Netbook Scoop

Dell is rumored to be readying a netbook for release. The netbook may (or may not) be named Mini-Inspiron. While there has been no official word from Dell announcing a specific product with a specific release date, there has been plenty of information reported over the past several months.

These rumors started back on May 28, when Gizmodo spotted Michael Dell sporting one and published pictures.

Later the same day, on the Direct2Dell blog confirmed Gizmodo’s report and published official pictures, but no specs.

On June 10, the Direct2Dell blog featured an interview with Michael Dell, where he mentions an upcoming mini-notebook, but provides no details.

On June 12, Engadget published an article that contained considerable detail.  The article contains an official-looking Dell 13-page slideshow.  Here are the highlights of this report:

• They report that Dell has named the product the “Dell E”.
• The Dell E will be available in two models: one with an 8.9 inch display – and the other with a 12.1 inch display.
• They report a number of different configurations: E Classic, E Video, E Video+, E Slim, E Slim+.
• Rollout slated to begin in August with basic model with additional models planned for release through Q2 2009.
• Linux and Windows XP both supported.
• Prices starting at $299.

After that, things get very quiet.  Until today, when Digitimes reported that Dell was planning an introduction in August of a product being manufactured by Compal Electronics.  According to Digitimes, the product will be priced at $299.  They also report that Dell is forecasting sales of 2 to 3 million this year.

In summary, it indeed appears that Dell will introduce an Ultra Low-Cost PC (ULPC) nettop soon.  I’m not convinced that the “Dell E” will be the official name.  That sounds like it could just be an internal project name to me.  We’ll see what Dell officially announces.

But if Dell introduces a nettop priced at $299, that would be brilliant.   At this price point, they would attract considerable attention and sales.  Dell’s products would blow away Asus’ existing Eee PC 700-series based on price/performance.  And Dell would be entering at a price well below the MSI Wind and Acer Aspire One.

But before getting too excited, we need to remember that Dell has not annouced anything officially yet.

Update:

Given that Dell currently teams with Canonical to package Ubuntu Linux with their existing products, it would be a good guess that the new Dell nettops will sport Ubuntu.

In late May, Canonical released a version of Ubuntu they call “Ubuntu Netbook Remix” which is a version of the latest release of Ubuntu that has been specifically tailored for netbooks.

On June 9, Mark Shuttleworth, in his blog, discusses Ubuntu Netbook Remix in depth, complete with screenshots.  Mark indicates that this work was performed at the request of “a number of OEM’s who want to sell netbooks.”

Ubuntu is widely regarded as being the most user-friendly of the major Linux distributions.  Given Canonical’s track record with Ubuntu and the screenshots provided above, Ubuntu will bring another competitive advantage to a Dell nettop especially when compared to Eee PCs running Xandros Linux.

As you would expect, someone already has Ubuntu Netbook Remix running on an Eee PC