14 DAY TRIAL // Even though it already has a full range of mobile PCs selling, Dell saw nothing wrong with unleashing yet another entry-level mobile PC on the European market, namely a netbook dubbed Inspiron Mini 1018, a machine based on the Intel Pine Trail platform with support for DDR3.
Seeing that the netbook market was slowly becoming saturated, because there was not much reason to upgrade, Intel came out and delivered some Atom CPUs that support DDR3 memory.
This enabled the creation of a new generation of such laptops, some of which even have advanced multimedia capabilities.
Dell's Inspiron Mini 1018 does not feature the NVIDIA ION 2 GPU, the product that some competing product chose for its multimedia capabilities.
On the other hand, it will have a lower price point that if it had included said GPU, which basically means it sticks to its status as affordable, low-end mobile device.
The newcomer has an Intel Atom N455, which has a clock speed of 1.66 GHz and is backed up by 1GB of DDR3 memory.
The machine also boasts the GMA (Graphics Media Accelerator) 3150 integrated graphics and a hard disk drive of either 160GB or 250GB storage space.
As for connectivity and I/O, Dell threw in 10/100 LAN, a 0.3 megapixel webcam, optional Bluetooth 3.0, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and a 3-cell or 6-cell battery, for a life of up to 7 hours and 18 minutes per charge, on the latter of course.
For extra comfort and easy of use, the laptop maker outfitted its new offspring with a 92%- sized keyboard and a high-gloss black finish.
Finally, the netbook is pre-loaded with the Microsoft Windows 7 Starter operating system and has a price tag of 279 Euro. Dell states that other regions will receive their own supplies of Inspiron Mini 1018 by this Fall.