Inspiron Zino HD (Inspiron 400 – Scalable)

on Oct. 12, 2009

The Inspiron Zino HD is an affordable small form factor PC that has a
unique design, competitive features, and has optional removable color
and pattern lids.

PERSONALIZATION

Customers can choose from color and design pattern lids that express
their style and/or complement their environment.

Key Features:

· New Dell ID, 3.5L Small Form Factor Chassis with options –
with ODD, without ODD

· ENERGY STAR® 5.0 Compliant

· AMD Athlon™, Athlon™ X2, Athlon™ Neo X2 Processor

· AMD RS780G Chipset

· ATI Radeon HD3200 Integrated graphics, with optional ATI
Radeon HD4330 512MB discrete upgrade

· 1GB dual channel DDR2 RAM, up to optional 8GB

· 160GB SATA HDD @ 7200RPM, up to optional 1TB

· Support No Optical Drive, 8X 12.7 Trayload DVD+/-RW, Blu-ray
Disc Combo options

· Integrated 2.1 Channel High Definition Audio

· Integrated 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet connection

· Built-in 4-in-1 Media Card Reader

· Optional wireless with 802.11b/g or 802.11a/b/g/n

· 4 USB Ports (2 Front, 2 Rear)

· HDMI connectivity and 2 eSATA Ports

· Support wireless keyboard / mouse, and remote control options

· Support Linux (Ubuntu Netbook Remix) 9.04, Vista, Win7 OS

Unfortunately, there’s still no word on pricing or release dates, but hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for the official announcement from Dell…

[Thanks Oddo!]

Yes, I do believe all cheap consumer electronics should signify their cheapness with tons of colour, but you know, nice-looking colour. Pay more, get less (colour). It makes sense, right?

FASHION MEETS FUNCTION WITH NEW INSPIRON FAMILY, DELL MAKES IT EASY TO CUSTOMISE LIFESTYLE AND DÉCOR

· People Have Complete Control of Power, Colour and Size

· Fresh ID and vibrant colours express personal style and complement any environment

· Custom configurations to meet performance and budget

ROUND ROCK, Texas, March 30, 2009 – Style-minded families, students and teens want to personalise their PCs to meet their performance and lifestyle needs – blogging, chatting, sending photos or running a media centre. Highly-stylized products, like Dell’s new Inspiron slim and mini-tower desktops, deliver on design and customisation, transforming the brand from the “built- for-me” model, into “made-for-me.”

Dell’s new Inspiron slim and mini-towers expand the design and personalization possibilities for consumers. Available in eight vibrant colours, Dell is the only major consumer desktop manufacturer to offer such extensive personalization options to reflect individuals’ personal style or to complement their bedroom or study.

Inspiron slim and mini-tower desktops debut today in China and are available for purchase through Dell.com, distributor Digital China or retailers Suning and Gome. Starting at $299, the systems will be available worldwide later this spring.

The News:

· Dell’s new Inspiron desktop lets people express themselves through choices of colour (eight options), size (slim or mini-tower) and configuration.

· Vivid colour palette to express your personal style: Piano Black, Pure White, True Blue, Formula Red, Tangerine Orange, Spring Green, Plum Purple and Promise Pink.

· Dell becomes the only major consumer desktop manufacturer to offer colour options for the entire front of the machine.

· Customizable options to meet individual’s budget, lifestyle and usage needs.

· Ideal for common tasks including email, Internet, blogging, entertainment (movies, music and casual gaming) and productivity.

· Features available on the new Inspiron desktops include:

o Intel® Celeron®, Intel Core™ 2 Duo and Intel Core 2 Quad options or AMD Sempron™, Athlon™ X2 and Phenom™ X4 processor options

o Integrated Intel or ATI Radeon™ graphics* on select systems with discrete graphics options available

o Up to 8GB* memory on select systems

o Up to 750GB* storage (slim tower) or up to 1TB* storage (mini-tower)

o Optional 19-in-1 media card reader and optional HDMI connectivity

o 6 USB ports (2 front, 4 back)

o Dual optical options (mini-tower only) including Blu-ray Disc™ drive

o Small form factor with its versatile horizontal or vertical placement is designed to easily fit into your home media centre (slim tower only)

[Dell]

If you look back at my original review of the Dell Inspiron Mini 12, a 12-inch Atom netbook with 1GB of RAM, I liked the hardware just fine but complained that Vista was too slow to even be considered as the OS. The system often lagged when just opening the Start menu, let alone launching real programs. It, like Vista on most netbooks, was little more than a novelty—something to be chuckled at for a few moments before formatting and installing XP. So I loaded the mini 12 with Windows 7. What did I have to lose?

The experience is night and day.

With Aero deactivated (and actually, totally inaccessible after an auto-configuration installation despite screwing with the registry), the Start menu now pops right up (like it should), Firefox takes about 3.5 seconds to open (which is reasonable) and light multitasking is smooth enough. The computer is by no means fast, but it’s reasonably functional. And I can use the system without pounding my head against the screen or loading an old OS. Keep in mind, this testing is just with 1GB of memory, not even 2GB.

The system still struggles a bit with both full screen Flash video and XviD clips. Heavily dropped frames remain a fact of life, and don’t expect to fast forward through high quality content at will. But that’s a hardware limitation that I can accept, or at least not blame on Microsoft. Intel, I’m looking in your direction now.

I loaded Windows 7 onto the Mini 12 as a Hail Mary manoeuvre, hoping to play with the system a little more without resorting to XP. And I have to admit, the results were pretty close to miraculous.

Jkkmobile says that while review units had a 32Wh battery, consumer units have 24Wh batteries, which is why you’d be lucky to hit 3 hours of life vs. the four hours most reviewers got. We hit up Dell for a response, we’ll let you know what they say. [jkkmobile]

AU: The Aussie dollar strikes again – Locally we’re looking at $999. And if you want to know how it really handles, David Flynn (the netbook maestro) got his hands on it for an exclusive review over at APC Mag.

Under the hood, it’s a standard netbook kit—1.6GHz Atom (though the more energy efficient next-gen one that lets it live for up to three hours on a 3-cell battery), smallish 40, 60 or 80GB hard drive, not a whole lotta RAM—though you’ve got a full-sized keyboard and 1280×800 12-inch screen. Unfortunately, it’s only available with Vista at launch (which, also oddly, is only in Japan initially). Since Vista historically runs like garbage on these things, holding out through the late November debut here for the XP and Ubuntu variants coming by year’s end would probably be more prudent.

That said, the Mini 12 is definitely an interesting little experiment from Dell—a mutant mashup of netbook and notebook that might hit some heretofore undiscovered sweet spot, or simply look verrry attractive to some given the current economic climate. Update: Full press release below—apparently it’s a Twitter machine too:

Slim, Stylish and Well-Connected: Introducing the Dell Inspiron Mini 12

* New Addition to the Dell Inspiron Mini Line Expands Personalization Options
* Available First in Japan Through Bic Camera, Kojima and Sofmap Stores
* Includes Windows Vista Home Basic, Webcam and Bluetooth

ROUND ROCK, Texas—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Dell today introduced the Inspiron™ Mini 12, a small, easy-to-carry Internet companion that you can fine tune to fit your specific needs and deeds. Like its counterpart the Inspiron Mini 9, the Mini 12 is ideal for teens, tweens, travelers and “Tweeters” to surf the Web1, chat with friends, blog, stream content, upload photos or enjoy online videos, music and games.

The Inspiron Mini 12 is available initially only in Japan through Bic Camera, Kojima and Sofmap stores and other retail outlets. It will launch online globally by late November with configurations starting under $600 (U.S.). Ubuntu and Windows XP® operating systems also will be available before the end of the year.

The News:

* With a starting weight of only 2.72 lbs.1 and only 0.92 in. thick1, current standard features on the Inspiron Mini 12 include:
o Windows Vista® Home Basic, built-in webcam, 1GB of RAM and a choice of 60 GB or 80 GB hard drive1, providing ample capacity for mobile applications, content creation and storage.
o Built-in Bluetooth® and 802.11b/g wireless.
o A sharp 12.1-inch WXGA display, offering wider viewing angles and exceptional brightness.
* Dell provides a variety of service offerings and add-on options to help ensure devices are easy to use and maintain optimal performance, including:
o Dell Support Center: Quickly access Dell service and support from an icon on your desktop that provides automated fixes, software upgrades and tools to help keep your system up-to-date and running efficiently.
o DellConnect™ Remote Assistance1: Dell experts help diagnose and solve PC problems via an Internet connection (available only on Windows-based systems).

If you are on Twitter and would like to join the conversation about the Inspiron Mini 12, follow www.twitter.com/hashtags, type your comment and end your tweet with #mini12.

[BusinessWire, Laptop]

According to the guides, the netbook will come with either an Intel Atom Z520 or Z530 CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 1.3MP camera, three USB 2.0 ports, and either a 3- or 6-cell battery. You’ll also be able to choose between Ubuntu or Windows Vista, probably getting a neat price reduction if you go for Linux. No information on pricing or a specific release date yet. [Engadget]

The first time a mini-notebook is loaded with OS X, like any right of passage, it’s a major event. And now the Inspiron Mini 9 has become a man, or at least an honorary Apple fanboy. Loaded with a slipstreamed version of OSX in a manner similar to the MSI Wind, the wireless card, Ethernet and sound didn’t work initially but were fixed after the download of a few additional files.

If you’ve got a Mini 9 you’d like to load OS X onto, hit up the link for, not quite step-by-step instructions, but probably enough to get the job done. [UneasySilence]

The move is part of a broader Dell initiative that will soon offer more movie preloads and eventually a whole Dell iTunes-like digital download store. But we can’t help but to think it’s a little strange all the same.

Then again, I, for one, would pay big bucks for an Iron Man co-branded antivirus software package. How great would it be to watch Iron Man beat the crap out of malicious files? Pew pew! Kapowee!! [Dell]