Dell Dumps Netbook Line For "Thin & Powerful" Notebooks

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

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

On Thursday Dell consumers began reporting that the company's "Mini" line of netbooks had been removed from the website and replaced with a message stating that they are no longer available. "Shop the next best thing - the Inspiron 14R, a stylish and portable 14-inch laptop with SWITCHable lids," the message added.

The stealthy product removal was quiet to say the least, and prior to this report, Dell hadn't publicly announced an official departure from the netbook sector. So what's going on? Wanting to get to the root of the mystery, Liliputing pulled out the magnifying glass, the Scooby Snacks, and investigated the forum reports. The site confirmed that the product page for the Dell Inspiron Mini 1012 listed the netbook as unavailable. Also unavailable was the Dell Inspiron Duo convertible tablet-style netbook, and both the 9-inch and 10-inch Dell netbook were removed from Dell’s Outlet store.

Yet technically Dell hasn't parted ways with the netbook form factor, as the company still offers netbook solutions for business customers. One example is the Dell Latitude 2120 with a starting price of $469, one of the most expensive Intel Atom-powered netbooks on the market. The company also confirmed on Friday that the consumer-based Inspiron Duo is still an active product, and will be available again sometime before Christmas.

With the evidence out in the open, Dell finally came clean and admitted that it is no longer offering consumer-based Mini netbooks 10-inches or smaller. Even more, Dell has no plans to release future models based on Intel's forthcoming Cedar Trail platform, thus marking the Mini line as officially dead and buried. The company said it will instead focus on higher-end premium laptops like the XPS 14z and that new form factor called "ultrabook."

"Thin and powerful is where it is at for us," said Dell Marketing Director Alison Gardner.

Kevin Parrish
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