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Dell's Ubuntu-powered mini-laptop arrives tomorrow
21 comments- TAGS:Dell, Linux desktop, mini-laptop, Ubuntu, umpc
- IT TOPICS:Emerging Technology, Hardware, Linux, Mobile & Wireless, Operating Systems, Personal Technology, Software
Sources tell me, OK friends actually, that tomorrow, September 4th, is the long-awaited day that Dell will announce the release of its Inspiron 910... whoops they changed the name on me, it's the Inspiron Mini 9 -- mini-laptop. It will come with your choice of (Boo!) Windows XP Home SP3 or (Yea!) Ubuntu 8.04.
Before any Windows business users rush out to spend their hard-earned money on this spiffy little computer, they should keep in mind that Ubuntu Linux is actually friendlier with Windows-based business networks than XP Home, which can only do security-less, peer-to-peer networking. So, if you want to be a business road-warrior the Inspiron 910, chances are you'll actually want to use Ubuntu.
The Dell Inspiron 910 will use the Intel Atom 270 Diamondville CPU. This chip is already being used in other mini-computers such as the MSI Wind and the Acer Aspire. Dell's CPU will be using the same 1.6GHz model. While I haven't gotten my hands on Dell's Mini 9 yet, I have played around with both the Wind and the Aspire. Ubuntu will find it more than fast enough for their purposes.
The system will also come with either 512MBs or 1GB of RAM. For storage, you're going to get a choice of 4, 8, or 16GB SSD (solid state drives). You'll also be able to buy a 5,400 RPM 80GB hard drive for slightly less.
The display will be not quite nine-inches-8.9-inches. Graphics will be supported by the Diamondville's built-in 945GSE graphics. While this is more powerful than the typical Celeron laptop's 915, you can forget about doing major graphics work on this baby Dell.
It will have 3 USB ports, an RJ-45 10/100Mbps Ethernet port and a media-card reader. While not much by normal laptop standards, this is quite nice by mini-notebook or UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) standards. The Inspiron 910 will also support 801.11b/g Wi-Fi.
This sweet little system will come with a minimum price-tag of $399.
Will it be worth it? Historically Dell makes good systems and I know the engineering team has worked hard on making Dell's first mini-laptop a real winner. So, let me put it this way, I'll be buying one with my own money.
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