Direct2Dell

Where, oh where, is my Mini?

I watched and waited and finally...yes.. ordered and now I'm waiting again.  I have ALL the other items I ordered for my 910 Mini - The case, the 160GB External drive and the External CD/DVD drive but no Mini.  Order date was 9/23/08 and the Mini is still "In Production" with an anticipated ship date 10/15/08 and a delivery date of 10/20/08 - nearly a month after ordering...  I've never had to wait this long for any of my Dell desktops or laptops before.  What is going on??  Why do I feel like I won't see it ship on the 15th either?

- RW

Finally out but..........what happened to the array of colors?  How come they are only available in black and white?  Disappointing....I hope they are planning on coming out with more colors.  I guess this means I will have to wait some more!

Well its out today it is the inspiron Mini 9

Couldnot wait - have 3 XPS laptops and just bought 2 Acer Inspire One's today at Microcenter. Got it for $349 and an all in one Epsopn for $20 more as a Labor Day weekend sale.

Bye Bye Dell - after 10 yers with you..

Yes - Dell has been very annoying - school starts next week - and i still have no computer and no info on whether it will be released any time soon. 

Shame on you Dell.  I have finished waiting for you.  You are a bunch of time wasters.  You don't even have the common decency to even say anything.

I will never purchase your products on principle. 

Hi guys & gals

Dell will not bow to there customers cause they could not care less, go and seek other solutions and i say forget Dell

Hmmm....still waiting Dell and no word?  Has this Inspiron Mini gone the way of the dodo without even being released?

Being a stock holder I’m very upset that Dell reported less than expected earnings & yet they could have possibly put millions in additional sales to the bottom line if they had put more effort into getting this mini / netbook to market quicker.. I guess Mr. Dell’s return hasn’t helped that much..

Spoke with someone in sales at Dell earlier this week. I was told the new Inspiron 910 will be released sometime next week with September 4th as the proposed launch date. They were vague about spec. specifics but did try to answer any questions they could. If you want to know when it wil be released call and ask them for yourselves.

Fyi fo those of you waiting on the 910 I called sales around 5pm CST today and was told that the system will be avaliable by next friday and will start at 299 w/ 4GB ssd 512 MBSSD No wifi and a 90day warranty.  how reliable this is i dont know they will not confirm the proc.  weather it is the Dual core version or the single core version or single core HT version. or the speed.  I hope the warranty is wrong thou and i hope they will cover it for 5 years like all other computers.

Like many I have been waiting for the official Dell announcement for the 910.   While impatient, I can understand delay and it is not a big deal.  That said, yesterday the publishing of the pics on the keyboard layout (assuming they are correct) is a deal breaker for me.   Re-doing key layout locations (what appears to be an effort to chop the width to allow larger keys) and making some often used keys (like {}. []) be accessible as a Fn key option and no function keys is not what I want.  The Aspire One seems to have gotten it right - in addition to a standard layout anecdotal reviews have actually praised the typing feel. 

I wanted Dell to 'get it right' - I have had excellent results with my recent and past computer purchases with them - from a performance, cost and support point of view.  I do like and recommend Dell. 

If the S10 were available I'd probably go for it due to the 10" screen and reputation of Lenovo (I've had three ThinkPads) plus they have the key board layout OK. 

Currently, none of the 'better' netbooks are really available - so it is still a waiting game...

Way to go Dell, you reported earnings that disappointed Wall street & yet you still haven't announced a product that I'm sure would have helped, YOUR NEW NETBOOK.. There has been so much activity regarding this product & yet you still take your time getting it out.. The lost sales has got to be in the Millions so it serves you right to get such bad performance ratings when you drop the ball as you have..

I guess Mr. Dell's return hasn't helped much..!!!!

Well, I did indeed go and buy and Aspire One.  The fan was faulty and back it went.  (Apparently a common problem, if you believe the blogs.)  

So I am still left with what to do -- wait out the "go back to school folks" so that Dell can finally release a machine without messing up their bread and butter retail market?  Get another Aspire One and hope they've changed fan suppliers?  (Prices have dropped, too.)  Wait for the dual-core-Atom and a touch screen (folks are already hacking the eee)?

I think I'm putting Dell at the bottom of all these options, if nothing else because their silence suggests both arrogance and quality control challenges.

Thanks for letting me rant.

Well Dell,

I must admit that I'm concerned regarding your silence on the 910. I've been using Dell servers, pc's laptops, etc., in our company for years and the prospect of the 910 for our mostly mobile employees seems to be a perfect fit.

I bought an original EEE PC 701 when they came out to test the form factor with our more mobile emploiyees, but the specs on the Dell, not to mention keeping all of our inventory to 1 manufacturer, seemed worthy of waiting.

But now, you still have not released even an ETA for the 901, let alone the product itself. If I could even be aware of an ETA, it would at least provide me with some decision making criteria. However, Im now at a point where we need to replace 48 laptops, and we're stuck evaluating between the Acer Aspire one and EEE PC.

I'm not sure what the marketing gimic is, but it's not only the back to school market you're missing out on with your silence!

Man, I really wanted to see the 910, but I went with Acer. Not because I couldn't wait--I could wait a few more weeks, honestly. Dell, however, has not confirmed that the 910 will EVER be released or the actual cost. Moreover, after discussing this with my friends, we concluded that the reason for silence on Dell's part might be that there is a problem with the 910. Kind of like a blockbuster movie that preview audiences hate and the studio madly tries to "fix" the film before it's in general release. So to repeat: there's no guarantee that the 910 will ever be released as the inexpensive netbook we were led to expect and further there's no guarantee that it won't have major problems if it does come out. I'm not trying to validate my choice. Make your own decision.

Wall Street RESPONDED to Dell's arrogance towards its customers..! 

I agree.  It's too late for me, I'm the new owner of an Aspire One as well, but please Dell, save yourselves, this could be an amazing market for you that you are missing out on.

@Chris

As of right now there has been no bad press on the nvidia Tegra processor, and if anything could really be much better then the atom.  The atom has it's bright spots, but in the end it's partially old technology and has been out benchmarked by many of it's predecessors.  I realize it's not meant to be super powerful, but rather super-affordable, but still suposedly the Nvidia one is also super affordable, and also a much more powerful technology.  I can't judge it til I try it, but if it's anywhere near as good as it's made out to be then I think there is no reason why Dell should not look into using it in addition to or in replacement of the Atom.

I'll give them a few more days before I purchase the Aspire one.

At this point, only a $299 price point would swing me towards the Dell.

Not hard to find the XP version of the Aspire One online for $349.

Sorry to burst your bubble but if Dell puts a nVidia Tegra inside the 910, we wont be able to use Windows XP, Vista, Ubuntu or any other x86 operating system that is out there. All this since the tegra is not x86 based. But Dell could use a Windows CE version instead. But dont have any hopes for a tegra in a UMPC.

sorry I missed a point. actually two advises for Dell

1. Rock-bottom prices and attractive warranty package for 910 is a must NOW

2. react to your annoyed customers with a sincere, sensible and proper statement

good luck anyway, for sales and branding

okay, there is a sea of annoyed netbook customers showing their discontent on Dell's official site and Dell has so far said nothing.

I spotted Dell E in July and was excited to know someone said it will be released in August. Then it was 22 Aug. Then it was September.

THe problem is not about the rumours. Its about the attitude of Dell's marketing team towards all the speculations. They have every right to clarify every fact, but they didn't.

Is it exciting for them to see so many people out there want 910 so eagerly? Is it fun to release infos through inofficial channels and keep people waiting?

I am not in need of a netbook, but I just wanted it to make my life happier. But since I start to be annoyed by THIS netbook and THIS brand, I think I am now happy enough with my Compaq laptop. HP do a better marketing job, for the least.

If you search the support pages for "Inspiron 910" you'll find lots of information about the mythological machine.

The leaked internal dell documents on gizmodo confirm the atom processor.  Another rumor is that walmart bought the first 15000 of these, so be checking out their website too.

Well i got tired of waiting and no news, i got me 2 Acer Ones off ebay.

@Johnny If it is infact a Nvidia Processor they put in it i will buy a eeepc.  as Nvida quality has fallen to a all time low and i will not EVER trust them to make a cpu.  besides the computer would have to be 1 big fan and heatsink in order to keep it from over heating.

Got my Aspire One yesterday for $350 from BestBuy.

The one interesting thing to note about the lack of a release or even confirmed date of the 910 is that there may be a chance that instead of going with the Intel Atom they may be using the Nvidia Tegra instead.

I know some websites have said that officially it will be using the Atom, but until Dell publishes that I will be open to the fact that maybe (and hopefully) they decided to take this direction instead.  Either way I will be buying it the day it comes out, but if the Tegra is in fact used it will be so much far and away better then anything out there, even the Aspire One which I am love all the way up to the mouse keys, which are one of the two main reasons i will be waiting for the dell 910 instead.

@ Chris

No, Dell has not put out any permanent release date so far.  I have been following it since the first pics as well.  So, that must mean that you have been looking on other websites for information as Dell has been pretty mum on the issue.

So far ALL release dates are rumors because Dell has yet to even mention the mini.  It could very well be that the entire laptop is just a fabrication.....

I sure hope that is not the case though as the whole reason I haven't bought another ultra portable is because I have been waiting for Dell to get their act together and join the market.

@kelly

I never remember dell saying it would be released in july.  i have been following this since the 1st pics and havent ever seen dell put out a firm release date or even a soft relese date.  the release dates have all been rumors thus far.

WOw

A LOT of you people sure have your nickers in a twist.  Frankly, I am completely confident in my decision to wait until the 910 is announced / released.  I know that Dell has one goal - to deliver the best technological product to the market, for the best price.  There are many things that go into a product, such things as;

Best in class warranty, and warranty claim proceedure is *painless* - I've managed a few 'fleets' of Dell's and now and again, I've had to replace a HDD.  Each time, the experience was easily understood - time respectful, and most importantly - it's consistant.

Best in class on-line after sale support of products.  Have you seen a better support site?  Pump in your dell service tag and get a listing of *exactly* the equipment as shipped. Easy to find drivers/downloads.  Easy to find original documentation. This is *part* of your purchase people!

I recommend Dell for their online configuration/build/order web services, their customer service center, the quality of their Engineering and R&D.  The way they build quality in, rather than try to 'inspect defects out'. It shows.

For all of these reasons, and many personal and professional experiential lessons learned over 20 years in the technology game, with Dell and other suppliers, I will be waiting until Dell releases the 910 - and I will be happy to have waited.  I won't be disappointed.

I wish all of you who cannot wait, for whatever reason, the best of luck.  I hope that you can look back on your purchase 3 or 4 years from now, and feel as satisfied with your purchase, as I have been, over and over, with my Dell purchases.  Why? because it is a *great* feeling.

-=Ed
MCSE,MCT,CTT+

Dell, the only reason why I would purchase the 910 is for school.  School starts first week of September.  I can't wait any longer I have to purchase now.  I don't know what you were thinking, but you have lost the opportunity to have my money.

Dell's whitepaper on the "Dell E" (now Inspiron 910), said the release was "August 2008." Well, they still have a few more days until August 31st.

I remember many companies in the past (Nintendo among them) would say that a product's release date was August, and it being released August 31st. Granted, that's a little misleading, but it eventually (and technically) makes the cut off.

But if September 1st rolls along, and there's not even so much as an announcement, then I'm afraid even the most patient potential customers are gonna flock to the AspireOne, with its similar looks, specs, and ALREADY RELEASED status.

Come on Dell, this is ridiculous!  First it was a July release date, then an August, now a September?  Pathetic...everyone knows what you are doing!  You are trying to push the Inspiron Mini back as far as possible so as to be closer to the holiday shopping season.  I have been a loyal Dell customer and stockholder for years and it seems lately that your customer service and products have been on a downhill slide.  You are losing loyal customers by the hundreds because of this and you are about to lose one more!

Count me among those who says feh! Now I'm deciding between the Acer and the EEE.

ESPECIALLY since one of the Inspirons I support died dead in the middle of a "recommended" BIOS update on Dell's site last week, and since the warranty has expired, a new motherboard would cost half of a new mini.

Why no information on the netbook, especially now with "back-to-school," which would seem the perfect time to introduce it??  I already have a standard-sized Dell notebook (and a ThinkPad), and want something more convenient for travelling, especially now with extra charges to check even one bag.  Hauling a conventional notebook cuts into my carry-on allowance; a "netbook" means not having to carry a separate notebook bag and can pack what I need without having to check anything.  Besides, the compact size means I'll be able to take it other places I wouldn't take a conventional notebook.

IdeaPad would look good if they'd sell a Linux version in the US (better OS and lower price from not having to pay for a Windoze licence), as would the AspireOne with the real HD.  But with that now down to $349 and with a 120GB drive even with having to pay for XP (first thing to do would be to wipe XP and start with a clean Ubuntu install), it's getting harder to wait for the Dell, even though I would like to.  It's not that I have to run right out and buy one, but at least give us some specs so we can make an intelligent comparison.

Upon launch the Aspire One will be WiFi enabled only.
Embedded WiMax and 3G will be available later in 2008.

------

If Dell's model has embedded 3G, I will wait for it.

The 13" Inspiron is out as of today ,, come on, seems everyone is just hanging waiting for the 910 to drop.. And many are settling for other netbooks.  All i can thing is it would be a great oppertunity for kids to go to school wit these, and have there freinds see them and order one becasue there freind had one. Well now there going to see there freinds Asus, MSI, or Aspires.  I would have pushed out the 910 before the 13", they have a 13" already.

None the less I'm waiting for the 910, Saving the best for last i hope.

I agree with most people, have been waiting, still don't know what the notebook is gonna be called and find it very hard to get some decent information as everyone is left in the dark !

Guess I', m gonna have to go for another brand, probalby the MSI Wind is gonna be it, as I start work again in September...

Sorry Dell, have been loyal to your brand for quite some years, but this type of marketing is not doing it for me...

Hey Dell, after 7 dell-machines now I got an Acer-PC. Some solutions?

If Dell doesn't want to announce this new umpc, I will buy a different brand name from somewhere else. I will be going out travelling and need it badly now!!!!

My dads wife bought the Asus 901 becuase she had to make a long train trip and could not wait for the Dell 910.

However I will wait a little longer, but not forever.

Please just give a rough ETA and say also that this may slip so, everyone know's it's rough and does not get their silly hopes up if it does.

People are basing their purchases on whatever information they have (currently silly net rumors) so, why lose sales for the sake of a quick PR announement?

Please inform your customers!

I couldnt wait any longer either. My Acer Aspire One is now enroute to me :)

Show us yours please. I have been looking daily here for a long time now. Still nothing even hinted on the site. I want to get one, but maybe its not even real.

I too am eager to purchase an Inspiron 910, and would like to hear some official word of it, now that the 8/22/08 thing is clearly a rumor. Business is business, launch dates slip, it happens. Dell has an excellent product opportunity here, it would be in their best interests to be straight with their customer base. If the 910 turns out to be vaporware, then Dell has shot itself in the foot.

Time is over for waiting for Inspiron 910! I orderd 2 Aspire One for my wife and me!

By fom Germany

I am done waiting for something, anything on the mini/910 as well. Lenovo's s10 looks great and the Asprire 1 is cheap. Can't wait around forever, sorry Dell...

Hi,

I had an online chat with DELL, few weeks ago, here they informed that the "mini Dell" will be released Septemper-2008.

I think it is worth while waiting few days more and see whether that holds. Otherwise the Acer One is a good option: Intel Atom/1GB ram/120 GB harddisk/5in1 card reader/ BestBuy - CAD$ 399.

Yes,  I too am through waiting for the 910 as well. I ordered "10" Aspire One for my sales staff..

I understand why everybody is impatient, but to go for an Acer instead of a Dell... Good luck with that!

Been researching & waiting. Trying to be brand loyal has never been so difficult. If I ran my business this way people would leave for the competition. Your share price can't afford such exodus!

Dell you have mastered the art of losing customers...you really don't care about your customers...and guess what...your customers eventually will not care about you either

The unofficial launch-date of 22 August has come and gone.  Dell, you all can stick your netbook where the sun don't shine!  I'm buying the Acer Aspire One!!!

My online class just started today and I badly need to buy a netbook.  I'd be willing to slog through a month or so if Dell could release some information regarding specs, pricepoint and potential roll-out date.  I understand that date won't be etched in stone, but SOME information would aid people like me in deciding to wait a bit or go with the Asus. 

And once you announce a date, please please have enough stock to meet need!  I get the impression that MSI is getting slayed by Asus over their lack of Wind availability. 

I'd love to hear about the Dell Mini-Inspiron, but like everyone else, I'm pretty much fed up and I need a netbook before school starts..

That MSI Wind and/or the Eee just might have to do, shame Dell doesn't talk... I seriously wanted it.

Cheers,

Nick

I've been waiting to hear something official from dell on their netbook (the rumored inspiron 910) since the release of the eee1000...  As of today, that is where my money went instead...  Thanks for ignoring your customers, Dell!

yep.  i'm through waiting for the 910 as well.

dell must be hoping to sell a bunch of standard (higher priced) laptops to back-to-school shoppers before they announce this.

the price has just dropped on the aspire one.  i'm through being strung along.

I agree with someone, I will soon be buying an Aspire One. I'm tired of being left in the dark, at least give us a date. For all we know, it won't be released for months.

I'm fed up of waiting for the Dell 910, will rearrange the numbers and go for the eee 901 instead!

You're missing the boat Dell!

You know, I appreciate Dell's commitment to environmentally friendly efforts, but my patience (and of many others) is wearing thin on the lack of official announcements regarding the Inspiron 910/Mini Inspiron/Dell E/whatever the netbook is going to be called. Please, Dell, for the love of G-d, PLEASE SAY SOMETHING! It doesn't hurt to pre-announce a product. However, the silence on this matter is costing you many loyal customers.

Give it up guys.  This makes 5 comments on the mini in the last we and we continue to get no answers.

Asus for mEee.

I really like the looks of the new Precision Mx400 models, the listed specs are exactly what I look for. RedHat, SDD, TPM module, finger print reader, etc. Very nice. If Dell keeps this up, I may deviate from my Thinkpads for the first time ever.

The movement to being more green and the (slow) adoption of Linux across different lines is making me more likely to buy from Dell.

Now that these are being released, hurry up with the "E" I keep reading about. I'm in the market for a netbook, and the Lenovo one really looked like it would be it. (I do only buy laptops from Lenovo, afterall.) But their apparent choice to only offer the lower-power Linux model in non-US markets has lost them a customer. Don't let me down Dell!

Dell E, Dell E Slim, Dell Inspiron Mini?