The iM1012-6870BK is the retail edition of the Mini 10 netbooks from Dell. It comes with an elegant design and a battery with a commendable staying power of over 6 hours. It suffers from its below -per hard drive that cannot punch with some of its peers, let alone the heavyweights. The model under review here will set you back to the tune of $349. But even as cheap as it sounds, chances are that you will find even more cheaper laptops with a more powerful hard drive.
The machine is powered by intel Atom N450 processor that speeds at 1.6 GHz. The memory is in the form of 1 GB of memory technology DDR2 with a speed of 800 MHz. For the storage chores the system uses a single 160 GB hard drive disk with a speed of 5400 rpm. That is a pretty small hard drive compared to most other netbooks, and is one of its biggest letdowns. The Dell Inspiron Mini iM1012-6870BK uses intel GMA 3150 integrated graphics chipsets. Dell also installed a Microsoft Windows 7 Starter Edition.
The machine comes in the substantially distinct design, with the front of the machine being thinner than the rear -end, because the chassis slopes downwards towards the front. This is the same design that embody the rest of Dell’s current Mini 10 series of laptops. The keyboard comes with a nice layout, complete with full -size keys. The keyboard also comes with a raised tray and is definately user -friendly. The trackpad is a bit tricky to use due to its short height, even though its wide. Dell should also have used real buttons instead of having the bottom ends of the trackpad as substitutes for mouse buttons.
The machine will offer you quick access to security and other important panels. Network connection is provided by ethernet and 802.11 b/g Wi -Fi networks but the lack of a bluetooth is a putdown. You will also not enjoy any expansion services, but that is a problem bedeviling most netbooks. It uses VGA video interface with no HDMI in site, while audio is provided by stereo speakers and you will also get access to microphone jacks. The unit comes ensuite three USB 2.0 ports and an SD card reader, which is a tad better that what most netbooks offer. You should not expect to be treated to the services of an optical drive.
The machine measures a width of 10.6 inches, a depth of 7.7 inches and a modest height of between 0.9 -1.3 inches. It weighs in at 3 pounds, which gets to 3.4 pounds when stuffed with an AC adapter.