There you go, Sprint has officially announced that it is now offering the Dell Inspiron Mini 10 netbook complete with “blazing-fast” Internet access according to Sprint. The Mini 10 will be available for $199.99 via Sprint Mobile’s 3G Broadband Plan that comes with a two-year service agreement.

So what does this offer to Sprint customers who are willing to get into a two-year contract in exchange for a netbook with 3G connectivity? How about an embedded EV-DO Rev. A wireless service by Sprint which provides faster data rates and higher system capacity? This will enable customers to send and receive large amounts of data at broadband speeds which is comparable to dSL. Hence allowing customers to partake of various apps and services including VOIP, music-on-demand and video messaging.

EV-DO provides upload speeds of 350-500 kbps and download speeds of 600 kbps and 1.4 mbps. You think you can handle that?

As a quick review, the Dell Inspiron Mini 10  boasts of  the following specs:

• 10.1-inch LED 1024×600 WSVGA screen
• Intel Atom Z520 CPU
• Microsoft Windows XP Home
• 1.3 MP webcam
• 160 GB HDD
• 1 GB of RAM
• Integrated Intel 500 Media Accelerator Graphics
• 5-in-1 media reader
• Bluetooth and Wi-Fi

Here’s the link to the official PR which contains information on how you can avail of this offer.

via I4U

If you’re looking to upgrade from XP or Vista on your netbook, or perhaps you already have, then here’s some great news for you. Some netbook makers have already updated the driver download pages to include Windows 7 drivers which should work better than Vista drivers you may be using instead. Most Asus netbooks now have drivers for Windows 7 from their support page.

Other companies have updated their support pages but, not all companies support many netbook models. There is support from Toshiba for the NB205, while Acer are providing Windows 7 drivers for the Aspire One 751 and AOP531h with AOD250 to follow. Dell are listing drivers for the Mini 10v and Mini 10 but not the Inspiron Mini 9 or 12. HP on the other hand have support for discontinued netbooks, such as the HP Mini 2140. They’ve also got support for the 110, 5101 and other models. Lenovo have also updated their support page to include manuals but, no drivers yet. This could change soon though.

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While Dell have proved very popular among the netbook world and bringing a high level of customizations to netbooks, it seems CEO Michael Dell doesn’t actually like the portable devices. He claims that users aren’t very happy with them. He also said that it may be cute and light but, after a day or two, users will want to revert back to a regular 15 inch netbook. He describes netbooks as being good for specific markets, such as schools.

Dell have released several different netbook models, with the Dell Mini 9 proving the most popular, especially amongst hackers and modders. Liliputing comment that it’s “kind of funny” considering that while Michael Dell isn’t impressed with netbooks, the company is creating innovative and top class designs to their netbooks.

A member of the MyDellMini forums has modded a Dell Mini 9 and turned it into a Tablet PC. Rob928 took the netbook, stripped the lid off and trimmed the hinges among other things. He used a “Honda Fun and Easy” solderless touchscreen kit to create the tablet. One issue that was found with the mod, is that due to the design of it, it can get a little hot. It loses it’s heat through the keyboard but because the screen is basically upside down, the heat isn’t ventilated. If that wasn’t enough, he also added Windows 7 to the device, which is described as better for a touch screen device anyway. You can view photos of the various stages through Rob’s Picasa account.

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Dell have released their first CULV system in Europe combining netbook design with laptop specs. The Dell Inspiron 11Z is available in the UK for £349. This includes the 11.6 inch display, Intel ULV processor, 160GB HDD and 2GB of RAM. The standard color is black but, like all Dell machines users can customize the netbook. The 11Z supports up to 500GB hard drive and 4GB of RAM. The color of the machine can also be customized for an extra £35. The added color options are red, blue, pink, purple, green or white.

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If the funky designs from Dell we reported on earlier didn’t satisfy your customization mood, how about a Major League Baseball design? The MLB post season is already under way and to show support for your team, you can now get a customized artwork design on your Dell Inspiron Mini supporting each MLB team. Three designs will be available for the teams, classic, fans and die-hard starting from next month.

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Although netbook manufacturers have been trying to spruce up the appeal of their netbooks by coming out with colorful flavors, still the old plain look leaves too much to be desired.  This could be what Dell had in mind when they team up with a company called OPI to come up with colorful, vibrant and funky design for the various Dell notebooks and netbooks.

If color variants with the following names excite you – I’m Not Really A Waitress, Big Apple Red, Strawberry Margarita and the others, excite you then you might want to check out the Dell Inspiron Mini laptops donning such designs.

The deal is you can have those specially-designed Dell Inspiron Mini as part of the configuration options that Dell is offering when you are getting a Dell Inspiron Mini. It will be available at Dell.com in the U.S. and later in other countries.

Via Liliputing

Dell has just announced the availability of more powerful options open for users who are buying their Inspiron Mini 11z netbook. If you would recall, this netbook replaced the Inspiron Mini 12 and comes with not so powerful features because Dell want to ship it out as fast as they can whenever orders arrive.

Now that the excitement over the Inspiron 11z has died down, Dell is now offering more powerful options for the said netbook. These include either a dual-core CULV Pentium SU4100 processor, up to 4GB RAM and a 320GB HDD. A 6-cell battery option to replace the 3-cell battery is also available for your liking.

Prices will of course vary and if you will ask us, it could go higher than $479. There is a ready configuration for the Inspiron 11Z with 250GB HDD and Vista Home Premium is availabel but it carries pretty much the standard specs.

Color options are also available which now include Alpine White, Ice blue, Jade Green, New Cherry Red, Passion Purple and Promise Pink.

Via Dell Community

Netbooks have struggled to take off in India, despite the population. It’s estimated that this year will see 300,000 netbooks sold compared to last year’s 40,000, which is an improvement but, based on the population, of around one billion, Liliputing describe this number as being “peanuts”. To change this trend, India will be the next country to bundle netbooks with 3G data plans. Asus and Dell are currently working with wireless carriers to make this possible in India.

Over the course of the contract, the netbook can end up costing more than buying it up front but, you also get the data usage and some consider it a way to pay for netbooks in instalments.

My Digital Discount are offering up an 8 cell battery giving up to 10 hours of battery life for the Dell Mini 9 and Vostro A90. As standard, the Dell Mini 9 features a 4 cell battery, so this battery from My Digital Discount should give you up to twice as much battery life. One thing the company has noted on the battery, is that the BIOS needs to be A04 or earlier, other wise there may be problems recognising or charging the battery. However if that isn’t a problem for you and your BIOS is an earlier version, the great news is the extended life 8 cell battery will only set you back $65.

The battery is available via MyDigitalDiscount of through their eBay store.

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