Engadget
has uncovered evidence that Dell is cooking up an Inspiron Mini 12. The Mini
12 (or Inspiron 1210) will feature an Intel Atom Z520 or Z530 processor, 1GB of
memory, some type of hard disk drive, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Windows Vista and-wait
for it-a 12.1" display with a 1280x800 resolution. Right now, even the priciest
netbooks from Asus, Acer, and MSI have 10" displays with 1024x600 resolutions.
This 12.1" specimen could mix portability, low cost, and lower power usage with
screen real estate that's on the same level as full-sized notebooks. Heck, even
the display in Apple's new $1,299 aluminum MacBook has a 1280x800 res. Also, as
we've seen with the Asus Eee PC 1000H, the use of a mechanical hard drive can
make a netbook feel much more like a "real" laptop.That leaves the question of
how much Dell will charge for the thing (assuming it actually comes out, of
course). The Mini 9's $349 price tag suggests Dell doesn't kid itself about what
users are prepared to spend for netbooks, and since the company offers
full-sized laptops for $499, it could have no choice but to price the Mini 12 at
least somewhere below $500. That would put the machine in the same price range
as Asus' Eee PC 1000H and other 10" netbooks.
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