Dell Dumps Netbook Line For "Thin & Powerful" Notebooks

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Dell has killed off its consumer-based "Mini" netbook line to focus on high-end notebooks and ultrabooks.

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Kevin Parrish
Kevin Parrish
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.

19 Comments Comment from the forums
  • halcyon
    Surprise, surprise, surprise. Not. ...I wouldn't want the name "Netbook" associated with my company either.
    Reply
  • magicandy
    Smart move. The Netbook industry won't be lasting much longer as it is. The role of a small form factor, inexpensive device suited mainly for internet browsing and light tasks is largely already replaced by smart phones. Smart phones weren't quite there yet in 2007 when Netbooks exploded in popularity. This was when the iPhone was still very new and most phones still didn't have a good enough screen or power to be a comfortable internet device.

    Now that phones are catching up, Netbooks are becoming redundant. Many people caught in the early Netbook craze have their needs filled by their phones now, while Notebooks are still needed by people who need a portable full sized PC experience. Ultrabooks will still largely be a boutique item for people who are after the thin form factor and are willing to spend for it. The only market Netbooks had is being quickly gobbled up by smart phones, and the few people who desire a slightly larger screen (but still smaller than a notebook) now have tablets to fill that void.
    Reply
  • sissysue
    Dell was doing good a year or so ago when they started supporting Ubuntu as an OS choice when you buy but MS must have paid them a visit or two because that went away.
    Reply
  • jsrudd
    Technology has advanced enough enough that the tradeoffs that a netbook required are no longer necessary. You can get long battery life without such an under powered processor as the Atom.
    Reply
  • billybobser
    Kill off the laptop, it's turning into a thin desktop, with overpowered internals and underperforming duration. Portability just means lugging it from one place to another, with use inbetween giving a very limited experience.

    What we're really looking for here is a central server (lolcloud) to handle applications we want on all of our devices (office package for example) not putting performance/latency dependent applications on there (which seems to be the fancy of many a tech blogger).

    Personally, I would want something on a netbook/slightly bigger scale than having the ever expanding screen of a laptop for 'portable' work. With desktops for when the real business needs to get done.

    Hell, at home when working, I connect the laptop to the desktop screen and peripherals to get anything done. Something that could be done using a) the desktop with shared applications from the cloud or b) the much more portalable netbook.

    Laptops have so much bloat these days, I don't need a trackpad (a small trackball would be much nicer), a dvd drive (easiliy replaceable by the 'cloud' I keep having rammed down my throat)
    Reply
  • waethorn
    Note to Dell: If you want to build 10-12" screen netbook-type low-cost systems that people actually enjoy using, use AMD's E-series APU's. At least they won't be disappointed by not getting the performance they expect for HD content consumption. E-series APU's should be used as a baseline for a good minimum spec for any computer nowadays. People expect that HD media should just work without a hiccup, and games support should be there at the start (note: i said "support". Performance should be governed by price). The latest technology support should be there too, hence DX11. Not DX10, like Sandy Bridge, or DX9 like Atom's (which don't meet WHQL requirements, which is why they usually just get Win7Starter).
    Reply
  • HansVonOhain
    Dell Dumps Netbook Line For "Thin & Weak" Notebooks
    Reply
  • madooo12
    waethornNote to Dell: If you want to build 10-12" screen netbook-type low-cost systems that people actually enjoy using, use AMD's E-series APU's. At least they won't be disappointed by not getting the performance they expect for HD content consumption. E-series APU's should be used as a baseline for a good minimum spec for any computer nowadays. People expect that HD media should just work without a hiccup, and games support should be there at the start (note: i said "support". Performance should be governed by price). The latest technology support should be there too, hence DX11. Not DX10, like Sandy Bridge, or DX9 like Atom's (which don't meet WHQL requirements, which is why they usually just get Win7Starter).they can't , intel pays them too much
    Reply
  • waethorn
    madooo12they can't , intel pays them too much
    They do make AMD systems, but only on last years platform.
    Reply
  • madooo12
    waethornThey do make AMD systems, but only on last years platform.
    they don't make any AMD notebooks
    HP, toshiba, Gateway, lenovo have one or two models only, a nice start
    Reply