Very very slow. I just got one and since I needed a laptop for work I am going to be very patient before I threw this thing on the wall. Will remove google search and Mcafee and other stuff.

I just hope Dell did their job and benchmark this toy before this slap Vista on it otherwise I will demand for a Vista refund.

If they had stuffed the N270 processor in this one and a standard SATA drive plus 2 gigs of ram (or at least a chipset that would allow it) I would’ve been all over it. I have a wind now and although it’s definitely usable the screen resolution is not ideal for doing pretty much anything. Most programs run fine on the processor, but the screen resolution really limits how many toolbars and such you can have open. It’s pretty clear that modern software isn’t written for 600 vertical pixels. I’m not talking about photoshop or flash here, but just basic word processing or spreadsheets (the microsoft or the google docs version).

IMHO 1280×800 is a must in a device. I’ve learned that the hard way through using a netbook du jour.

I’m hoping dell learns from the failure that is this machine and puts together a good 12 incher for cheap after this. That could push me into the dell camp for the first time ever.

I get netbooks.

I don’t get this one.

Dell, currently, offers the Inspiron 13 for 649. It’s powerful, very portable and very affordable.

This 12 incher just leaves me scratching my head.

To those of you complaining about Vista on the Mini 12… we will be offering Ubuntu and Windows XP as options later this year.

See D2D for a bit more: http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2008/10/27/Dell-Mini-12-Launching-in-Japan_2C00_-Will-Reach-US-Later-in-November.aspx

For the folks out there complaining about Vista on the Mini 12, know that Ubuntu and Windows XP will be options later this year:
http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2008/10/27/Dell-Mini-12-Launching-in-Japan_2C00_-Will-Reach-US-Later-in-November.aspx

my opinion on the “new” design is that it’s just not worth it. for such insignificant power savings you are limited to 1GB RAM & NO use of an external monitor (unless it 1366 x 768 or under), something else i havent seen anybody mention is that the interface support is PATA only!! no SATA or SATA2. that means new machines are being built that are already extinct. no new support is being given to PATA anymore, just old supply quickly diminishing.

Intel NEVER intended for this chip to be produced in laptops & it shows.

my opinion on the “new” design is that it’s just not worth it. for such insignificant power savings you are limited to 1GB RAM & NO use of an external monitor (unless it 1366 x 768 or under), something else i havent seen anybody mention is that the interface support is PATA only!! no SATA or SATA2. that means new machines are being built that are already extinct. no new support is being given to PATA anymore, just old supply quickly diminishing.

Intel NEVER intended for this chip to be produced in laptops & it shows.

Whether we call it a netbook or a laptop, the sweet spot is 10″ as far as I’m concerned. Still thinking the Wind is the device to beat in this space.

THE MINI 12 has ONE Mono Speaker.

That’s ridiculous.

They claim there was no room for speakers. Ha!
I think it looks cheap and to much like a toy.

what a joke.

It falls in a gray area. I have a 12″ laptop from Dell; they’ve been making them for years. The word netbook hadn’t been invented yet when I bought it about two and a half years ago. But a netbook was pretty much what I was looking for.

I passed on a 15″ screen because I wanted to get the weight and size down to a minimum. I passed on a more powerful processor (I went with a Pentium-M) because I wanted to get the most battery life.

If I could have bought a netbook back then, I probably would have.

Are they seriously trying to run Vista on a CPU designed for Net tablets and smartphones?

Are they trying to kill their own product?

the advantages are smaller physical & lower power consumption (2.5w vs 2.0w). but the disadvantages are plenty, the new chipset only supports 1GB RAM & upto 1366 x 768.

this Atom performs significantly worse than the current 1 people are used to, just try playing some highend movies to see.

Erik, APC is quoting the price in Australia. In the U.S. the device should be priced at the lower figure.

JK– you quoted $600 but APC mentioned $999 several times for the Mini 12. Do you know which is correct? I wouldn’t consider a $1000 laptop a netbook anymore!