Ever wonder what where notebooks go when they die are discontinued? Sure, it’s possible that manufacturers could actually sell out of some units, but there’s usually some stock leftover. Sometimes they get sold off at retail. Other times they’re repackaged and sold as if they were new thanks to a new feature or two — like the addition of 3G or 4G modems. That’s eactly what’s happening with the Dell Inspiron 11z.
Dell stopped offering this 11.6 inch mini-laptop earlier this year, but now you can pick one up from Sprint with a mobile broadband module that lets you access 4G WiMAX and 3G EVDO networks around the US. TheInspiron 11z has also received a CPU boost. The new version has an Intel Core i3 processor. Earlier models shipped with Intel Pentium or Celeron processors. The new model will likely run Windows 7 Home Premium.
Sprint is also offering the Dell Inspiron Mini 10, a 10 inch netbook with a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, a Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator, 1GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive. The Mini 10 runs Windows 7 Starter Edition. It’s still available from Dell without the mobile broadband option.
Sprint will begin taking orders for the new models in the coming weeks. The Dell Inspiron Mini 10 will be free after rebate for customers who sign up for a long term service contract, while the Inspiron 11z will run $150 with a contract and rebate.