First look: Dell Inspiron Mini 12

Posted on 9 Dec 2008 at 16:09

We managed to get our hands on an early sample of Dell's new Inspiron Mini 12, and it could be a real bargain. It's the bigger brother of the Mini 9, which is reviewed in our current issue (252, Feb 2009).

Instead of an 8.9in screen, it has a 12.1in display with a resolution of 1,280x800. This give far more room to breathe than the 1,024x600 resolution on the Mini 9 and most other nine or ten-inch netbooks. Screen quality, just like the Mini 9, is very good. Colours were vibrant and desktop icons and text looked sharp.

Importantly, the keyboard is significantly bigger, and has a row of F-keys, unlike the Mini 9's. While we didn't have much time to test it, we liked that there were no narrow keys, as is common with smaller netbooks. It's debatable whether the Mini 12 is really a netbook, but it has no optical drive and its specifications are basic. The 1.6GHz Atom processor is a little underpowered for running Vista Home Basic, and it isn't helped by having just 1GB of RAM.

The case is made entirely from plastic, but build quality is perfectly good. At 1.2kg, the Mini 12 is one of the lightest 12in laptops around, but this is achieved using a small three-cell battery, which is likely limit the time between charges to around two hours. At present, there's no option for a larger battery, and neither can you specify a 3G modem but both should be introduced next year.

There are two models currently available from Dell's website, one with Ubuntu Linux for £342, and the Vista model for £390 including VAT and delivery. If you're happy to use Ubuntu, the Mini 12 looks to be great value, but if not, it's worth holding on and waiting for a Windows XP model.

Author: Jim Martin

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