Dell makes $299 Mini 10v official
updated 10:45 am EDT, Tue May 12, 2009
Dell Inspiron Mini 10v
Dell on Tuesday ended speculation and unveiled the Inspiron Mini 10v, a budget version of the regular model launched earlier in the year. The new version switches to the lower-priced 1.6GHz Atom N270 instead of the slower but more battery-friendly 1.33GHz Z520 and drops to a 120GB hard drive from the regular 160GB. As a result, the netbook also uses GMA 950 integrated video in place of the GMA 500 specific to the Z-series Atom chips.
Upgrade options are partly limited on the 10v and mostly take away extra processor and display selections. It can still be configured with up to a 160GB disk (or 16GB solid-state drive), 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and one of several lid colors; relatively new for this and the regular Mini 10 is a 6-cell battery option that should roughly double the typical 2.5-hour battery life.
Price is the key to the new system, which sells for $299 with either Ubuntu Linux or Windows XP installed. Orders placed today are estimated to ship at the start of June.
