Fantastic Netbooks » Dell Inspiron Mini 1012

Dell Mini 1012 Quick Review Roundup

Fantastic Netbooks — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 11:00:18 +0000

Battery life was a clear strong point for the Dell Mini 1012 with reviewers

The Dell Inspiron Mini 1012, to give the netbook its full name, is the most recent of the Mini 10 lineup and is the best of the bunch. We roundup the reviews for the Mini 1012 pointing out its good and bad points before giving our own verdict.

Before we get into the Dell Mini 1012′s reviews, let us remind ourselves of the Dell’s specification:

Dell Mini 1012 Specification

Intel Atom 1.66Ghz N450 processor
1Gb RAM
250Gb hard drive
10.1 inch WSVGA screen
1024 x 600 pixel resolution
3 x USB ports
Wifi – 802.11b/g
Bluetooth
1.3 megapixel webcam
Microsoft Windows 7 Starter Edition
6 cell battery – 8.5 hours battery life
Weight – 1.3Kg

Go to the full specification for the Dell Mini 1012.

A specification only tells you so much about a netbook so what do the reviewers think? Let’s start with the good points.

Dell Mini 1012 Good Points

Battery Life – all 4 reviews were thankful for the long battery life of the Dell Mini 1012 with 8.5 hours quoted. CNet, Notebookcheck and Computer Shopper all tested the Mini 1012 in real use situations and found the battery life to be between 6 and 7 hours in total. Somehow, Expert Reviews got almost 9 hours out of their Mini 1012 so not sure what they did to get that much life out of it, probably nothing, i.e. no WiFi, no web surfing, no using the Dell netbook.

Design - another area that the majority agreed upon was the design with CNet stating that it was ‘sophisticated’ whilst Computer Shopper went as far as ‘gorgeous’. Expert Reviews stuck with ‘stylish’ whilst notebookcheck didn’t mention the design specifically in its good points, instead noting that the case and hinges were stable.

Keyboard - both Notebookcheck and Computer Shopper picked out the keyboard as being very good, superior and much improved over previous Dell Mini 10′s.

Resolution - the larger screen resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels offered by the Dell Mini 1012 was highlighted by Notebookcheck and Expert Reviews. However, the configuration offered by many retailers is with a screen at a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels.

Silent - Notebookcheck ran lots of tests to do with noise and heat and found that the Mini 1012 is particularly silent in its operation.

Build Quality – Notebookcheck also appreciated the stable case and hinges of the Dell Mini 1012.

Colour Options – Computer Shopper was taken with the different colour options available with the Mini 1012, so they listed that aspect as one of their highlights.

LoJack - Computer Shopper also appreciated the fact that Dell offer 1 year subscription to the LoJack theft recovery service although this only appears to be offered in the US and not when purchasing UK Dell Mini’s.

Security Extras – Another good point from Computer Shopper is for the ‘security extras’, which we think they mean the McAfee SecurityCenter antivirus service preinstalled on their Mini 1012. This software is included and, according to the Dell UK website, you get 15 months subscription.

Dell Mini 1012 Divided Opinion

Smooth HD – straight onto the first point of disagreement with reviewers is whether the Dell Mini 1012 can play video smoothly with Notebookcheck being convinced that it can whilst Computer Shopper, Expert Reviews and CNet all explaining that streaming video is stuttery.

Dell Mini 1012 Bad Points

Touchpad - practically all the reviewers, with the exception of CNet, highlighted the touchpad as being a poor area for the Mini 1012. Reviewers stated that either poor touchpad feedback, difficult mouse buttons or even just being difficult to use were the bits they didn’t like about the touchpad.

Smaller Hard Drive – CNet picked up on the fact that their review model only had a 160Gb hard drive instead of the more usual 250Gb hard drive offered in competing systems. In the UK, there are 2 Dell Mini 1012 models, either a 160Gb hard drive version (with Windows XP) or a 250Gb hard drive model (with Windows 7), which is only £20 more.

Air Temperatures – back to Notebookcheck’s detailed testing and they spotted that the temperature of air emitted by the Mini 1012 was high.

No HDMI – Notebookcheck was disappointed by the lack of a HDMI port in the Mini 1012.

Webcam - Computer Shopper thought that the webcam was mediocre.

Upgrading Memory – Expert Reviews found that if you wanted to upgrade your memory from 1Gb to 2Gb of RAM then you would practically need to take the Mini 1012 apart so you could swap the memory, which they found difficult to do.

Dell Mini 1012 Overall Score

Overall Score – 86.5% (compiled from 4 top industry reviews)

This currently places the Dell Mini 1012 at an overall position of 4th in our netbook rankings from a total of 69 netbooks.

Dell Mini 1012 Reviewer Comments and Verdicts:

1. CNet – This retail version of Dell’s Mini 10 Netbook, called the iM1012-687OBK, has a great battery, but chances are it’s sitting on a shelf right next to a less expensive Netbook with a bigger hard drive.

2. Notebookcheck – Five and a half hours of runtime with 720p video clips and six and a half hours for surfing without using the HD chip. No other Nvidia Ion netbook bids such runtimes.

3. Expert Reviews – Its HD support might not be up to much and the touchpad’s annoying, but the high-resolution screen makes this a desirable choice.

4. Computer Shopper – This sturdy netbook delivers excellent battery life, not to mention color options and one of the best keyboards we’ve seen.

Dell Mini 1012 Reviews Used to Compile This Report:

1. CNet – posted on 18th March 2010 and gave the Dell 1012 7.4 out of 10.

2. Notebookcheck – posted on 2nd April 2010 and gave the Dell Mini 1012 86%.

3. Expert Reviews – posted on 23rd April and gave the Dell Mini 1012 5 stars out of 5.

4. Computer Shopper – posted in April 2010 and gave the Dell Mini 1012 8.6 out of 10.

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Top 10 Netbooks For Going Back To School

Fantastic Netbooks — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 21:58:10 +0000

Rounding up the top 10 netbooks for students heading back to school or off to University – we’re looking for lightweight and stylish netbooks whilst making sure they have great battery life and are made from strong stuff – does such a netbook exist?

I know it feels like the summer holidays have only just started and there is a long time before school starts again in September. You don’t want to think about it but you need a netbook to help you with your school work when the new term starts. Or perhaps you are heading off to college or university in a month or two and need a portable computer for writing essays, reports and conducting research.

So if you are thinking about a new netbook to start the new school year in September then I hope this roundup of the best 10 netbooks will be as welcome as an A+ mark in your first test.

I reckon that the main features to look out for when choosing a netbook for a student at school, college or university are the following:

Good battery life – having a decent battery life is essential if the netbook is going to be used throughout the day, not always where there is a power supply close to hand.
Lightweight – nobody wants to carry a heavy laptop around with them all day. Having a lightweight netbook will ease the burden and have you skipping between lectures, lessons or lunch.
Good value for money, i.e. cheap – whoever is paying for the netbook will appreciate it if you get a lot of netbook for your (their) money.
Good design – nobody wants a netbook that looks like a brick or an old Amstrad from the 1980s.
Comfortable keyboard – if the netbook is going to be used properly to write essays, reports, conduct research and prepare for exams then having a comfortable keyboard to type on is pretty important.
Screen – we’re not so concerned about having a screen that looks good when playing DVDs whereas something you can view when outside or under bright fluorescent lights means that matte screens rather than glossy screens would probably be better.
Build quality – it is fair to say that a netbook carried around a school or college is possibly going to get knocked about a bit. This means a flimsy netbook will not be much good so we are looking for one with some sturdiness and good build quality.

So now we have an idea of what we are looking for, let’s have a look at the top 10 netbooks.

Continue reading: Top 10 Netbooks For Going Back To School

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Dell Inspiron Mini 1012 Specification

Fantastic Netbooks — Tue, 25 May 2010 07:46:14 +0000

The Dell Mini 1012 gives us an updated spec. in the form of the Atom N450 processor and a 250Gb hard drive

The newest Dell Mini 10 arrives in the form of this Inspiron Mini 1012 model, which gives us an updated spec. including the Intel Atom N450 processor, a much longer battery life and a larger 250Gb hard drive.

There have been several versions of the Dell Mini 10 since it was first launched in 2008 and this time around it is brought bang up to date with the now customary pinetrail processor (Intel Atom N450), a 250Gb had drive and Windows 7 Starter Edition.

Although we still only have 1Gb RAM and 1024 x 600 resolution for the 10.1 inch screen there is a more expensive option that offers a 1366 x 768 screen. This premium model also comes with the Crystal HD Broadcom Media Accelerator for that added HD option, which is basically a bit of help when decoding 720p and 1080p HD video, something the Atom processor would normally struggle with.

The 6 cell battery in the Dell Mini 1012 coupled with the more efficient Atom N450 processor adds up to much more battery life than previous Mini 10 models. Dell quote up to 9.5 hours but we have revised this down to 8.5 hours in our specification, as based on early reviews of the 1012.

The Dell Mini 1012 is now available in the UK from PC World for £369.99 inc. VAT (correct as of 25th May 2010).

Here is the full Dell Inspiron Mini 1012 specification.

Continue reading: Dell Inspiron Mini 1012 Specification

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