Dell mini notebook takes aim at EEE PC

29-05-2008

by Billy MacInnes

Dell has been forced to reveal details of a mini notebook after CEO Michael Dell was spotted carrying the device at a conference this week.

The machine is intended as a rival to the nine-inch Asus EEE PC notebook and the recently launched HP 2133 Mini-Note sub-notebook.

Brian Lam, a blogger for Gizmodo, bumped into Michael Dell at the All Things D conference, and the Dell boss showed him the laptop which Dell said "no one's seen before". He was unwilling to tell Lam what operating system the machine was running or how much it would cost, but described it as a "low-cost notebook meant for developing countries".

The 'mini Inspiron', as some have already dubbed it, has a red shell, includes three USB ports, a card reader, VGA port and what could be either a seven-inch or nine-inch screen.

Dell blogger Anne B Camden confirmed the machine's existence and posted two pictures of it. "Hats off to Brian Lam of Gizmodo," she wrote. Her post was short of detail on the product but stated that Michael Dell "positioned it as the perfect device for the next billion internet users".

Dell's interest in the sub-notebook market is hardly surprising given the success of the EEE PC since its introduction to Europe in November last year. Recent statistics from European market research company Context revealed that if the Asus EEE PC was classified as a notebook it would have been the second best selling product through distribution in the UK, France and Germany from November 2007 to April 2008.

Context also reported that in the volume channel, based on multiple retailer and mail order sales, the Asus Eee PC outsold the top selling notebook, the HP 530, and would have placed fourth in the dealer and corporate reseller channel.

HP launched the Mini-Note on the market at the beginning of last month. A Linux-based version with 1.2GHz processor and 1GB RAM is available on the HP Ireland website for EUR509 plus VAT. In the US, customers can also choose Windows Vista configurations.