Dell is holding a press event in a few hours to announce some new products. That’s all the company is officially saying. But pretty much everyone in the known universe expects Dell to announce it’s new 8.9 inch laptop, which may be known as the Dell E series or the Dell Inspiron Mini, or something else altogether.
First, according to a leaked product sheet from June, Dell expected to launch the new line of cheap laptops in August. And now DigiTimes says that not only is Dell expected to launch an 8.9 inch notebook, but the company also has a 10 inch model up its sleeve, which should be out in October.
The move makes sense, as some of the netbooks generating the most buzz these days are the MSI Wind and Eee PC 1000 series, which both have 10 inch displays. If Dell wants to compete, it makes sense to have a wide range of choices available. While the difference in an 8.9 inch and 10 inch display might be minimal, a larger display gives computer makers an excuse to use a slightly larger case and a slightly larger keyboard. And the closer you can make your keyboard to full sized, the better the user experience is going to be.
I’ll have more details after the Dell press event, which is scheduled for 9am PST/noon EST.
Update: Nothing to see here. Dell announced 10 new business-oriented laptops, including a 12.1 inch ultramobile PC with a solid state disk and 9 cell battery, But no word on the company’s anticipated 8.9 inch consumer focused laptop.
Can’t wait!!! 😉
Well its August 26, I needed a new light weight, inexpensive, 10inch or more screen size mini laptop ASAP way back in May. Wanted to buy the new Dell Mini, after so many months waiting had to get the ASUS Eee 1000H, its a beautiful, fairly full featured XP home, 80GB HD Atom processor powered laptop.
The point Dell should be getting from a lot of us out here, I would have bought the Dell if it had been available, and I am not alone. If this new Dell mini laptop ever does become available, no doubt I & many others will be unable to resist buying it, especially if they offered it for under $500.00.
But times are getting tight out here, the market share is going to the early birds, & ASUS has a good reputation for well built machines, they have a real winner with their new Eee 1000H.