Dell Inspiron Mini 10.1-Inch Obsidian Netbook Computer Review

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Dell Inspiron Mini 10 10.1-Inch Obsidian Black Netbook Computer

A nice little little netbook with a decent price, but with a slower-than-average processor.

Although the netbook is lacking in processing power, you can look into a Dell Vmware solution that uses a remote desktop for more demanding applications.

Netbooks are not known for their great speed. The vast majority of netbooks use a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, whilst this one uses a slower 1.33GHz version.  Not a massive game changer, but does make something that is already pretty slow, even slower.

Rather than droning on about the speed of the processor, here is a breakdown of the major features.

  • 10.1″ screen
  • 1024 x 600 maximum resolution
  • 1GB of memory
  • 160 GB hard drive
  • Windows XP
  • Built-in microphone, speakers and webcam
  • LAN port
  • 3 x USB ports
  • WiFi

So there is pretty much the standard spread of features.

Overall, people’s experience with this little computer are pretty good. But there have been a few hassles, which should be noted to avoid any hassles.

There is no Windows CD included, so you cannot uninstall it then reinstall it. Not everyone needs to do this, but if you do you’ll have to get hold of a recovery disk somehow. Note that one user reports Windows 7 not working if you are planning on trying it.

The HDMI port is for video only and does not support any audio. Typical HDMI supports audio, but most computer video outputs only output video, so you’ll have to wire the audio from the microphone output.

The other bits and pieces work as expected. Wifi works in locations with good signal, and the system offers the standard 802.11b/g which is fast enough for anything that involves using the web.

All the features needed for  video conferencing are there. The webcam to handle the video and the built-in microphone and speakers to handle the audio aspects.

The battery life of 8 hours is average. There are more expensive “ultra-low voltage” laptops that can go for 10 hours and a lot of other netbooks that can also go for 10 hours. Eight is not the most, but not bad either.

The good:

  • Decent battery life
  • Nice price
  • Complete set of features

The not so good:

  • No Windows CD
  • No audio on HDMI
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