September 4th, 2008
Dell's Mini packs Ubuntu, XP; Vodafone to sell it
Update: Dell’s Inspiron Mini 9 now available and Dell is pushing the netbook is available on its site. Meanwhile Vodafone is going to sell the Mini in Europe.
While Dell’s move (Techmeme) could be viewed as playing catchup to other rivals such as Asus the Vodafone deal is notable. Vodafone says it will sell Dell’s Mini in Europe in a move that was previewed by Michael Dell on Wednesday. Dell said at the Citigroup Technology Conference that telecom carriers will sell netbooks to push 3G services. What U.S. carriers will follow?
The Inspiron Mini (statement) will run $349 with Ubuntu $399 for one with XP. Also as expected Box.net is bundled in with the system. In a nutshell, Dell’s Mini (see Dell’s blog) looks like a lot of netbooks such as the Asus eeePC.
Some specs:
- It weighs 2.28 pounds;
- Has a solid state drive;
- 8.9 inch display;
- Comes with Ubuntu and XP with “custom Dell interface.”
Overall, it’s a cheap way for me to get an Ubuntu laptop, which was on my things to do list.
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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