There’s a pretty cool event going on as you read this out in Carlsbad, Calif - the D: All Things Digital conference. Conversations from it have been lighting up the front page of Techmeme since last night. For those who aren’t familiar with it, D6 is a two day-event during which tech industry leaders and luminaries share the stage with Walt Mossberg and/or Kara Swisher and participate in frank discussions about their companies, their products and prognosticate about the future. Michael Dell chatted with Walt earlier today and they covered a wide range of topics.
Hats off to Brian Lam of Gizmodo as he seems to have caught Michael roaming the halls between sessions and saw he was carrying something our Ideastorm contributors will recognize. Michael positioned it as the perfect device for the next billion internet users. While we can’t share any details, we can share these (click on them to see a larger version):
Stay tuned for details.
May 28th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/10089149/Add_a_media_drive_to_the_Dell_mini
May 28th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
[…] a gander at Dell’s new entrant to the mini-laptop market. Almost nothing is known about the device, but aesthetically, it’ll compete with the best of […]
May 28th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
seems like a mighty fine device. needs basic camera, 3g and bluetooth support. this seems great for a telecommuter, student, photographer, with a bluetooth headset and his 3g Internet. This is something that needs to swivel screen and be multitouch! These have a right market if you are willing to work on it. incremental updates also means incremental profits… or something.
ps, lose the vga, put hdmi. an vga adapter included would suit fine.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
I know people see this as great for the EEEPC market but its competing with the hp-mini note. there could easily be a low-end low budget option for this without the interconnectivity but wifi and long battery life is a must for a device this small.
May 29th, 2008 at 12:00 am
10″, 120GB HD, good processor, 2GB, be able to run Solaris 10 and I will buy this with my eyes closed, is that asking for too much?
May 29th, 2008 at 12:05 am
[…] Dell Blog via Gizmodo tr { border: 0px } td { cellborder: 10px; padding:5px; } table { border: 1px solid silver; margin-left: 20px; width: 540px; padding: 5px; } […]
May 29th, 2008 at 1:57 am
No DVI/HDMI? No eSATA? No SPDIF? Sorry, don’t want old CRAP and a toy only. (I’m) wait for the next modell instead of buying old crap now.
May 29th, 2008 at 2:56 am
please release this in the US. and seriously, screw 3g and bluetooth support, and fancy video. wifi is more than adequate. i just want something small, light, and cheap that i can take to the library!
May 29th, 2008 at 3:16 am
[…] Dell via Engadget via […]
May 29th, 2008 at 3:20 am
[…] Update. New Pics and a few lines of confirmation in a Dell blog […]
May 29th, 2008 at 3:21 am
Wow! Can u share other info such as the price and feature? When do you give us more information? Hope in your reply,thank you.
May 29th, 2008 at 3:22 am
Here are the specs for the Dell Mini Inspiron: Atom 1.6 GHz, 3 USB ports, Ethernet, Card reader, Kensington lock, Adapter socket, Mic/line-out, VGA port, screen resolution at 1280×800. Scheduled to be released before the end of June 2008. It costs less than $500.
May 29th, 2008 at 5:23 am
looking at the picture made me kinda think that this may be just a 7 inch device
i mean
check out the pencil
a standard pencil is ~7in and thats what the screen compared to that pencil looks like
this would be a shame
i mean you can buy 7″ devices on one.de for 200€ (~300$)
i dont think that dell will compete in SUCh a low price range
so lets hope the resolution will be better than those shabby 800*480 of the eee…
May 29th, 2008 at 5:27 am
[…] It’s also more than likely to be running on one of Intel’s Atom processors, have WiFi and come with a Linux option to keep the cost down but we won’t know more until Dell sqawks. For more pics, click on over to Dell. […]
May 29th, 2008 at 5:37 am
Dell Mini boasts impressive keyboard….
Gizmodo managed to get a sneak peek at Dell’s forthcoming into the UMPC market. Dell had earlier announced that they will be releasing a product sometime in the Summer to compete with the likes of HP and Asus. There is no word on the specificatio…
May 29th, 2008 at 5:40 am
Surely the Dell logo\’s upside-down!
May 29th, 2008 at 5:56 am
Try this. A small portable PC that is under $500 but has at least 10-20gbs. It needs to weight under 2lbs and be some where near the same size as the Eee. If this doesn’t happen your just playing with the public. You guys can do it but aren’t sure if it is cost effective. The problem is that when you get this the cost will be over $500 and you will lose a great deal of customers.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:01 am
HA! how did I miss that goof? Good catch JamesWeb
May 29th, 2008 at 7:06 am
[…] Update: Dell confirms it, but is only willing to reveal "stay tuned"… […]
May 29th, 2008 at 7:55 am
… and comes with a huge pencil as an optional accessory.
May 29th, 2008 at 8:27 am
The Mini Inspiron looks great!
We posted about it over at ShinyPlastic.com and can’t wait to see the full specs. I think the combination of Dell’s marketing power combined with a great looking product could make this a category killer as long as the price and specs are good.
http://www.shinyplastic.com/archives/05-29-2008-computer-systems-dell-mini-inspiron-eeepc-killer.php
May 29th, 2008 at 9:27 am
[…] of these Asus EEE PC’s after all…Gizmodo has the details, albeit brief but this looks great. Dell also put some shots up on their blog Filed under: […]
May 29th, 2008 at 10:24 am
so small…
May 29th, 2008 at 10:25 am
[…] else has or can find on the Dell product website. (Though you can see official pics of it on the Dell Blog here). The picture was snapped up by Gizmodo’s Brian Lam at the “All Things D” […]
May 29th, 2008 at 10:27 am
HP has put in a C7 via chip ….I think this puts their machine out of the running..
It had to be done for maybe 2 reasons.. 1. intc can’t make enought atoms …or 2. its cheap like in Via china
May 29th, 2008 at 11:33 am
This is the second time I read about the next billion internet users (Pixel Qi, who is Mary Lou of OLPC fame’s IP company mentioned this on here site at:
http://www.pixelqi.com/mission
“While Pixel Qi is concentrating on screen design and production, we do not design the screens separately from the rest of the sytem. We believe that looking at computers in a new, holistic, systemic way, with a clean-sheet approach to the system - rather than incrementally increasing the horsepower of the CPU - is critical to bringing computing and Internet access to more than the 1 billion affluent who now are its beneficiaries. The key is a new generation of low-cost, low power, durable, networked computers, leveraging open-design principles”.
So I hope there is a relationship where Dell is going to beat EeePC with a laptop that has OLPC dual mode screen and long long long battery life (with a $10.00 user replaceable battery)?
May 29th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Puts grila.
May 29th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Enquanto Pixel Qi se na tela de concepção e produção, nós não o desenho telas separadamente do resto de o sistema. Nós acreditamos que a olhar para computadores em um novo, holística, sistêmica forma, com um limpa-folha abordagem para o sistema - incrementalmente, em vez de aumentar a potência do CPU - é essencial para a interposição computação e acesso à Internet para mais de 1 bilhão os abastados que agora são os seus beneficiários. A chave é uma nova geração de baixo custo, baixa potência, duradoura, em rede computadores, alavancando abrir-design princípios “.
Por isso, espero que haja uma relação onde Dell vai bater EeePC com um laptop que tem OLPC dual mode tela e longa longa longa duração da bateria (com uma bateria substituível usuário $ 10,00)?
May 29th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
[…] Something at D6 [via Gizmodo] […]
May 29th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
possibly the most good looking mini around, and it’ll be nice to see VIA new cpu in there, for a change. 4-hours battery life and under US$400 will get you loads of buyers.
May 29th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
It looks like the “netbook” market is really heating up now. Hopefully Dell will keep the pricing affordable for students as well.
May 29th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
[…] Direct2Dell More at Small-Laptops.com: - Dell Mini Inspiron Gallery - Dell Mini Inspiron […]
May 29th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Looks awesome. It’s a shame all these sub-notebooks have fairly large bezels. If they could fit 10in in the same form factor, they’d be onto something.
I don’t know about everyone else, but all I really care about is battery life, wifi, and a small bezel (i.e. larger screen for form factor). Then larger HDD, HSDPA and webcam can be in the premium model.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
[…] Mr. Dell gave him an exclusive closeup look at the thing, and a little later Dell officially confirmed the subnotebook’s existence. No details on specs yet, though the company is saying the product is a response to a call they […]
May 29th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
[…] Link: http://yourblog.direct2dell.com/2008/05/28/something-from-dell-at-d6/ […]
May 29th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
A worthy successor to my current workhorse, Latitude X1. Please keep the price low and make sure that it has plenty of USB ports. I do not care about a camera but I do care about its price (the size and weight look like they will be perfect) and its battery life (the X1 battery is terrible). You will get my loyalty with the right price–and sales of five of these machines in first few months.
May 29th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
I think price and availability have been the two biggest things I’m hearing people talk about - we all assume it’s going to be Intel Atom, but will Dell be able to keep the price at or below the HP 2133 Mini-Note? If they can’t get it down to that level, people are liable to go with the HP or with the MSI (or even the Acer Aspire One).
May 29th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
finally, a umpc that looks beautiful
May 30th, 2008 at 12:25 am
[…] on this miniature notebook, you can bet that we’ll have it here! Also be sure to check out the Dell blog to see the two pictures they […]
May 30th, 2008 at 2:19 am
Price it at £200-£250 with XP, 1GB ram, 8.9″ screen, 12GB (minimum, 16 to 20 preferred) SSD, SD slot, Wi-fi, >2 hours battery life and a few USB ports and I’ll be first in the queue.
Ideally the SSD needs to be in one piece, NOT seperate 4+N like the EEE!!! Don’t bother with MS Works, Openoffice is perfectly adequate and helps to keep the cost down. Open source software = lower cost to the customer = more sales.
I’m going on holiday in early July, so would REALLY like it to be released at the end of June at the latest please Michael. If your guys could drop me an email when it’s coming up for release, that’d be good too
May 30th, 2008 at 2:37 am
If this will be dirt cheap (less than $400 USD) here in my country (Philippines) as well as featureful enough (read: >2 hours battery life, 3 USB ports, good keyboard quality, 8GB SSD, wifi, 1GB RAM), you’ll give ASUS a run for their money. Offer it with a option of Ubuntu and my money (as well as many of my friends) are yours!
May 30th, 2008 at 6:59 am
This new ultra-portable looks very nice. At present I use a large Dell laptop, which I have had for about five years (with four newer Dell laptops also in my household), and about six months ago I bought an ASUS EeePC (4GB, running Linux) and I have to say that the EeePC is superb. It is extremely useful because it can easily handle all my day-to-day tasks, including some software development, and yet it is so convenient to use - small and light, robust and very fast to boot-up and shutdown.
If this new Dell improves on my ASUS EeePC then I may be tempted to upgrade - compared to my EeePC a slightly larger screen would be nice and perhaps a better keyboard (although the EeePC is surprisingly good in these respects) and a larger solid-state disk. Also Ubuntu Linux would be preferable to the Xandros Linux on the EeePC (I plan to install Ubuntu when I have time).
However, I will not upgrade to the Dell if it has a conventional hard-disk (HD). One of the big advantages of the EeePC is its solid-state disk (SSD) - an ultra-portable should be robust and fast to boot-up and shutdown. I would much rather have a ’small’ SSD (plus SD card slot for expansion) rather than a huge HD. And Linux does not require a large disk.
May 30th, 2008 at 10:09 am
[…] is courtesy of Dell and […]
May 30th, 2008 at 10:50 am
[…] also appears that Dell will be pre-installing Ubuntu 8.04 on the so-called mini-Inspiron. This is Dell’s answer to the Asus Eee and other UMPC. While almost no details are known […]
May 30th, 2008 at 10:54 am
sexy - i’d buy one if it had a camera (with a manual cover) and 3G on board.
May 30th, 2008 at 11:30 am
I would surely replace bloated, unstable Linux with OpenBSD on one of these, now that would be ultra awesome!
May 30th, 2008 at 11:32 am
The “Race to the Bottom” continues, as prices and margins drop down closer and closer to Zero!
Beware that the idea is to offer the BASICS at a lower price in a smaller, lighter form.
Remember, these Laps are designed for small size, not big performance. You won’t find all of the features of a laptop on these machines as you would on a traditional laptop; at least if you expect a lower price and a lighter computer.
May 30th, 2008 at 11:35 am
[…] snapshots back to head office where they were quickly posted on the Gizmodo website, forcing the Direct2Dell site to release it’s pictures. It’s a cute looking little unit in Candy Apple Red, with […]
May 30th, 2008 at 11:36 am
[…] news on the Dell UMPC Add The Direct2Dell Blog mentioned the ultra mobile PC they are working on last night. I guess the information on the net was too important to let out unsubstantiated. I know […]
May 30th, 2008 at 11:53 am
WELL DONE! 1280 x 800 screens are an absolute must (or 1024×768 as a minimum) for any device intended to be read by humans. firefox is impossible to read on a 1024 x 600 device: i bought a fujitsu lifebook P1510D for £1700 ($3500) and threw it away within a couple of months. firefox takes up fully 2/5ths of the screen with impossible-to-remove toolbars, leaving only a couple of inches of useable space on a 1024×600 screen, especially after you’ve opened a few tabs. those extra 168 pixels on a x768 screen (or extra 200 pixels on a x800 screen) make all the difference.
plus, many applications are simply not designed for anything less than 768 height screens: many KDE dialog boxes, and the KDE control panel, are all impossible to use on a x600 screen because the dialog buttons are off the bottom!
so, for anyone with bad eyesight, you can always increase the font size by 50% and get a readable screen still on 8in or so with the benefit that the screen will be pin-sharp clear - but you can’t reduce the font size to get similar results if the resolution just… isn’t there. yes, i’ve tried reducing fonts to size 5 on a samsung UMPC Q1 (screen resolution: 800 x 480) and it’s just… don’t do it
May 30th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
DON’T add a media bay. Please, keep it small, cheap, with a good keyboard and make the battery last forever.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
We did some measuring of the photos dell provided and based upon a known dimension (the 0.5″ width of a usb port) we estimate that the mini inspiron is about 6.6″ x 8″ and has a 8.9″ (or 9″ screen):
http://www.shinyplastic.com/archives/05-30-2008-computer-systems-confirmed-dell-mini-inspiron-has-a-89-or-9-screen.php
If Dell can deliver a basic spec of 8.9″ screen, 512MB RAM, 12GB+ SSD, atom processor and ubuntu for under $500 and an upgrade to a faster processor, XP and 1GB RAM for about $100 more it will be a winner.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
These pictures were taken by the same guy who takes pictures for the McDonalds’ ads. The burgers are the same size of a huge coup of coke
May 30th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
I like it’s design, I already dream of one
May 30th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
This is so “last century,” someone is going make DeLL cry…
May 30th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
It will be half-assed. The logo on prototype is upside-down, so how can we trust the mobo design, battery and BIOS code
My guess is it will have a 7” LCD display, a Via CPU, 512 gb RAM, 50 gb IDE drive, 1 hour battery life and run Vista. And the cost will be $666.
May 30th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
[…] around a prototype Dell mini notebook. Gizmodo was able to get the full scoop and Dell actually posted a follow-up on their blog. The information is scant on actual specs (as in none), but pictures are […]
May 30th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Please do not make this a swivel screen, unless you can do so without: jacking up the price, making it more damage prone, or sacrifice the current look (I love how it looks in these pictures).
Touchscreen sure, but without swivel to make it a tablet, touchscreen is a bit awkward. I know a lot of users are asking for whole bunch of technical features, but as long as it is powerful enough to run Eclipse IDE or H.264 movies without a hitch and has a great battery life, I’m in for one for sure. Other than that, an option between SSD or HDD is a must.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
I’m biased, in that I work at Sun, but I’ve got a EeePC which I bought myself for my own personal use - mine runs OpenSolaris 2008.05, and I’m very very happy with it.
I do find the 4gb disk a bit restrictive though, and while I can write stuff to a large SD card, I’d love a slightly larger disk. The main thing that’d make me upgrade though, is battery life - if the Dell had more than 4hrs of battery life, and ran OpenSolaris 2008.05 like the EeePC does, I’d definitely consider it as my next day-to-day laptop.
May 30th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
[…] snapshots back to head office where they were quickly posted on the Gizmodo website, forcing the Direct2Dell site to release it’s […]
May 30th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
At last, a non-mac that I would buy. Linux? Vista? XP?
May 30th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
[…] posted the Dell Mini Inspiron specifications on the Dell blog, they sound reasonable enough for me to trust, and nice enough to want one of these new machines. […]
May 30th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
[…] Source […]
May 30th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
[…] [Dell Blog] Read […]
May 30th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Peter… Dude….
I have a Pavilion 576x since they where release, the Darn Desktop it’s working… It has like 5-7 years old.
I have a dv6000 laptop… Has been working 100% fine, and I have Vista and XP Dual-Booting… And all my drivers are for Vista. the laptop is made for Vista, and drivers are made for Vista. You just need to sit on a chair, go to google and Find the drivers build from their own manufactures on google. My laptop runs Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3 100% Fine. The only thing is not working, it’s Wireless. because Atheros has launched the Wireless driver even for Linux, except XP.
In the past, I’ve had, Dell’s C400, C600, D400, X300 and D600 laptops. Loved them all. I’m someone who gets a laptop, sells it, and grabs a more powerful one.
And I’ve been a Windows User since Win98. I personally, Don’t like Windows. But My Favorite OS Remains Mac OS X and Linux. I worked with it once, for a full month, never had a problem. I worked with Win98, BSOD, 2000 Same story… And since XP… Driver problems…
Thanks…
I’m a Computer Science Student, and a Computer Tech, And i’ve fixed over hundreds of computers…
P.S.
I’ve been a Windows user, because it’s my only remedy for Work. If I could use a mac for work, Everything would be different. But it’s not apple’s fault, Apple just needs to bring developers in so I can get the Software I need. And wait… Bootcamp… Parallells… and stuff….
*This has been posted from an HP Laptop*
May 30th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
This thing looks very much like MSI’s Wind PC. Could this actually be a re-branded Wind?
May 31st, 2008 at 2:03 am
Thank you for this outstanding article.I thought Centrino was the best technology for laptop battery performance.
May 31st, 2008 at 5:36 am
Can someone clean the eJunk posts from this blog? There sure are some limited posts on here. To everyone else who has posted something worth reading, I would love to read it but the consistency of the Blue link to web pages and blogs covering the same topic hurts my eyes, and I hate reading from a monitor. Kudos for thinking though!
When do we get to see specs? The Gizmodo pics look like a protoype compared to the DELL pics. Is the keyboard going to remodeled a little? It seems to be missing some keys, and that black box in the Gizmodo pics is bulky and limiting. How much customizing can we do to it? What is the base price?
oh man . . . I’m almost freed from my desktop so I can work and play!!
May 31st, 2008 at 6:55 am
…or this could be an ordinary Dell Inspiron photographed next to an abnormally large pencil.
May 31st, 2008 at 9:56 am
NEEDS 3G (HSDPA) –> not locked to any specific provider (850/1900mhz). Without that its just anot