DELL Mini10 / Mini10v?

[KingV2k3]

Re: DELL Mini10 / Mini10v?

The Mini is sLoooOoWwwwWw....i have one. You really need to do some work on disabling programs and stuff to get it to work decently. Even then it's not very fast.

I'd say a better investment would be an ipod touch. I bought my mini to use for basic browsing/email when I'm on the road and ended up using my ipod touch for this. The ipod touch is fantastic for what she's looking for but if not i'd recommend she go with the cheapest 15" laptop she can find over the Dell Mini.

Thanks for the 'first person account'...

She def wants a notebook...

My cousin has an ASUS and loves it...

Any opinions on this:

http://www.google.com/products/catal...598&sa=title#p

Seems to be well reviewed at a great price...

[KingV2k3]

Re: DELL Mini10 / Mini10v?

I have both a Mini 9 (gave it to the wife, keypad too small for me) and a Mini 10 (not the 10v).

If her use is strictly for email, Facebook and whatnot, this will be a fantastic system. If she is going to want to do anything more graphically intensive than say, FarmVille, I would look elsewhere. It can't handle it. Keep in mind the Mini doesn't come with an optical drive if you need to use programs that require a CD/DVD in the drive to run.

I would recommend getting the screen with the larger resolution. The 1024x600 screen on our Mini 9 is too small for my uses. On my 10, I upgraded to the 1366x768 screen, which is much more realistic. You'll regret it if you don't.

On the topic of battery life, I have a 6-cell (which protrudes from the bottom a fair amount, but gives it a nice tilt when typing) which nets me about 5.5-6 hours of use (internet, email, VPN into work when I should be relaxing...) with wifi enabled.

There is an enthusiast website/forum at mydellmini.com that might be worth checking out. Keep in mind everyone there is going to be very pro-Mini.

Lastly, Dell used to have a ton of these pre-built in their Outlet for very good prices (when you use one of their 15-20% off coupons that they seem to continously run). That might be worth looking at.

Good luck with whatever you end up with.

Thanks for the input!

She need to use it for some word processing / work stuff, so the DELL dosen't seem to fit the bill...

Any thoughts on this one:

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/toshiba-mini-nb305-n410bn/4505-3121_7-33948073.html

Seems pretty solid from the price / review standpoint

[Pared]

Re: DELL Mini10 / Mini10v?

I have both a Mini 9 (gave it to the wife, keypad too small for me) and a Mini 10 (not the 10v).

If her use is strictly for email, Facebook and whatnot, this will be a fantastic system. If she is going to want to do anything more graphically intensive than say, FarmVille, I would look elsewhere. It can't handle it. Keep in mind the Mini doesn't come with an optical drive if you need to use programs that require a CD/DVD in the drive to run.

I would recommend getting the screen with the larger resolution. The 1024x600 screen on our Mini 9 is too small for my uses. On my 10, I upgraded to the 1366x768 screen, which is much more realistic. You'll regret it if you don't.

On the topic of battery life, I have a 6-cell (which protrudes from the bottom a fair amount, but gives it a nice tilt when typing) which nets me about 5.5-6 hours of use (internet, email, VPN into work when I should be relaxing...) with wifi enabled.

There is an enthusiast website/forum at mydellmini.com that might be worth checking out. Keep in mind everyone there is going to be very pro-Mini.

Lastly, Dell used to have a ton of these pre-built in their Outlet for very good prices (when you use one of their 15-20% off coupons that they seem to continously run). That might be worth looking at.

Good luck with whatever you end up with.

Great advice there.

As for that laptop, same scenario - sub par processor and very minimal ram. If you upgrade to 2GB's and she doesn't mind a "slow" computer though, it might fit her needs.

[KingV2k3]

Re: DELL Mini10 / Mini10v?

Great advice there.

As for that laptop, same scenario - sub par processor and very minimal ram. If you upgrade to 2GB's and she doesn't mind a "slow" computer though, it might fit her needs.

Yeah, I'm guessing the Toshiba with an upgrade to 2GB will probably be fine for her needs...

Her web guy has something similar and likes it a lot...

The Aspire comes with 2GB out of the box, but the Toshiba gets very 'user friendly' reviews...

She's not computer savvy at all, so easy is prob better than super fast...

I sent her some links to those two and a few more, so we shall see...

Thanks guys!

[ODogg]

Re: DELL Mini10 / Mini10v?

In general I'd avoid any notebook/laptop with the Atom processor and less than 2gb of RAM.

[KingV2k3]

Re: DELL Mini10 / Mini10v?

In general I'd avoid any notebook/laptop with the Atom processor and less than 2gb of RAM.

What's bad about the Atom?

Both the ASUS and Toshiba have that processor...

This Aspire has 2GB and a different processor:

http://www.google.com/products/catal...&os=tech-specs

Thoughts?

Thanks!

[Pared]

Re: DELL Mini10 / Mini10v?

The Atom is the equivalent of the Celeron.

That Core 2 Solo is a much better processor. I have a small 13" laptop here at work that runs things very well with it (Windows 7, 2GB Ram).

[KingV2k3]

Re: DELL Mini10 / Mini10v?

The Atom is the equivalent of the Celeron.

That Core 2 Solo is a much better processor. I have a small 13" laptop here at work that runs things very well with it (Windows 7, 2GB Ram).

Good to know that the Core2 solo is better...

Looks like the Aspire with 2GB and the better processor is pehaps the best of what I could find...

[ODogg]

Re: DELL Mini10 / Mini10v?

What Pared said is correct. The Atom is just the bottom, bottom of the bunch and if you use a computer much with the Atom as your processor you will probably start to hate life.

[KingV2k3]

Re: DELL Mini10 / Mini10v?

What Pared said is correct. The Atom is just the bottom, bottom of the bunch and if you use a computer much with the Atom as your processor you will probably start to hate life.

Any thoughts on that Acer Aspire I posted the link to?

2GB, better processor...

Any other similar price options come to mind?

Much appreciated guys!

[ODogg]

Re: DELL Mini10 / Mini10v?

King - that'd be a good laptop IMO, except for game playing of course. But yeah I think that would work well for what she wants to use it for. I'm not sure if she plans to use it on battery alot but if she does you may want to upgrade the battery or else buy another one, I seriously doubt it'll get much over 2 hours of battery time despite what it says.

[KingV2k3]

Re: DELL Mini10 / Mini10v?

King - that'd be a good laptop IMO, except for game playing of course. But yeah I think that would work well for what she wants to use it for. I'm not sure if she plans to use it on battery alot but if she does you may want to upgrade the battery or else buy another one, I seriously doubt it'll get much over 2 hours of battery time despite what it says.

No gaming, just internet, email, some word docs...

Good point about the battery though...I'll ask her if that's a priority...kinda doubt it though...

Thanks again, for the input...

[Pared]

Re: DELL Mini10 / Mini10v?

The RAM is a little slow but for her, it should be fine. Decent price as well.

[ODogg]

Re: DELL Mini10 / Mini10v?

Honestly though I have that same speed ram on my Dell laptop and I don't ever notice it. I agonized about that when I ordered it and I never even think about it now.

[Pared]

Re: DELL Mini10 / Mini10v?

When you do work with programs like Photoshop, you'll feel it. But like I said, for her, she should be good.

Word isn't exactly going to chug that bad boy down.

Just make sure it doesn't become her primary computer. She will start to use it a bit more heavily and the bottleneck will become more apparent. I use my laptop for trouble-shooting, web browsing and email and it's perfectly adequate.