPad S10and the MSI Wind. The screen offers 1,280-by-800 resolution, higher than the typical 1,280-by-600 netbooks. Its shape is like a wedge, measuring 9.0-by-11.8-by-0.92 inches, becoming thicker towards the back. The weight starts at 2.7 pounds, with a 3-cell battery. A 6-cell battery will be available later on and will likely bring the weight over 3 pounds.
Like the S10 and the Wind, the Mini 12’s feature set includes three USB ports, a multicard reader, Ethernet, VGA-Out, and a 1.3-megapixel camera. Hard drives aren’t the meager solid state ones offered on the Mini 9; you have a choice of 40GB, 60GB, and 80GB spinning drives. Although it doesn’t have the antenna infrastructure to support WWAN, an empty slot is available for it, like on the Mini 9. In the meantime, the Mini 12 has both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built in. Like the Mini 9, the new Mini uses Intel’s Atom platform: The 1.33-GHz Z520 and the 1.6-GHz Z530 Atom processor are both available come November. The Mini 12 is one of the few systems to run Windows Vista Basic, which will be the only choice for operating systems at this time. The Vista system starts at $550.
Source: Computer World
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Cute 8.9″ netbook: Mini 9 from Dell
Dell’s much-awaited entry into the netbook market has finally happened as buyers in U.S., Japan and a few other European countries can now purchase the Inspiron Mini 9 netbook (a.k.a Inspiron 910). Available in both Ubuntu 8.04 & Windows XP flavor, the 2.2 lbs Inspiron Mini 9 is powered by Intel’s N270 1.6GHz Atom CPU, GMA 950 Graphics and 8.9? glossy LED-backlit LCD (1024×600). The unit also supports up to 1GB DDR2 533MHz RAM, optional Bluetooth 2.1; 802.11g WiFi, trio of USB 2.0 ports, Card Reader, VGA/1.3MP WebCam and free 2GB online storage from Box.net. Primary storage is handled by 4/8/16 GB solid state drives whereas the battery is a 4-cell 32Whr one.
Dell rarely disappoints when it comes to accessories and the Inspiron Mini 9 is no exception. There’s a whole new line of custom “Designed for Dell” backpacks, messenger bags, convertible cases from brands like Timbuk2 and others for their first netbook. Dell has priced the Inspiron Mini 9 with Ubuntu 8.04 and Windows XP starting at $349 & $399 respectively. Alpine White version is always an $25 upgrade. Windows XP pre-loaded units are shipping immediately whereas the Ubuntu 8.04 Mini 9 featuring customized interface would be available after a couple of weeks.
Dell introduced new laptop: 19h on batteries
The demands of the digital nomad are expected to drive laptop sales to over one billion in the next five years. 
The prediction by Dell came as it unveiled 10 new laptop models aimed at this emerging working class. The new Latitude line boasts as much as 19 hours of battery life for the always connected 21st century worker. At a press launch in San Francisco, Jeff Clarke, senior vice president of Dell’s business group, showed off the new line to reporters and analysts. The laptops include seven Latitude business laptops and three Dell Precision workstation laptops which Mr Clarke described as “performance leaders and something the tech community will absolutely die for”.
What Dell hopes will be particularly appealing to travelers is the 12.1-inch Latitude E4200, which starts at 2.2 pounds; and the 13.3-inch E4300, which starts at 3.3 pounds. For companies looking for a basic business notebook to reduce costs, Dell unveiled the 14.1-inch E5400, which starts at $839, and the 15.4-inch E5500, which starts at $869. The systems were available Tuesday. For mainstream desktop replacements, often found in docking stations in corporate cubicles, Dell introduced the 14.1-inch E6400 and the 15.4-inch E6500, which start at $1,139 and $1,169, respectively. Both were also available as of Tuesday. The computers have just under 10 hours of battery life which can be extended with a so called “battery slice” to total 19 hours. The machines also have a fingerprint reader and a “control vault” processor that stores an owner’s identity and credentials on protected hardware.
