Best Laptops for College Students

Dell’s is a late bloomer into the growing trend of mini laptops with its 8.9 inch Dell Inspiron Mini 9 (with a larger ‘Mini 12′ also included in the series). It looks much like any other Dell laptop – functional – and to an extent it is. There’s nothing radically new about the Mini 9, it has what most other 9 inch laptops have, in short, Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and a glossy 8.9 inch screen with 1024×600 resolution.

Size wise, the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is overall quite impressive. It’s a hairs breath larger than the original Eee PC 701, and slim enough to weigh barely over a kilo. That’s lighter the Eee PC 901 – our #1 mini laptop.

Connectivity has the usual bells and whistles, Bluetooth and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, although the inclusion of HSDPA is a major plus. The only problem is you’re bound by a contract with Vodafone – there’s no “unlocked” option like the Advent 4213, so far anyway. More of that later…

Battery life, whilst better than the 3-cell MSI Wind, is pretty poor compared to competing 6-cell Eee PCs and the likes. Dell promises around 4 hours battery life; reasonable, but not a patch on the same sized Eee PC 901. In a bid to keep the laptop compact, the battery pack eats into the keyboard area, wiping out the whole line of F1-F12 keys, and leaving the depth of the keys pretty shallow anyway. The keyboard doesn’t extend right to the edges either, so it’s not bigger like it looks. Overall, both the battery and keyboard are somewhat compromised. The touchpad’s nice though, with mouse buttons underneath, not to the side like the HP mini-note or Acer Aspire One.

Looks are again disappointing, as with most Dell computers – or is that Dull? The interface looks boring and apart from the slight tapering to the edges – it’s a box. And it’s only available in black in the UK. Smart perhaps, but for the consumer, something more imaginative would certainly be appreciated! This is especially unfair since some mini 9’s are appearing in the States with Dell Studio 15esque schemes. Surely these would go down a hit – a hit anyway compared with black, black, black. Rumour has it a white one is one the way though.

At £299 for the 8GB XP model (or £269 for the 4GB Linux) it’s a tad expensive considering what Acer are selling for, although thanks to Vodafone, you can get it free on contract. The cheapest contract, at time of publishing, is £21.27 per month for 24 months – to put it bluntly and undo all Vodafone’s soft marketing – your “free” Dell will cost you a straight £600.

Oh, and that’s only for 1GB broadband, enough (Vodafone claim) to download 60 large attachments and 30 video clips, send 600 emails and surf for 30 hours. And don’t you dare try and take your Dell Inspiron Mini 9 abroad on Vodafone – £9.99 per 24 hours or £4.99 per MB, perhaps put the money to better use.

On the subject of mini laptops on contract, there are quite a few companies offering services – the Carphone Warehouse for example. Currently, the rates seem relatively appalling, even if you do chip in for the computer in the first place, and with comparatively download speeds. Expect this to improve as more and bigger companies enter the market.

The solid state storage and passive cooling system (eg. No fan) give a pretty silent machine, a nice characteristic. The storage system itself is a tad on the small side, 8GB for the XP version – half that for the Linux, particularly after Windows and pre-installed programs are taken into account.

Looks, keyboard and battery life troubles aside, the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is a very good computer. As much as we slam Dell, they’re a reliable and familiar brand – which can only be a good thing when downsizing everything. But aside from the Vodafone contract, there are other 9″ netbooks which are worth considering, and even 10 inchers in the same price bracket, namely:

- Asus Eee PC 901 – Our #1 mini laptop

- Acer Aspire One

- Samsung NC10

- HP 2133 mini-note

The Vodafone option is certainly worth looking at if you want internet wherever and whenever, even if download speeds are somewhat restrictive. If you can make it work moneywise, then it’s an excellent option. It’s worth bearing in mind though, before signing yourself away for 24 months that several laptop manufacturers (Sony and Apple are the distinct two) and mobile phone providers are yet to hitch onto the netbook bandwagon – so better netbooks, with 3G, ‘unlocked’, may be just around the corner.

Dell have managed to go and produce a bigger brother for the Inspiron Mini 9 – the Inspiron Mini 12. It’s already out in Japan, soon to hit the UK with Linux, XP as well as Vista. Problem is they’re trying to run Vista with 1GB ram and the same Intel Atom – clumsy move – Asus have their top of the range N10 10 inch netbook on Atom, with it’s big brother N20 on an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor.

Hp Mini Note 110!

Author Bio

Choosing personal computers today is influenced by a user centric criteria. These include size, power and graphics, convenience, price, and style. People are opting to buy computers that save on space and can be lugged around for long trips. They want desktop replacements (which perform just as well as PCs, but consumes less space and is portable), and sub notebooks (the new name for the small and ultraportable version of laptops). Among the brands that try to balance features, style, user convenience, and price is Dell.

Shining among Dell XPS laptops is the Dell XPS M1730, one you could say was designed for the gaming masses. With strong SLI graphic, an integrated game panel LCD, a convenient backlit keyboard, this laptop can even let you play media files even without booting to the installed operating system. With its massive hard drive and top of the line video graphics, it’s a gaming laptop that’s more than a replacement desktop.

If you’re going for thin and light and hardly a compromise, go for the Dell XPS Notebooks. The Dell XPS M1530, for example, is a fine one. At 5.7 pounds, it’s no Mac Air, but it doesn’t compromise of features. It’s got an NVIDIA GeForce 8400 graphics and 128mb of video memory, more than what you need for YouTube and just enough for the artist’s image tweaking and high resolution DVD playback. It’s 4 GB of memory is certainly more than what most of the current no compromise notebooks offer. This thin notebook is good enough as a desktop replacement for most people. But not the hard core gamers.

Dell Inspiron notebooks are a mix of entry level features and pricing. The Dell Inspiron 1525, for example, has been released with improvements after consumers provided feedback on the earlier models. This one sports a thinner and lighter frame, and a 2 GB RAM along with Intel Core 2 DUO engine. Not bad, except for the plastic feel.

On the cutting edge of newness are the Dell Inspiron Mini 8 Netbooks. The name itself gives away what people on the move would use this for: Internet surfing. Weighing only a little above two pounds, and at just nine inches, it looks perfect for pulling out on Starbucks to catch up on a friend’s blog, or check out maps, and do some Twitter’ing. It’s got editions that run Ubuntu Linux and Windows XP. Dell Inspiron Laptops are just amazing.

So, let’s recap. When you’re buying a laptop, here’s the criteria. Space (you don’t want one that consumes your desk, power and graphics (you want to be able to have fun surfing and yet open multiple spreadsheets and applications),  convenience (you don’t want to spend more time tweaking and fixing your PC that actually using it), price (you don’t want to loan a lot or save up for months for it), and style (gone are the days when awkward and squarish corners looked futuristic). Dell does a very good job of offering a line of notebooks and laptops that meet these needs, your needs.

For more resources about Dell XPS laptops or even about Dell XPS Notebooks please review this webpage http://merkamericaco.com/

The demand for netbooks has steadily increased since the first models were released. Many people are using this small wonder right now due to its portability, economy and ease of use. If you are a person who would just like to check emails, do some word processing and go online while at your favorite coffee shop then a netbook is a perfect device for you.

What are netbooks? They are basically a smaller version of laptops with just the minimal amount of components used. The first models had a 7 inch display while the present models have 10 inch displays. All of these netbooks do not have an internal optical drive. These devices are excellent in going online on the go due to its excellent wireless options.

One of the best netbook choices in the market today is the Dell Inspiron Mini. Dell is well known for manufacturing top of the line computers and their netbook line of computers is a popular choice among netbook buyers. There are currently two models to choose from, the Dell Inspiron Mini 10v and the Dell Inspiron Mini. Lets take a look at both of these netbooks.

Dell Inspiron Mini 10v and Dell Inspiron Mini

This netbook is the perfect choice if you’re looking for a portable device with excellent performance. Students and bloggers simply love to use this netbook in doing simple tasks. The overall build of this netbook is excellent, no squeaking parts or loose connections in its chassis.

At the heart of the Inspiron Mini 10v netbook is the Intel Atom N270 processor running at 1.6GHz. The Inspiron Mini uses the Intel Atom Z530 processor running at 1.6GHz as well. Intel Atom is the processor of choice for almost all netbooks today due to its low power consumption and excellent performance. The monitor is a good 10 inches, this makes it a great device for viewing online video streams, photos or just typing emails. The graphics adapter used is the integrated Intel GMA 950 which is more than enough to handle your video requirements. You can watch DVD’s on your widescreen display without any problems. Don’t expect it to perform well if you want to run intense 3D games though.

With a memory of 1GB upgradeable to 2GB and a hard disk of 160GB this is the perfect mobile device. It’s connectivity options include 802.11g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0. Have you ever been in a situation where your laptop battery totally drained on you while you were using it? With this netbook you won’t have to worry about battery problems anymore since a single charge could last you up to 8 hours of constant use. This is more than enough to get you through your different classes without recharging the batteries.

The main selling point of this netbook is its price. At a really affordable price you get a device that is very powerful. Why spend more on a laptop with functions you may never use when you can purchase a netbook that does the job for you at a low cost. If you are looking for a portable computer, make your choice the Dell Inspiron Mini.

Jane Somme works in the Technology industry and enjoys writing articles about Technology and Dell Computers in his spare time. You can find more articles and information about him at his website Coputer Deals Australia.