Comments on: Dell mini 10v… Is it worth it??

By: Jack

Jack — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:29:24 +0000

I use it for 3d development, as well as graphics editing, some web-design, as well as a few more intensive applications. You should be able to run the majority of modern creative products without any big drag. Of course, the higher end, you should probably buy a laptop.

But I do all of my 3d work on it, so depends on your needs, really. Mine certainly aren’t the lowest.

By: Bert Van de Poel

Bert Van de Poel — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 21:17:18 +0000

Have a look at the Dell Latitude 2100, here in Belgium you can get it with ubuntu 8.10 and it has more options than the 10v

By: misGnomer

misGnomer — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 07:06:59 +0000

Randall is of course right in bringing up the Linux-centric options, which AFAIK operate mainly or exclusively in the US market. Besides system76, there’s also http://zareason.com

Wrt. the Dell depiction, I feel that’s a little harsh considering that at least they’re trying to accommodate some Linux options and they’ve also been known to refund the microsoft tax.

Anyway, one potentially useful and again US-centric link for keeping an eye on current special offers is:

http://dealnews.com/categories/Computer/PC-Computers/PC-Laptop/49.html

They often mention those silly (Dell etc.) “coupon codes” which inevitably discount MS-Windows machines lower than their identical Linux-preloaded counterparts (in which case consider requesting for the MS tax refund…).

By: Hobbsee

Hobbsee — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 03:45:16 +0000

I’ve picked up a Samsung n110 for university recently – works really well! The screen is particularly readable. I wouldn’t try compiling packages on it though. I also would suggest not trying to attach a large external monitor to it.

If you’re looking for a desktop replacement, you’ll probably want a powerful laptop. If not, netbooks seem to work really well for students.

And having 8 hour battery life with wireless on is great!

By: Randall

Randall — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 17:27:18 +0000

There’s another important “dimension” to your decision: the social implications of choice.

http://www.system76.com has some pretty nice options, are friendly to and active in the Ubuntu community, and worth supporting. They are 100% ubuntu.

Dell on the other hand is fond of Microsoft, offshoring jobs, lock-in…

Easy choice, no?

By: Todd Morgan

Todd Morgan — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 15:30:17 +0000

My wife got a mini 10v for her birthday in July. It’s a nice little machine for toting around and doing most things. We ordered it with Ubuntu straight from Dell. It is running in regular desktop mode. It is a GREAT couch-computing/bed-computing machine.

If I was in your particular scenario, I would NOT want to use it exclusively. The small keyboard (not too small) and small screen (even with the high resolution LCD) would drive me batty. Then again, it is my wife’s machine and I haven’t really had a whole lot of time on it.

In your scenario where you want something portable that you are going to use a lot, I would get a 12″-14″ laptop. At least with those you have fullsize keyboard keys and a larger screen.

By: misGnomer

misGnomer — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 13:03:33 +0000

One little more professional looking model is the HP Mini 5101, which is also available with SUSE Linux (SLED 11) preload and either 1024×600 or 1366×768 screen (both 10″ *matte*). You’d probably want the Intel Wifi rather than the proprietary Broadcom one.

It is little pricier than the average plasticky netbook but with some interesting features.

Then there are also the new category-breaking 11.6″ thin-and-lights (with 1366×768 resolution) like the Dell 11z, but unless they ship with Linux there’s bound to be some level of initial manual fiddling until distros get the settings built in.

By: Jo Shields

Jo Shields — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 11:29:29 +0000

With Windows, a netbook is unusable.

With Ubuntu, it’s a pretty nice option

By: js0n2 js0n2

js0n2 js0n2 — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 05:42:44 +0000

just bought the 10v (there was an outlet fire sale a few weeks ago) and its a royal pain in the ass. the touchpad has buttons built in (similar to the macs but the buttons are only on the bottom corners) — annoying as hell, the resolution sucks causing you not to be able to reach a lot of settings, camera works much better on windows than linux (noticeable lag), keyboard is OK.

get a lappy

By: nixternal

nixternal — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 02:54:26 +0000

I just received my 10V last month for work on KDE/Kubuntu Netbook Edition. It is great for small things, but build with either pbuilder or cowbuilder and tweaking the hell out of them, sucks. It is not a fast system when it comes to compiling anything.

Example (though it isn’t much):

main.cpp

#include

int main()
{
std::cout << "Hello World!" << std::endl;
return 0;
}

Compile time on celeron 1.5GHz with 1GB of RAM:
g++ -o foo main.cpp 0.20s user 0.04s system 20% cpu 1.234 total

Compile time on mini 10v w/ 1GB of RAM:
g++ -o foo main.cpp 0.68s user 0.06s system 97% cpu 0.757 total

Just an idea of the shear lack of power for compiling stuff or doing anything I/O intensive with it.

Go with a smallish laptop (ie. 13" screen) if possible for school work, unless it is just text editing and what not.