It was recently discovered that upon a search of the Dell web site, the Inspiron mini line shows an inventory of zero. Uh-oh.. When Dell decides they’re going to stop making a specific computer, the industry as a whole usually follows suit because Dell does have that kind of influence. Now I’m not saying that it’s fact that Dell will cease...

One of the absolute cheapest ways to compute – other than a smartphone – is by using an Ultra-mobile PC or UMPC for short. If you’re thinking, "Didn’t they stop making those?" Nope. They’re still made and one can easily be bought for under $100 new, but before you say "COOL!" and run out to get one, there’s...

Recently the guys and gals at Alienware introduced one amazing little brute of a laptop, the M11x. It’s probably safe to say that the little 11-incher would probably destroy whatever PC you’re using right now, power-wise.   The M11x comes in Core 2 Duo, Core i5 and Core i7 flavors. In i7 trim the price comes in at just under $1,100. You’re...

The market right now is absolutely flooded with netbooks. They are hot sellers, after all. Have sales of them peaked yet? Unknown. They are the absolute cheapest fully functional laptop computer you can buy. Dell is selling their popular "mini" model starting at $279. Yes, $279. One would have never imagined even just a few short years ago that you buy...

The Apple Ipad. Apple has announced that it has sold one million of the things in the first month. While Apple fans look for justifications to buy one, Apple haters have been very vocal denouncing its shortcomings and calling it a huge waste of circuitry. The most interesting thing, though, has been the arguments about how the Ipad is so lame when compared to a...

My Dell Inspiron mini 10v originally came preloaded with Windows XP Home Edition back when I bought it in August 2009. Shortly after that I ditched it for Windows 7 RC Build 7100. And it ran great. No problems or issues to speak of. However I was also very well aware that the RC expires in March 2010, which is less than three months from now. I was faced with a...

Netbooks by nature do not have optical drives, so the way to install Ubuntu Netbook Remix, abbreviated UNR, is to use the usb-creator program to create a bootable USB stick.This program is on the UNR 9.10 ISO image itself. To access it, burn the UNR image to a CD or alternatively use an ISO mounting program in Windows, such as Virtual CloneDrive (free, works...

First off, I am not a gamer. When I do play a game, I prefer classic arcade style games or turn based strategy games. That said, if the games you like to play are not hardware intensive then using a netbook as a gaming machine might be an option. By design, the netbook is lightweight and small (albeit not as small as a dedicated portable gaming machine) with a...

For the past six months or so I’ve been receiving a lot of flyers in postal mail touting, "If you sign up for internet service with us, you get a new netbook computer!" For many U.S. residents they’ve been seeing the same, and maybe this is even happening in other countries. Everybody knows that in order to get the computer, you have to...

As mentioned before, Dave bought a netbook. I went with the Dell mini 10v, he went with the Asus EeePC 1000HE. Both are almost identical as far as specifications are concerned (CPU speed, screen size/resolution, etc.) What it really boils down to when choosing one of these are the details, such as the keyboard layout, power supply type, battery options, RAM...

In a very short period of time I’ve found that in order to get along with a netbook properly, there’s 10 things you absolutely must do. 1. Use Google Chrome Those who know my browser preferences find this a bit of a shock being that I’m a diehard Firefox user, because I’ve made it no secret that I can’t stand the Chrome web...

I just bought a Dell Inspiron mini 10v. It will be arriving either later this week or early next week. After examining all the different ways I could purchase it, I decided to go refurb. Why? Because it’s nearly $100 less than new. For a laptop that’s in the sub-$500 range, $100 is a pretty big consideration. In my situation, I paid 23% less compared...

I don’t know how this one slipped by me, so apologies that I’m late to the party on reporting this one, but better late than never. The Xcore86 is an amazing little board because the entire computer is embedded within it. And one of the best features it’s that since it only uses 1.2 watts, it can run without fans. Even better is that a netbook...

A few definitions up front: Most people know what a netbook is, which is a small-form laptop/notebook computer. The nettop is the same thing in a desktop form, meaning a small-form desktop PC. Right now those of us using traditional tower PCs are very used to the ATX or MicroATX form factor motherboard. It allows a fair amount of room to get inside and add or...

Yes, this is a netbook 9-inch screen model that I’m talking about. The computer industry is hurting right now so most of the larger OEMs are slashing prices left and right and Dell is no exception. The Inspiron Mini 9 is selling well, but evidently not well enough so the price has been dropped significantly. With Ubuntu Linux installed, the price is $249....

A truth: About once a year, someone proclaims very loudly that Linux is Dead with a capital "D" and that Microsoft, once again, is kicking the crap out of it in terms of market share. This year’s honor goes to Robin Harris at ZDNet with the article Windows kicks Linux to the curb. Personally speaking I don’t think there’s any real way...

The netbook style of laptop is hot right now. Really hot. A big reason for this is because the price for them is really cheap (even as low as $250 brand new or $299 for the Dell Inspiron Mini 9), so yes, they’re flying off the shelves as fast as manufacturers can make them. However as a far as it would suit as a primary computer replacement, the answer for...

Recently announced: Best Buy will be carrying MSI’s offering in the itty-bitty "netbook" style laptop, called the "Wind". It will come with Windows XP Home Edition, an Intel 1.6 Atom processor, 120GB HDD, 3-cell battery and comes in black or white. I’ve been following the netbook-style laptops for a while now and the industry has...

A recent report by the New York Times states that PC makers are shaking in their boots because other manufacturers (like Asus) have proven that yes, you can deliver a usable low-cost low-power notebook to the market that people will actually buy (like the EeePC). Right now is not a good time for PC makers because it seems that no matter how much they drop their...