Dell Discontinues the Mini 12

News
By Jane McEntegart
published

Dell has announced that the company will be discontinuing one member of its Mini line, the Dell Mini 12.

We've always been of the opinion that if the display is over 10-inches in size, it isn't a netbook. Apparently the vast majority of would-be netbook owners agree. Early on Saturday morning, Dell's Chief Blogger, Lionel Menchaca, published a post on the company's corporate blog detailing its decision to discontinue the Dell Mini 12 and reiterating that the Mini 9, which was dragged out of retirement in late July, is still available.

"Dell recently decided that it’s time for the Mini 12 to ride off into the sunset," wrote Menchaca, going on to say that customers should not read anything into this as far as Dell's commitment to the netbook space is concerned. "It really boils down to this: for a lot of customers, 10-inch displays are the sweet spot for netbooks," explained Dell's Chief Blogger. "That’s why we offer two different 10-inch Inspiron netbooks for Mini 10 and the Mini 10v," Menchaca added.

So for those of you looking to bag a Mini 12 you'll have to go through the Dell Outlet, which specializes in refurbished Dell computers and electronics.

Read the full blog post here.

Jane McEntegart
21 Comments Comment from the forums
  • theholylancer
    oh nom nom nom nom, i can hear the cannibalization of dell's light weight w ULV procs and expensive as hell laptops.
    Reply
  • ethanolson
    Dell schmell. Buy HP business-class products. They're better by a long shot.
    Reply
  • leafblower29
    ethanolsonDell schmell. Buy HP business-class products. They're better by a long shot.
    Pretty much everything that isn't Dell is better by a long shot.
    Reply
  • I figured for a 12" device you would want notebook feats, not netbook.
    10" is a great size, but I (as well as many others) prefer the much more portable 9" devices like the EeePc900 series.
    The keyboard is good enough for the basics (like the rest of the internals), the price is cheaper than the 10".
    The 10"may have a slightly better keyboard, but at the expense of a larger, heavier laptop.
    Also 10" screens need more backlight to get the same amount of knits, so the battery will most likely last less.
    Reply
  • mlopinto2k1
    Wow, funny how things turn around. I remember when Dell "featured" the 800Mhz Pentium III chip, man that was like the best thing since sliced bread. Dell "pwned" the competition. Their towers even looked bad ass back then. Why is everyone hatin' on Dell now? Are they really THAT bad?
    Reply
  • Upendra09
    yes^^
    they suck
    Reply
  • mlopinto2k1
    OK, seriously. If your so sure about this you would have at least THREE GOOD REASONS.. no? Please entertain me. :o)
    Reply
  • aspireonelover
    I think dell is pretty good in many ways. maybe better than hp in several ways. These are my three ways for being better than HP. I'll list hp's good ways too.
    * Great Customer Service (it means they're friendly, useful)
    * Customizable
    * Outstanding warranty, RMA
    I can't list any bad things about dell. They serve me well :)

    HP
    * Good lookin' products (its sleek look)
    * Somewhat mostly cheaper than Dell (in similar configurations)

    and hp's bad ways
    * Horrible, horrible customer service (I think most of you know what I mean)
    Reply
  • snotling
    the thing that pooped me about dell the last time was them pushing vista basic as default OS on BUSINESS line products... insanity!
    Reply
  • warezme
    Pesonally I think all retail PC vendors are not very good. To get what you really want you should build it yourself. That being said, netbooks and notebooks are the exception and we are stuck with dealing with retail. Dell used to advertise that they listened to the people and would offer you the option of either Windows XP or Vista 32 bit or 64bit on your laptop. Now your only option for the most part is Vista 64bit and their customer support is the pits.
    Reply