14 DAY TRIAL // Now, as most of you remember, at some point in early September, Round Rock, Texas-based Dell decided it was time to also make its debut on the netbook market, as most of its competitors had already introduced their small-sized, low-power portable computer systems. That's when the entire world saw the company's highly anticipated Insprion Mini, which was launched to compete with all the other Atom-powered 8.9-inch netbooks on the market.
The system itself was everything users expected it to be, as it was built on the same Intel Atom-supporting netbook platform seen in a vast number of incarnations. However, it did come out with some unique features, most of which are strictly related to the device’s design and overall layout and, unlike most netbooks on the market, it was rolled out with a relatively affordable price tag.
The interesting thing about Dell's entering the netbook market is that, at first, the company was rumored to be planning another Inspiron Mini model, one that would deliver a 12-inch display size, a rather significant change to all those 10-inch systems on the market. It appears that the rumored 12-inch Inspiron Mini turned into one of the company's support pages, which can only confirm an upcoming launch, although there are no specific details at this time.
According to the available details, the new Inspiron Mini 12 is going to bring a few more improvements, aside from the 12-inch display size. Apparently, this netbook will not be powered by the same Intel Atom processor as the other similar systems on the market, but by Atom Z520 or Z530, which will be paired with 1GB of DDR2 RAM memory.
Additional specifications include 10/100 Ethernet, Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, along with optional 3G WWAN with built-in SIM card reader placed behind the battery. The system will deliver the usual number of ports with three USB 2.0, VGA out, audio in/out and memory card slot and will also feature 1.3MP webcam and 3-cell or 6-cell batteries. The total weight will be around 2.73-pounds while the operating system will be either Ubuntu or Windows Vista.