
Dell Mini Inspiron, Their First Mini Laptop - markbao
http://gizmodo.com/393815/exclusive-dell-mini-inspiron-their-first-mini-laptop
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gunderson
If you look carefully, you'll see that the photos (and the design of the
laptop) is intended to visually hide how THICK it is.

In the past 3 years Dell has been producing _junk_ laptops.

I will not buy one again and I caution anyone who thinks of buying one to see
it in person first, lift it, and check if it's constructed well before
purchasing it. Lately they have cheap keyboards, awful trackpads and buttons,
and they are ridiculously thick.

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halo
This is basically flamebait, but I disagree. Dell are the biggest low-end
computer manufacturer which are, for the most part, significantly cheaper than
their competitors. You sacrifice build quality and design to get that.

I actually think their build quality has improved recently too after a dark
period - their newer laptops feel better built for the cost - and the M1330 is
well-designed well-built at a very competitive price and is among the best
products Dell have ever come out with.

There's too few details to make any opinion on this product, but writing Dell
off is foolish.

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gunderson
I haven't seen the M1330, but I have been burned twice by buying Dell laptops.
This is after a run of about 3 great ones. The problem started when they went
to the thick unrounded two-tone cases with silver on top (at least in the
Inspiron line). A friend ordered one of their newer ones (with the led
backlight, core 2 duo, etc.) and in spite of its > $2K pricetag it has
terrible build quality and flexes and groans when picked up. It feels like a
toy.

I am not totally writing off Dell, but it's going to take a lot to win me back
as a customer. To make matters worse, a few years ago I ordered a bunch of
servers from their small business division and the way they do sales is
totally annoying. The only person you can talk to is your own rep and if he's
on the phone or out of the office you get voicemail. Also, if you don't
negotiate hard (or buy small business stuff online) you get ripped by about
20% -- why can't they just publish a good price on the web and let people
order it w/o having to talk to someone 3 times just so they take off that 20%
markup?

Back to laptops -- I got a high end Toshiba and it's been great....
surprisingly, far better (battery life, heat dissipation, build quality) than
any of the Dells I've had.

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tx
Why even mention this junk on HN?

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Tichy
the eepc looks like junk to me, too

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graywh
Do you mean the Eee PC?

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Tichy
yes, sorry - guess the brand did not really infiltrate my mind...

