Wanted: Your Feedback on Future Dell Mini Netbooks

IdeaStorm Recap - 6/5/2009

Direct2Dell — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:06:30 GMT

I have 2 primary updates this week. The first is the Studio 14z laptop that you can learn more about

IdeaStorm Recap - 6/5/2009

Ideas In Action — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:36:51 GMT

I have 2 primary updates this week. The first is the Studio 14z laptop that you can learn more about

feranick — Sun, 31 May 2009 07:55:42 GMT

As I see Dell discontinuing the Mini 9, I cannot express my biggest concern and sadness. The Mini 9 is by far the best netbook for me, as it is. I don't need a bigger and heavier netbook. I understand all manufacturer are going bigger screens. However the 9's form factor is unbeatable, as many user can confirm.

Please bring the 9 back! The 10v is a joke, since it just missed the point of the 9 (small and light) with subpar screen resolution.

For improvements (besides the 9 form factor):

1. A better chipset. The GMA950 is a joke. Doesn't handle multimedia, and it has great problems with Linux. Take the Nvidia Ion, and you can finally claim that you can have proper multimedia in the all Mini series.

2. The mini 9 had the ability to be upgraded completely (RAM, SSD). This is no longer possible, as all boards seem to be soldered. Give the user the ability to upgrade!

3. Update Ubuntu to something more modern than 8.04 (9.04 works great...).

I am a very loyal Dell customer, and I bought the 9 as soon as it was released. I would need to buy more of them (or a worthy successor), but the 10 is definitively not one. So please bring the 9 back!

andybleaden — Thu, 28 May 2009 16:45:54 GMT

I was looking at one of these. I appreciate the release of more products with Ubuntu software as it works everytime for me.

I would really like to see a standard 4 usb ports on the mini 10..2 is no good, three is gonna mean a struggle but 4 would be useful and then for lose the sd media card option.

I would also have 1gb ram and entry level 40gb hdd

jallenb74 — Mon, 25 May 2009 01:28:31 GMT

I REALLY like the Mini 9 form factor. I have been considering a mini 10 for only two reasons: 1. higher res screen (not necessarily because it is bigger, like I said... the mini 9 form factor is great). 2. Better keyboard. My suggestion is to keep the mini 9 form factor in your line indefinately. Try very hard to improve the keyboard. Make it edge to edge as others have suggested, and maybe even add .25 or .5 inches to the width of the laptop if needed. 1024x600 should be the absolute lowest that should ever show up on any machine. Higher resolutions would be much preferred. Slightly larger battery would be preferrable as well, but certainly not a deal breaker.

Some have suggested getting a standard HDD to increase capacity. I disagree. I would certainly like to see 32 and 64 gig options or higher in the SDD on the mini 9(and an SDD would make the mini 10 more appealing as well), but I would prefer to have a 16 gig SDD over a 160 gig HDD. Offer Win 7 on the Mini 9 as soon as it comes out. I have it on my mini 9 now, and it performs better than XP does on my girlfriends mini 9.

Lastly, please have an option of including the WWAN option on the board, so that a card can be added at a later date. I cannot use one where I currently live, but plan to move within the next year and would probably want to have it where I will be living. It would be nice if I didnt have to buy a whole new laptop. Too late for me, but in the future, it would be nice.

petey99 — Sun, 24 May 2009 03:15:50 GMT

Basically, what I want from is a laptop that's durable enough that I can use it anywhere (esp. outdoors) without worrying about it breaking, and cheap enough that if it does break, I can replace it. My short list of requirements:

a) 1280x800 or higher screen resolution. Until Dell introduced the new series, I wasn't considering a netbook. 1024x600 is not enough for almost anything. It'd also be nice if the screen was usable in direct sunlight (OLPC technology?), and if it had some sort of protective coating on it (e.g. replaceable piece of plexiglass in front of it), but those are more of a wishlist.

b) Waterproof (I can use it floating on an inflatable pool mattress, take it on a sailboat, take it along if it might rain, etc, and if it falls in, it probably won't break). It'd be nice if it floated too, but that's not critical (I can always attach something to it).

c) Moderately sturdy (small drops and bumps won't hurt it)

d) Moderately small and light. It doesn't have to be ultralight like the current generation of netbooks, but it should be convenient (13" laptop weight on a 10" screen is fine, and I'd even take slightly heavier).

There's a bunch of high-end ruggedized notebooks on the market that are MILSPEC and cost many grand. Aside from eating most of that market, such a netbook would appeal to swarms of people like me, who want to be able to take a laptop along when hiking, or biking, or traveling, or just to work somewhere pretty.

My guess is that such a device would be best off built with toy technology. There's a swarm of toys that are as ruggedized as the above. With netbook processors and solid state disks, the thermal problems go away, so waterproofing becomes cheap and easy (you don't need fans and airflow), as does making the thing sturdy (no moving parts to break). You can just heatsink everything to a metal plate on the bottom, and it should work okay.

My guess is that the hardest part would be all of the connectors. The battery housing would need an O-ring, and would probably not be convenient to swap out. Except for battery, probably all this would have is USB and power, or alternatively a dock/breakout connector and power.

I don't care much about anything else. 1.2GHz Atom is plenty, as is 512k RAM and a small SSD (I'd buy 4GB, but I'd prefer 8-32GB).

Dell Mini 10v and Other Operating Systems

Direct2Dell — Thu, 21 May 2009 19:45:57 GMT

Thanks for sharing your thoughts about netbooks via IdeaStorm and through @Dell_Mini on Twitter since

padapa — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:40:32 GMT

What do I want ... hummmm

A new Dell Mini 12 with the following specs:

Keep it just the size and weight it is right now

Keep the 12" 1280x800 screen

Update the design to include:

Fast 1.8" or 2.5" SATA SSD - 32GB STD, Optional 64GB

BACKLIT Keyboard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dual core Atom Processor

2GB of Ram STD, Expandable to 4GB

OSX or Ubuntu with an OSX look-alike interface, Optionally Win7 (Stick Vista in the trash, I did )

ALL for the incredibly low price of ~$399

I'll buy between 2 and 4 of them.

padapa

dvdivx — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:03:36 GMT

The screen being less than 600 is a big mistake and one Asus already made. Users aren't going to care about 16:9 video at the expense of a smaller screen resolution. At least offer 1024x600 as a choice, ideally 1280x768. The first time users can't even get 800x600 to work you are going to have alot of returns.

AllFiredUp — Mon, 18 May 2009 03:21:03 GMT

A high resolution display (1366x768 if 16:9 aspect ratio) is a deal maker (or breaker) for me. I bought the Mini 12 because of it's 12.1" 1280x800 display. A 1024x576 display is too much of a compromise for my needs/preferences.

A good keyboard is essential, too. The one on my Mini 12 isn't that great. The shape and feel of the keys makes it difficult to type as fast as on a full-size notebook keyboard. A back-lit keyboard would be a fantastic feature as well.