Key Specs
1.66GHz Intel Atom N4501GB RAM
160GB hard drive
None
10.1 inches (1,024x600 native resolution)
Integrated Intel GMA 3150
3.1 pounds
1.3x10.5x7.8 inches
Windows 7 Starter (32-bit)
With the extreme thin-and-light Adamo XPS laptop, Dell made its mark as a design innovator. Now, the company continues to push the envelope with this next generation of the Dell Mini 10 (officially called the Inspiron Mini 10 1012), with simple tweaks that give the attractive Mini 10 family an unexpected makeover. Top all that off with appealing upgrade options and an unbeatable starting price of $279 (though our tested configuration was a closer-to-netbook-average $369), and this becomes the most appealing new netbook we’ve seen in 2010.
The glossy plastic lid is attractive and comes in a variety of colors. The bottom of the system is covered in glossy white plastic, and the wrist rests and keyboard bezel feature a glossy, chain-link texture. The keyboard and touch pad are matte black, as are the two small hinges attached to the glossy black screen bezel. The contrasting materials look sharp, and the overall design is unique. Even the chunky battery lip, which extends past the screen hinge (reminiscent of the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t), is a snazzy alternative to the vertical battery bump found on the older Mini 10.
Along the sides of the chassis, you’ll find a standard array of connectivity ports, including a VGA-out port, three USB ports, and a three-format flash-card slot. The Mini 10 comes standard with 802.11b/g Wi-Fi for surfing the Internet. Pricier models include Bluetooth 2.1+EDR connectivity, and for those who can afford it, Dell offers built-in mobile broadband with GPS functionality for $125. The mobile broadband works on the AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon networks.
Those who prefer to connect through video chat will find a standard 1.3-megapixel Webcam embedded atop the glossy black display bezel. The preloaded Webcam utility is easy to use; a small, bright, white LED next to the camera lets you know when the device is ready to capture a photo. While the microphone records crisp audio, still photos are grainy, skin tones look a bit washed-out, and motion captured in videos are blurry. The moving-image quality will suffice for Facebook and video chatting, however.
Below the Webcam, the 10.1-inch wide-screen LCD displays a 16-to-9 aspect ratio at a native resolution of 1,024x600 pixels. Because the glossy-finish screen picks up a modicum of glare from bright overhead lighting, we suggest watching videos in a dimly lit room. When we streamed video from Hulu.com, we noticed that the browser performed sluggishly and responded slowly to clicks and keystroke commands. Full-screen playback looked jerky, and occasionally the picture froze while audio continued to play normally. We downloaded the latest version of Adobe Flash Player, which lessened these problems, but it didn’t correct them fully. (Most netbooks experience at least some issues with Hulu, but the Mini 10 had more trouble than most.) On the other hand, horizontal viewing angles were fantastic, with clear readability all the way out to a near-edge-on 180 degrees. Vertical viewing angles, though, are much more limited; you won't want to view the screen much outside of 20 degrees of straight-on in that dimension.
When we streamed music from Pandora.com, we were pleased to find that the Mini 10’s speakers, located under the beveled front edge of the chassis, pumped out sound loud enough to fill a small room. We quickly turned the volume down halfway and were still satisfied with the level of playback. The sound is somewhat hollow, but the bass is better than we’re accustomed to with systems this size.
The keyboard is a vast improvement over the bland, unattractive keyboard from the previous Mini 10. The key tray is sunken slightly into the chassis, and the keys appear to hover above the key bed. During typing, we were pleased with the sturdy, springy feel of the keys and how they were practically silent. As with the older Mini 10, the spacebar is short, about the same width as the touch pad, which features the same integrated mouse buttons found on the older Mini 10. Though the touch pad takes some getting used to, the mouse buttons respond well and function much better than the cramped, finicky touch pads found on the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t and IdeaPad S10-3.
