Mini 12

The web site says it weighs 2.72 pounds -starting weight.

Can anyone share the actual weight and battery life? For a 12 inch, it seems
to good to be true.

"Keith" wrote:
The web site says it weighs 2.72 pounds -starting weight.

Can anyone share the actual weight and battery life? For
a 12 inch, it seems to good to be true.


Here's a review:
http://apcmag.com/scoop_we_review_th...ch_netbook.htm

Excerpts:
Battery life
If the Inspiron Mini 12 has a single Achilles Heal, it's likely to be battery life. At launch the netbook will be
supplied with a three-cell 24Whr battery which Dell rates at 3.5 hours. We think that figure belongs to the 'zero screen
brightness, zero wireless and zero activity' mode of operation - it's one step short of the netbook going into standby
mode. [......]

We set the Mini 12 up for a more real world test. We switched on the 11g Wi-Fi, set the screen brightness to 66%, wound
the volume to full and sat back to enjoy a handful of DiVX videos. The Mini 12 managed 2.5 hours before the battery went
belly up - a half hour less than the Mini 9 (which sports a smaller screen and bigger four cell 32Whr battery) achieved
during the same test. Replace the hard disk hammering of video playback with more conventional usage of wireless Web
browsing, email and a little 'productivity' time with the Works suite and we doubt you'd top three hours.

If you want longer life on the go and don't mind giving your Inspiron Mini 12 a little extra 'battery booty', Dell will
release optional six-cell slab early next year. Like other six-cell solutions, this larger block will extend about half
an inch past the rear of the Inspiron Mini 12 (which in this writer's opinion helps gives the netbook a handy grip area)
and also raise it up a half inch from the desk (which happens to give the keyboard a slightly more ergonomic tilt and
provides more space room for under-chassis airflow).

OS and software
Dell's global blueprint for the Inspiron Mini 12 sees the netbook launch with Windows Vista Home Edition, while
"optional Ubuntu and Windows XP operating systems will be available before the end of the year".

Unless you live in Australia where it's Vista now, the possibility of XP in "early 2009" while Ubuntu is "still being
looked at" according to a Dell spokesman. As detailed in our introduction to the Mini 12, Dell cites the lack of
connection managers for its telco partners under the Mini 12's forthcoming 3G mobile broadband module as the reason
Linux remains a no-show. [.....]

Yet we're not convinced that shoehorning Vista into a netbook is the path to true wisdom, especially when that netbook
hits the memory ceiling at 1GB. That's barely enough for the OS on its own, let alone once you run some security
software in the background and a fire up any halfway decent application.


*TimDaniels*

Interesting price point with Ubuntu ($400):
http://www.dell.com/content/products...899&lid=932336

*TimDaniels*

I just purchased a Mini 12 and returned my Mini 10. My Mini 12 has the 6
cell battery and feels incredibly light but I have no scale to weigh it! So
far I am very impressed. Great for email and browsing which is all I use it
for.

"Keith" wrote in message
...
The web site says it weighs 2.72 pounds -starting weight.

Can anyone share the actual weight and battery life? For a 12 inch, it
seems to good to be true.