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Dell Ditches Netbooks
angry tapir writes "Dell has ceased production of Inspiron Mini netbooks; in effect ending its pursuit of the receding netbook market, at least for consumer sales. When Dell ran through its stock of the netbooks several months ago, it declined to manufacture more units."
iPad killed the netbook market.
Most people stopped buying them because the manufactures forgot why people were getting them in the first place. They were cheap 'semi capable' computers. Some people bought them because they were small. But many bought them because they were 200-250 each. Then the price went up to 300-400 each. Basically borderline get a cheapo laptop... That has a better screen and better processor...
Given that there's 15 inches laptops with higher specifications available for almost the same price, it's no wonder people aren't buying netbooks anymore.
Close Dell and return the money to the shareholders.
(1) Sometimes a 15 inch device is bigger than you want to carry around.
(2) What 15 inch laptop is available for $250? That's what my netbook cost and it runs KDE 4.7 in 64 bit with full desktop effects enabled without problems.
Currently Dell is a brand , just that, nothing more , after exporting all the know how to asia Asus took over, and now there is nothing left except the round logo. Close, move along corporation.
That's part of it for sure, however I think the performance of atom processors left a bad taste, too.
And if you want a netbookish sub-notebook with a real processor, it costs more than a normal size laptop.
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3 seconds of clicking gives:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Satellite+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Celeron%26%23174%3B+Processor+/+15.6%22+Display+/+2GB+Memory+/+250GB+Hard+Drive+-+Black/9988402.p?id=1218205766215
for $240. There are dozens of others of course.
So many companies today with little or no foresight on what the future will bring them or demand of them.
So let's hear it, Kreskin! What will the future bring a consumer electronics company whose business strategy is based around a race to the bottom, perpetually paring away the margins on an underperforming product that is completely undifferentiated from its competitors' products in every way except price?
This summer I needed a portable computer, so I walked into a Best Buy and walked out with a 14" laptop with the latest generation of Intel processor and graphics, 4GB of RAM, a 640GB hard drive, a full-sized keyboard, and the usual bells and whistles, for about $550. I guess I could have saved myself a couple hundred bucks and got a netbook with specs that barely meet the minimum requirements for Windows 7, but honestly, why would I? Battery life? If I turn the screen brightness down a little bit, my laptop's battery will run for almost eight hours. Size might be the only valid reason, but the laptop I ended up with is still small enough to fit into my little canvas shoulder bag, and it weighs just over 4 lbs, so even that is a poor argument.
Simply put, as the cost of traditional laptop form factors has fallen, netbooks seem more and more like a category whose time is past. For consumers, netbooks seem mainly like "disposable" cheap computers with specs so low that they're probably a waste of money, even at $300. For manufacturers, maintaining a netbook product line is just as costly and risky as maintaining a line of traditional laptops, except the margins are far lower. It's a lose-lose.
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I'm actually considering buying a netbook before the next semester starts. I've used my 17" and 15.6" laptops to take notes during my lectures, and when I'm in a big lecture hall with large tables, either one works fine, but when I'm usually in a regular classroom with regular desks, they are both too big to be practical. I've also tried using my android tablet with keyboard-case to take notes, and it just ended up being a PITA. While it may work for some people, its not for me. An iPad is not an option for me. So, instead of taking notes by hand, which is a pain in the hand, I'll probably be picking up a decent cheap netbook. Not because I want a full time laptop (which I already have), or want to play games on it (which is what my desktop is for), but because it's the best tool for the job. Pretty much all it will have installed is an office suite, web browser, and any software required for my classes. It doesn't matter that for another $50, I can get a 15.6" dual core laptop with decent ram and storage. I don't need any of that. I am sure there are others that feel the same. The netbook may not be practical for everybody, but it does have its use, especially at the ~$200 price range.
I'm just not sure there's really much room between the laptop market and the tablet market, people are putting their money on either samll and light, or bigger but more powerful. The netbook really didn't quite fit in either category. Almost powerful enough to be a real computer, and almost portable enough to take with you everywhere... but not quite either.
The problem is that cheap laptops came down in price, while netbooks have only gone up in price...
The original $200 netbooks running linux were great cheap devices for browsing the web..
The $350 netbooks running windows are just slow and not very cheap windows laptops.
The linux netbooks were seen by users as a new device, similar to how the ipad is perceived, while windows netbooks were seen as being inferior versions of regular laptops.
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Compared to a netbook with an Atom, it's a steal.
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I think a tablet is a complementary product for desktops and laptops, and it is a competing product for netbooks. I also think this will eventually change. In the future I expect some tablet device to basically be somewhat similar to the CPU "box" of a desktop. When mobile it acts like a tablet, when at your desk in its dock its just the "CPU" with external storage, keyboard and display connecting to it. Not terribly different than connecting a laptop to a full sized keyboard and monitor when at your desk.
I think you're right in saying that a dockable tablet will eventually replace netooks. But I don't think we're there yet, because when "docked" with a keyboard, it still isn't as useful as a netbook or a notebook, if only because the tablet applications themselves aren't as powerful as their desktop equivalents or don't translate well to a desktop experience. When I'm out and about I don't see many tablets. I do, however, still see a lot of netbooks. Yes, there may be a lot of tablets used at home or in business, but that's not what I'm still seeing out in public.
Apple adapted their Mac word processor, spreadsheet and presentation applications for the iPad. Personally I think they are pretty capable and a good user experience with an external keyboard at least. With the onscreen keyboard I would only suggest brief usage. YMMV.
Given that there's 15 inches laptops with higher specifications available for almost the same price, it's no wonder people aren't buying netbooks anymore.
It is true that the full sized laptops have encroached on the netbook market. But Dell definitely lacks any light-weight notebook options. I had a look at their website, and the lightest Dell laptop that is available in my country is 1.56kg.
Back in the late nineties I got a sub-notebook that weighed 0.85kg (1.87lb), and have never owned a heavier notebook than 1.1kg since. It seems crazy that with nearly 15 years of technological improvements that Dell cannot offer me a similar or better computer.
Compared to a netbook with an Atom, it's a steal.
An Atom-based netbook has its place. Real world 11 hours of battery life with a pretty good keyboard at 2 pounds and a full suite of text-oriented content creation software, for instance.
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My guess is they are getting their ass kicked by Asus and don't want to admit they make a lousy product. The EEEs are damned nice little machines, especially the AMD Fusion models and talking to one of the guys I know at the local Walmart he said they are moving those things like there is no tomorrow. 6 hours on a battery charge under Windows 7, 8 hours under Expressgate, plenty of power, plays full 1080p over HDMI, sweet little units. If the Dell Inspiron mini is anything like their Inspiron laptops i can see why folks simply ain't buying, they're junk.
Maybe they just can't compete with the likes of HP and Asus, who knows. I know I was amazed I could get a fully loaded EEE while adding 8Gb of RAM and a nice little case for it for only $350 but of course that was before the flood, last i checked they are like $439. Maybe they can't score the drives and have given up? In any case i don't think Asus and HP will mind taking the business from dell, not one bit.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
That's what the "ultrabook" class is trying to address. They (and devices like them that predate them, like the Samsung Series 9 or the Macbook Air) are largely replacing netbooks in terms of portability. They're typically 11 or 13 inches, and tend to weight 2.5 to 3.5 pounds or so. They're often lighter than a netbook, but have a much larger screen. They also tend to have proper dual-core processors, although they're the ULV (Ultra Low Voltage) kind which means they're clocked lower. Still, a dual-core i5 is still pretty decent, even if it's ULV.
The downside is price. There are tons of models available for under a grand, but some people want to get the portability for much less. We're not there yet, they still cost too much to make (all ultrabooks use SSDs, so the trick is the cost of enough flash to make that practical), but the cost will probably come down slowly over time.
Sure, it's just a smaller place than it was. With cheap laptops eating into the buy it because it is cheap end, and ipads and smart phones eating into the care about portability not price end.
Here in South America, netbooks outsell notebooks by a wide margin. They are much more capable than cheap tablets of the same price and much cheaper than actual fully featured computers. They are also used a lot by business people who don't really want to carry around a full computer.
Spot on. I bought my Dell Mini back when they first came out. I was thrilled with its combination attributes. It was a cheap and small computer that I could easily stash in my satchel when I was in the library or going to teach knowing that it would still be running when I pulled it out later. I hate having to lug a full laptop about campus but I don't want to do without a keyboard. I was also very pleased that I wouldn't have to remove Windows from it. While its battery life isn't quite what it was, it is still running well and I am still happy with it. When the Mini finally kicks the bucket, I'm going to have a hard time finding something that fills its niche so well. The combination of attributes that made the netbook so useful to me is, for the most part, no longer readily available on the market.
Uhhh...I paid $300 for my EEE with the AMD E-350 dual core in Aug (well $350 after I threw in 8Gb of RAM and a nice briefcase style case for it) and it plays L4D, does full 1080P over HDMI, hell i'm even using it to edit audio multi-tracks with Audacity. What EXACTLY do you call a "real processor" anyway?
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I would be more inclined to look in Microsoft's direction. Microsoft doesn't like Dell selling anything that doesn't have a Microsoft OS on them. Windows 7 can't really run on netbooks. Microsoft wants XP to go away. XP is the only Windows OS that can really run on a netbook. So it would make sense that Dell might be getting some pressure from Microsoft to stop selling netbooks. It wouldn't be the first time Dell bowed to pressure from Microsoft.
The subject line of your post was "price..." The subject line of my reply is "profit..."
Say that on a TV game show you're asked to name as many luxury cars as possible in 60 seconds. It's easy: Cadillac, Rolls-Royce, Lexus, Porsche, ... Notice how almost all of those have been on the market for a really, really long time. Now try the same thing with low-end cars. Uh, ... Chevette, Hyundai Excel, VW Bug, AMC Gremlin, ... Notice how most of those are no longer on the market.
The similar tension, uncertainty, and chaos at the bottom end of the PC price spectrum is not a new phenomenon. The computer analogs of the Chevette et al. are machines like the Great Quality (ca. 1997), and the Everex GPC (ca. 2008). Notice how those are no longer on the market.
It's really, really hard to stay in business when your profit margin is low.
Basically the only way to make a $200 computer (desktop or netbook) is something like this. You produce them in Asia, where labor costs are low. You avoid R&D like the plague. You have nobody working for you who has the slightest expertise in software. You don't write documentation. You don't do support. You have a web site that's only in Chinese, and it has no useful content. You make your hardware specs so low that it takes 30 or 45 seconds for a browser to start up.
Why would it be a surprise that users then fail to beat a path to your door? Your sales are low, and your profits are low. You go out of business.
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Your anecdote is based in being blind to reality & creating a reality to support your claims.
Just because my reality doesn't fit your reality doesn't mean that mine doesn't exist. It just means that our realities our different. It's silly to try to invalidate one anecdote with another by calling something that doesn't fit your world view as "blind".
I might have taken the second part of your post seriously had you not tried to wipe out an opposing view by calling it "blind".
I dont agree. I bought a $300 netbook and I love it. the blend of power and portability is ideal for me.
With a keyboard built in, it is far superior for typing than a tablet, and if you stick it in a simple sleeve it's not that much bigger. Real world all-day battery life is better than any regular laptop. And with dual core and a low end 3D graphics card, it's powerfull enough to play some games on low res.
If I want something ultra-portable I'll just use my smartphone, and if I want something ultra-powerfull I'll use my desktop PC. The netbook fits in beween perfectly.
Personally I think tablets are a solution looking for a problem that doesnt exist.
Or do you also think that "not portable at all" versus "portable" is in the same ballpark as "portable" versus "more portable"?
The main advantages of the netbook over the laptop was always that it was 'more portable' than a laptop. I don't know anyone who bought a netbook just because it was cheap, but I know plenty of people who bought one because it was half the size of the laptop and had a much better battery life, so it was 'portable' in many situations where the laptop wasn't 'portable' at all. I bought mine because I was going abroad for a few weeks and wanted a computer which I could afford to lose and which wouldn't be a pain to carry around with me all the time.
A $250 15" laptop is no replacement for that. Nor is a tablet with a crappy touch-screen keyboard.
the trouble is because they're smaller people want to pay less. Odd thing really, since it used to be the other way around :). But then again there's also the perception of less functionality. Whatever. But I think it was Sony that made the point that netbooks are bad for the industry. They drive down the value / price and profit margin of regular laptops. Dell's big enough they compete with themselves. My guess would be they were finding that cheap netbooks were cannibalizing the sale of more expensive laptops. Especially the high end ones with longer battery life...
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The weird thing about netbooks is there were sub $200 netbooks for a while but every manufacturer started upping the stats and prices on them and basically turned them into regular laptops.
I bought one of the first generation EEE PCs and loved it. I'd never buy another netbook again. What killed them wasn't tablets, it was smart phones.
I mean I really want one of two things- a full computer to be usable anywhere, or a computer that can be used anywhere. For the first, they have the laptop. For the second, they have the smart phone. The downfall of the netbook is it won't fit in your pocket. I never actually took my netbook anywhere except vacations because I still had to carry it. May as well bring a laptop then, the only advantage of the netbook was the weight. I have no use for something bigger than my pocket unless I need to do serious work which requires a full sized keyboard, and in that case I want a full sized screen. Tablets and netbooks both fail.
Netbooks and tablets both are evolutionary dead ends. In 10 years the only computer you own will be a smart phone, and you'll plug it into a docking station when you need a full keyboard (and some of those docks may be laptop sized for business trips).
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
For what it is, it *is* a great buy. I'm typing this on a laptop with a Celeron U3600 1.2GHz dual core, with 2GB of RAM, and it is plenty adequate for my needs. Most users just surf the web, check facebook, and watch Youtube from time to time. Throw in an e-mail client, and you're good to go. This system also handles some light gaming (tuxkart, supertux, eskiss)... when I want to play more hardcore games, that's what my desktop is for. If all you want to do is type documents, surf the web, and check your e-mail, then that is plenty of power.
It's nothing an Atom couldn't do. Or an ARM system, for that matter. And the ARM would blow even the Atom out of the water for battery life. But find me an ARM-based 15.6" laptop, will you? Or even an Atom-based system with a screen like that. There's a usability limitation with the smaller screen you find on an Atom or ARM-based netbook, not to mention the keyboard (about 13" is the smallest laptop I've seen with a keyboard I can actually type at speed on... on a 12.1" system, the keyboard is usually either smaller, or a weird layout).
I agree. A $100-200 device, 7 in with a keyboard running Android makes sense. An 11 inch windows "netbook" for $350 doesn't when you can buy a laptop for not much more.
I have owned a couple of Toshiba Portégés over the years, so I do have a Z830 on my shopping list. However, my point was that Dell has nothing at that level. I can understand that 1.1kg might be extreme, but Intel's Ultrabook specs call for a maximum of 1.3kg and Dell can't even match that weight.
I have had many Porteges. Not one could hold a candle to my ASUS EEE's 8 hour battery life. Not even close.
Show me a laptop/notebook that costs $250 or less and has an 8 hour battery life and weighs 1kg and *then* I'll believe that netbooks are worthless...
I have an EEE Pad Transformer, so I get the best of both the netbook and tablet worlds ;) That said, I paid twice as much for the privilege... But Dell must surely be in trouble, I mean, they would obviously benefit from as much market coverage as possible, even in smaller market spaces. Tablets are a growing market, and Dell are doing themselves and their shareholders a grave disservice by calling it quits. I loved the Streak 5, their phone/tablet abomination, and I'm disappointed (though unsurprised) they discontinued those. If Dell are pulling out of more and more markets, it says to me they're losing money.
My advice: Either make Alienware products worth the price tag, or bring the price tag down to match, because currently they're no match for Asus' Republic of Gamers label. Second, put out a Tegra 3 tablet, Asus are the only opposition there, and if Dell hits the right spot in the market, they can have a success on their hands. Third, shit or get off the pot when it comes to Linux. Either they should maintain their own Ubuntu distribution, so they can have a full vertical slice and compete with Apple, or they should just give up on Linux. Currently, they basically install it without even checking to see they've got all the necessary drivers (or IF there are appropriate drivers at all) before they ship, there's no QA.
Admit it. You post strawman arguments as AC so you get modded Insightful for refuting them, rather than Troll
Tablets are more oriented towards media consumption -- games, video, that sort of thing.
Wow, someone still labors under that misconception? Who thawed you out of cyro-sleep?
First of all, tablets never had the problems you mentioned. Even back in the distant days of Windows tablets artists liked them. Now with the iPad that is still true, but it's useful for so much more content creation beyond art - movies, music, and even REAL writers find they like to use the iPad for serious writing.
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I disagree. Tablets serve a purpose. On the other hand, tables are also a netbook that generally haven't been manufactured with a connector on the bottom that allows a keyboard to be added that makes it a netbook.
It isn't so much of a debate of which will win in the long run, but how long it will take for the inevitable convergence.
Jesus... Typos.... Can you tell I typed this on an iPad.? That's the one thing I miss about my little netbook....
Higher specifications? If you're talking about CPU, graphics power, RAM size and hard drive capacity, yes.
If you're talking about other "specifications", such as:
-Decent real world battery life
-Fitting in just about any old bag
-Being light enough to actually carry around all day without being annoying
Then there's no 15" laptop that comes close.
I'm currently using a 12" ultraportable as my main machine, but would actually consider a 10" machine with the same resolution, internals and battery life (10 hours and up)... oh, and a trackpoint.
It's unfortunate that 10" is dying as a form factor - having a full x86 laptop that fits into a slightly oversized jacket pocket is great... lord knows my Thinkpad won't fit, no matter how hard I try :(
I was looking for a work laptop to give to my mother for her birthday about six month ago after she said complained her current one to me a few times. We went to a large shop and I offered her a lot of these big laptops (I didn't know that her employer would pay for it but figured I could afford anything below 600 or so). Her verdict was crushing: "Why would I want to lug around something this big and heavy, I'm just a small woman".
Essentially I sat down with her and talked to her about her priorities. They were in order of importance:
1. She can use her office suit and a couple of specialized pieces of production software on it (needs to be win xp or 7).
2. As light as possible.
3. As small as possible.
4. Reasonable battery life.
Nothing else mattered to her. Literally. Of two 10 inch netbooks she fell in love with in the store after me trying to get her to get interested in 15inch models, I tried to offer her the more powerful version or the ten inch one with nvidia ion on board. Her verdict? "What are the differences? Is it going to be heavier? No? Oh, it's going to run a little hotter and have a little less battery time? No thanks."
Fact is, there is apparently plenty of people out there to whom bigger screen size means more weight to carry around = bad thing. To nerds like us who want desktop space it's an upgrade. I could barely use the 10 inch screen desktop, and many configuration menu buttons were actually not fitting the screen in defaul menu views.
Guess if my mother cared about this? I honestly never heard her gush half as much about any birthday present I got her before this laptop. I can't ever see myself use a computer with screen that small. And my mom? I don't think she'll ever get a portable with bigger screen then those 10".
Asus EEE PC pushes around 6-7 hours with decent screen brightness, decent CPU usage (watching h.264 720p w/o hardware acceleration) and Wi-Fi (internet connectivity) and bluetooth (headphones) on.
My 15" laptop's battery dies in about two hours with that usage.
The idea of "netbook" is a small laptop that is not intended to work as a desktop replacement. The original netbook, OLPC, was an educational project, however there is nothing that prevents this class of devices from being used as consuner (facebook/youtube/media/text editing) or business (web applications, note taking) device.
Now, what all those three groups of applications have in common? They GIVE ABSOLUTELY NO FUCKING REASON TO RUN WINDOWS. But noooo. Dell just had to market those netbooks the same way Microsoft marketed Windows CE/Mobile/Phone -- "they run Wiiiiindows!!!". Except, of course, Microsoft was lying through its teeth because no Windows application would run on a phone, and netbook manufacturers were only half lying because Windows applications would run, just crippled by lack of desktop screen resolution and performance.
Apple and e-book readers' manufacturers had proven that consumers have absolutely no problem buying devices with ridiculously low performance, as long as those devices are intended and marketed for uses where such performance is appropriate. Thousands of bluetooth keyboard makers demonstrated that the most overpriced and crippled netbook ever -- a combination of iPad and a bluetooth keyboard in a leather case -- is a viable product. Now, Dell, Acer, MSI and other faithful Microsoft servants JUST HAD TO STUFF WINDOWS 7 WHERE IT DOES NOT BELONG, and then feel surprised that a $400 device with $250 functionality does not sell.
Let it be a lesson for future hardware manufacturers -- if it's not a business or home desktop, or an equivalent of one, don't ever plan to ship it with Microsoft software.
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If Dell stays in markets that it can't compete successfully in, it will definitely be in trouble. But nobody but Apple makes money on Tablets, and nobody seems to make money on netbooks. Getting out of both seem like good ideas.
Generally, not cutting losses is how companies get into trouble.
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Running on battery I plugged my EVO into my Acer AspireONE while driving to/through Louisiana. My girlfriend ran the thing for a good three of four hours using the EVO as a USB network device to browse the web, which meant not only was it holding itself up but it was charging my EVO while the EVO was moving data. We shut the netbook down when we got to where we were going.
Fine, WiFi was was disabled on both devices at the time, but I still call that impressive for a dual core Atom.
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This idea that because Dell isn't doing them somehow they are "dead" is stupid. Dell is a big company no doubt but their mainstay is desktops and in particular corporate systems. I can understand why too, they do corporate support right.
They were never big in the Netbook market. They got in it late, never really had very good offerings, and so on. ASUS is the real big name in netbooks. Acer, MSI, and HP are also all quite big, and Samsung is in there as well.
What with working at a university in IT, I know a ton of people with Netbooks. Of those, precisely 0% have a Dell netbook. It just isn't a big brand for it. Some of these people have Dell desktops or laptops, but not a Dell netbook.
I've never recommended a Dell netbook to anyone, I've never found it to be the best product for a task. Someone else always had something that was cheaper, faster, a better package, whatever.
One of our students just got herself a new Netbook. Ended up getting an ASUS. For what she wanted, it was the best offering.
They are used here the same way they are used there. Some people use them because they don't want to carry around a big computer. Others because they need a real computer but want it cheap. My dad has a Netbook for that reason. He wanted a portable computer, but his needs are simple and he wanted to spend a low amount. A Netbook was perfect.
In my observation, Netbooks are bought by people who want a small, cheap, computer for whatever reason. Usually to do work on. Tablets are bought by people who want a toy to play with. Nothing wrong with that, but I don't see people using their tablets for work related purposes, I do see them using their Netbooks as such.
As far as I know, the only Linux netbooks that saw a high return rate were MSI ones which didn't have working drivers installed for a lot of the hardware that they shipped with and were advertised as having.
There is already a market that does exactly that, and it is called a cell phone....
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Question: If the current units works well, why not just get another battery? One of the things I looked at before buying my EEE (12 inch E-350 model) was batteries and frankly the Asus models have plenty of third party battery makers. hell i think they even offer a 10 or 12 cell version for your model which would give you something like 14 hours on a charge.
Personally i'm a big believer in "if it ain't broke" and it sounds like your unit is still doing great. BTW if you do decide to switch you ought to look at the EEE E-350 12 inchers which IMHO is just the perfect size and screen res (1366x768) and weighs less than 3 pounds. Oh and the Zacate dual core frankly stomps the Atom when it comes to performance and is pretty damned good for battery life. i get around 6 hours plus on my 6 cell watching 720p videos on it, just a great little unit.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
That is what is both funny and sad, Intel pushes the celery for the low end while at the same time crippling its power saving ability to try to force you to get a better chip. Staples seems to be the worst when it comes for pushing the celery and i don't know how many times i've had customers come in with "Hey i got this new machine, can you make it last longer on a battery?" and give them my usual 'Sure, just get a nice car battery and put in on a trolley".
I wonder if that is why both Best Buy and Walmart seems to have abandoned Intel on all their low and midrange units? I walked into Walmart the other day and frankly didn't see a single sub $1000 Intel unit in the store, it was AMD Fusion stickers as far as the eye can see. Not that I blame them, I have a EEE E-350 and the battery life is great (6 hours plus) without dragging ass like the Atom or killing batteries dead like the celery. I'm just glad it looks like AMD has pretty much killed the sempy, now maybe the celery will die and we can finally get rid of the shitty crippled CPUs once and for all.
Oh and I know you're joking but sadly you aren't far off, I had a customer bring in a unit she got last year at the staples Black Friday the weekend after she got it wanting to know "What's wrong with this?" and when I fired it up that celery went from a full charge to dead battery in 33 minutes! I told her "I hope you have a really REALLY long extension cord, because you sure ain't gonna be running this heifer on a battery". she was so pissed she sold it on Craigslist and had me get her a little Athlon dual that got about 4.5 hours with Wifi and screen brightness cranked. After seeing how badly that celery sucked the power I won't take another celery unit, even if it is offered to me dirt cheap!
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Meh, I bet I could get Win 7 OR XP purring like a kitten on that baby. here is what you do: Download and run SIW (free and no need to install it, just a single .exe for the portable) and find out what the hardware is and then simply bypass the OEM and go straight to the vendors. If I had to guess you are looking at an AMD GPU with Realtek sound, download the latest drivers straight from Realtek and AMD and you are good to go.
But I have several machines where the vendor said "We don't support OS (insert Windows version)" where I just said "meh" and went right around the stupid OEMs. All run just fine, purr like little kittens. Hell look up "Windows ultimate driver DVD" and throw that on a stick if you want an easier time, you'll just have to let Windows take about a half an hour to scan the stick and load the correct drivers. its really not hard Drinkypoo, just takes a little geek know how and a hearty "fuck your crappy support Mr OEM" attitude.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Sorry I still believe there is a strong market for sub $300 laptops.
So you're saying that Dell's army of market researchers and experts was a waste, and they should have just come to ask you?
mmm, sure... yes. I am certainly saying that Dell is wrong about the netbook (and tablet) market. And surely you are NOT saying that Dell's "army of market researchers" is any more infallible than HP's army of market researchers that ended up losing $3B+ for HP on webOS and Palm and created the whole TouchPad fiasco and nearly led HP into oblivion by deciding to sell off HP's PC division. Dell could never be as stupid as those guys, right? But even HP is still in the netbook and tablet market...
as I said in the title, it wouldn't surprise me to hear that Dell is in trouble some day soon...