Rocket Bomber - article - site news - commentary - This isn't a tech blog - either: Today's distraction is the Dell Mini 10

[awww… isn’t that cute? They’re running µTorrent together…]

So. The 15in. laptop in the back is a 3 year old Dell Inspiron 1501, the noble brick that has been my one and only computer for longer than my last four blogging gigs and which has duly served (and will continue to serve for a while yet; not enough scratch in the ol’ grouch bag to buy the replacement — looking at a Dell Studio 17 with like $500 worth of extra RAM for that) as the behind-the-scenes engine, platform, and interface for RB. (well… besides the web hosting, natch; I pay professionals for that)

Her name is Minerva, because she’s so shiny. Minerva has been an excellent computer, and when we do have to part ways (it’s not you darling, it’s me, I’ve… grown. We’ve grown apart. But can you continue to keep house for at least a couple months until I find someone new? You will? Oh, you’re a gem, doll. I love you.) I’m going to do my level best to find a new, good home for her, a place where she will be appreciated—dare I say, loved. I’ve a particular non-profit in mind, and though they currently have absolutely no idea, my gal Minerva is going to show up unannounced at their front door one day soon, dolled-out in the sexiest open source software you’ve ever seen: fully-loaded, unlocked, cocked, and ready to rock. She’ll blow their minds.

The little guy is staying with me, even after Minerva leaves and the Dell Shipyards in Round Rock, TX, finish the commission on the new RocketBomber Mothership. The Mini was meant to be an add-on, bought after the fact (that is to say, after sinking $1750 or so on the new laptop) but life being what it is and internet sales obeying no one’s schedule, there was an opportunity to grab a Dell Mini 10 for less than $300 last Friday evening, and I took it.

[with the intervening days being not only a weekend, but a Holiday weekend and all, I’d say I’m satisfied with the turn-around on this]

This isn’t a brand-new Mini 10, I don’t think. (Dell seems to be doing something new with the plastic case…) And honestly, I’d have preferred a Mini 12 with a slightly bigger screen — in fact, the screen on the ’12 is the same resolution (1200×768) as the older Inspiron 1501 pictured above — but that’d cost me an extra two bills right now. The Mini I bought is fine — the screen is just 2/3 or so of what I’m used to; it’s like running an application in a window, actually, a bit tight but not unworkable — and it’s not like I’m going to use the new Mini as my only computer, or even my primary computer.

The thing is, with the upgrades to processors in the last three years, and particularly to the Intel graphic chips/software solutions in the interim, the new netbooks are at least as much computer as the $600-800 laptops of just a few years ago. This post was written on the Mini, and the photos transferred from my digital camera via the included SD card port, and then edited using the Gimp 2.2 (running at the same time as a mp3 player and the browser this post was written in) — other than the slight disadvantage of the keyboard, this netbook might be a viable alternative for light computing needs.

The trackpad is going to take a long time to get used to, though. Currently, I hate it. It’s the worst thing I’ve discovered so far about the machine (even over the puny 10” screen) and I think what I hate most is not having mouse buttons. The lower corners of the pad do in fact work as buttons, but they also are still working as the trackpad, so if you have fat fingers the odds are not good when it comes to actually clicking on what one is aiming at. I might get better with practice (same as with my first laptop — hated the trackpad initially on it as well)

but for now I’m most happy that I still have an old USB trackball knocking around. (The USB numeric keypad is nice too, but unless I’m playing games like Civ4 on this thing — and I doubt I will be — it’s a tad superfluous)

(Plants vs. Zombies, tho? That runs fine.)

For browsing and email and other web-based apps, and related light computing needs… maybe one could get by with just a netbook.

Left and right side ports — On the left: power, 2 USB ports (one in use), and the SD card slot (in line with the wrist rest; not pictured because the SD card is actually in the camera at this point)

On the right: ethernet, VGA monitor port, USB, audio line-in and headphone jacks.

Conclusions: If this post can be taken as any sort of indicator, the Dell Mini 10 works just fine as a mobile blogging platform. The keyboard is small, but usable; the trackpad sucks, but one can default to keyboard shortcuts or add on a mouse (at home) or just make do; the Atom is enough of a processor for most of the applications of years past (and quite a few of today’s handier items) and while I know the single gig of RAM is a serious drawback, I haven’t hit that wall today.

The screen, while small, is nice and bright — so bright that at its higher settings it’ll drain the included 3-cell lithium-ion battery in just a couple of hours. Audio playback is adequate, but I’m not ditching my dedicated mp3 player yet.

Overall, it’s at least as much computer as I bought 3 years ago, just smaller and at less than half the price. If you’re considering a netbook as your only laptop, definitely look for a 12in (or 14in model — but is it still a netbook at that size?) —otherwise, consider what you’re willing to give up (screen, RAM, battery life, keyboard and track pad usability) for a $200-300 extremely portable backup computer.

This is for email during my lunch breaks at work, maybe some writing on-the-go (it’s nice to have that option, though it will be a long while before I relish typing on this keyboard) but mostly as a mobile platform for writing and blogging at conventions. I like that it works so well with my camera (and likely your camera as well, so long as you’re using SD cards) and all in all, I’m happy with it.