By way of a battery test we ran put the 10v through its paces playing a standard-definition H.264 video at full screen with the screen brightness turned all the way up to 11 and the Wi-Fi radio switched on. This yielded a result of 5 hours 8 minutes, which puts the 10v up amongst the better performing netbooks and equates to a real-world battery life well in excess of six hours. The absolute best we managed was eight hours 32 minutes with the Wi-Fi radio off and the screen brightness turned right the way down.
Video Playback Battery Test Results
Longer bars are better
Sound is provided by a couple of 1W stereo speakers tucked away in the front of the chassis. The noise they make is no match for the Samsung N120's speaker system but it is certainly an improvement over the sound put out by the Mini 9 or 12, or the Acer Aspire One, for that matter. Videos can be watched with the volume turned up to the max with no distortion whatsoever.
Dell bundles the Mini 10 with a handy one-piece power plug which makes for easy transport but neglects to supply a slip case of any type with which to actually wrap it all up. Just a little parsimonious, that.
Choice of colours
Price-wise Dell have hit the nail firmly on the head, getting the basic 10v in below the psychologically important £200 barrier, including shipping. Cough up another fifty quid and you can have Windows XP and a 160GB HDD. If you fancy more storage but don't want to go the Windows route the optional 16GB SDD will cost you an extra £40 as will a 120 or 160GB HDD. Want the larger six-cell battery? That will be an extra £40 as well. Dell clearly likes the number 40.
Verdict
The Mini 10v takes the netbook back to its Small, Cheap Computer ideal and the end product is difficult to seriously criticise - the rather dowdy styling, silly SD card slot design and crippled out-of-the-box Linux OS notwithstanding. Of course, the first is a matter of personal taste while the last can be fixed by a quick Ubuntu upgrade so that only really leaves the rather dozy SD card slot and that's really not a reason to not buy one. ®
More Netbook Reviews...
Samsung N120 |
Acer Aspire One D250 |
Asus Eee PC 1008HA Seashell |
MSI Wind U115 Hybrid |
Dell Inspiron Mini 10v netbook
COMMENTS
Famous last words
The Linux version appears now to have vanished without a trace from Dell UK's site.
Arm-twisting from the beast of Redmond?
OK, it's back on the Dell site now
They do hide it rather though....
It's a graphics world now...
Intel Video chipset...uhhhh...no.
@ratbert
I have only looked at a couple of these netbooks so its hard to compare plus I am from the U.S so im not sure about pounds. I spent $329. for the acer one with free shipping and $300. plus $8.00 for the Dell 10v, but the acer has much better specs for the extra $21.00 dollars.If you can buy from Amazon the then compare the Asus and also the Samsung nc10. Too me the most important issues are hhd size and battery size and I would assume they have normal Led indicators for keyboard functions. Sometimes spending a little extra money is worth it. When I got my acer I called tech support about a questions and I got through in a couple minutes and they were very helpful.
When I call dell I am always transferred numerous times and they a very unhelpful.
The Asus looks good and I would buy it if I had the extra money.
Dell Mini 10v=JUNK
I have read several reviews about the dell mini 10v before I ordered it and not one said anything about the missing leds considered standard on any notebook or netbook. It is my opinion that dell cut every corner they could to make this netbook. I have read other people having problems with the power switch. Yes the dell is pretty compared to the acer one and does have a better keyboard but thats where the compassion ends in my mind. Xp probably cant even use the 1gb ram included but if you a different os that can use my ram you have to void the warranty ( im not sure but I would almost bet money it would.) Maybe mine was a lemon but it should not of left the factory and if you have ever delt with dell they are the absolute worst unless you have a business machine.
I felled to mention my 10v crashed constantly even after I flashed the new bios and there where 2 new bios update already meaning it was not ready to be sold.
I didnt mean to offend anyone but at least some reviews are more impressed with looks than function and Its a waste of time because there short on the facts. I like the the lan switch and light on the acer one . Not having the leds would be a deal breaker for me, some people like you dont care but its nice to now.The acer one has both a larger hdd and a larger battery capacity. I would be interested in seeing some more benchmarks. They are basically the same inside so they should have the same numbers.
