Dell Netbook Price Comparison & Stock Check
Dell Netbooks
Dell has been in the personal computer business longer than most companies it competes with in the netbook marketplace. They were founded in 1984 and offer a full line of computers for the home, business and portable market. They have a variety of netbooks available with a wide universe of options. They offer some of the richest feature sets of all of the netbooks and have some of the most competitive pricing as well. A current Dell netbooks review placed the Dell mini 9 netbooks at the top of the list for performance and pricing compared to other contenders. Many owners of their Dell mini netbooks rave about their quality and versatility. Your best chance to find the cheap Dell notebooks is to shop on the web with a comparison website.
Storage Capacity - The Dell mini netbooks come in 3 basic models and offer several options for storage. They include the traditional hard drive storage in both 60GB PATA and 160GB SATA capacities. Using a hard drive for the main storage of your netbook allows you to have a larger capacity for less money. The only drawback to the hard drives is that they consume more power than other memory alternatives and are more prone to failures over time. The other option available on the Dell mini netbooks is a solid-state drive and these are available in 8GB and 16GB capacities. This is a lot smaller storage than using a hard drive, but these solid-state drives will require less power and last longer since they have no moving parts to break. Since they consume less power, your netbook will run cooler and run longer on a single battery charge.
Operating System - The Dell mini netbooks are offered with a choice of operating system that is pre-loaded on the computer. The standard is Windows XP home Edition and it comes with this as the default. You also have the choice of selecting a version of Linux to be loaded on some of the models as an alternative. Giving you the choice of operating systems allows you to customize the netbook to best suit your needs and is a real departure from the way notebooks and home systems are normally built.
CPU and Graphics - All of the Dell mini netbooks are based on Intel processors. They offer a few different versions depending on the model of netbook you select. All of the Intel processors are based on the Atom chipset and vary in model between the N270 1.6GHz, Z530 1.6GHz, and the Z520 1.33GHz. Which chipset you get depends on which version of the Dell UK netbooks you buy. Some of them are standard and some of them can be upgraded for an additional cost. The displays on the Dell mini netbooks range in size from the entry-level Dell mini 9 with a 8.9-inch screen, to the mid-sized Dell mini 10 with a 10.1-inch screen all the way up to the Dell mini 12 with a 12.1-inch screen.
Connectivity - The Dell mini netbooks have a lot of external connectors that enable you to use your peripherals. These include three separate USB connections. Two of these are standard USB and one of them is a powered USB. The Dell mini netbooks also include an HDMI connector on certain models. This connection allows you to enjoy your media content on an HDTV display at full resolution. The Dell mini 9 netbooks also include an RJ45 LAN 10/100 connection for when you want to connect to a local network directly. Some of the models also include a 3-in-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS). This is a nice addition as it allows you to easily slide in a memory card to increase your storage capacity. It is also handy when you want to transfer content to or from the netbook.
Keyboard - The keyboards on the Dell mini netbooks are smaller than a standard notebook keyboard, but still easy to use once you get used to them. Even thought they are smaller, the layout of the keys is the same as a standard keyboard and the spacing on the keys make typing feel natural. The only other thing that is different is that the function keys are located in the center of the keyboard instead of the top row. This will be an easy adjustment for you to make and you will forget about it completely over time. Another nice thing about the keyboards on these Dell mini netbooks is that they have less flex than a standard notebook keyboard. This means that typing is actually easier and more comfortable than you would expect.
Battery Life - All three of the models of Dell mini netbooks come with a specific battery configuration. The smaller Dell mini 9 has a 4-cell battery, the Dell mini 10 has a 3-cell battery and the larger Dell mini 12 has a 6-cell battery. Some of the models allow you to change the battery type as an option when ordering. All of these battery configurations will give you several hours of continuous use on the netbook with a full charge.
Additional Features - All of the Dell mini netbooks come with wireless enabled. They are configured for 802.11 g and one of them is also configured for 802.11 g/n. Having the wifi connectivity built into the netbook is handy and avoids the need for using a dongle to connect. Some of the models also include a camera in the display that can be used for video chat and web conferencing. It is a 1.3MP camera and does a great job of delivering clear video at a decent frame rate. Another nice thing the engineers at Dell have done was to install an access panel on the bottom of the units to allow you to upgrade a few of the components. Removing this panel gives you access to the memory, disk storage and wireless card in case you want to upgrade these later. Another option to the base model of most Dell mini netbooks is a Bluetooth adapter. Having Bluetooth available on your netbook will make it easy to incorporate additional peripherals like wireless stereo headphones and a keyboard and mouse. It will also make pairing with your cell phone easier as well as printing and transferring photos.