Dell Mini 1018 to replace Ipad v1. Pros & Cons?

Hi All,

I'm considering picking up a new dell Mini 10 (the 1018 top spec option for €379) to use instead of the ipad that myself and the missus bought recently, because apple's iPad OS makes me want to kill myself :mad:

This is the spec i'm looking at.

It seems like a pretty good netbook with good battery life, HDD, bluetooth and wifi, but i'm a tad concerned about how it handles higher quality video, both streamed and from local disk. Reviews seem to say 480p and above make it struggle, which if true, is bad. I'm looking at using it as a secondary machine for all the usual non-intensive consumer web and social networking stuff, but some of that will obviously involve HD video, and though it claims to handle HD via hardware acceleration, i can't see where the single core chip and the 1Gb DDR3 RAM will provide enough power on top of running the OS and applications (even if the OS is only Win7 Starter) to do it properly.

My questions are: Has anyone had any experience of the 1018 model specifically (not older models) and how has it been in terms of general response speed for the basic web stuff (facebook, skype video, google etc), multitasking, and particularly in terms of it's ability to handle higher res video streamed from youtube etc, or run from the HDD?

Thanks

get a larger screen 11.6 or 12 inches. 10 inches on a laptop and the small keyboard that comes with it gets very annoying after a while.

something like this.

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Lenovo_IdeaPad_S205_1076388.html

you'd get delivered to Ireland for about €360/370

Voodu Child

€380 for a single-core Atom with 1GB ram is very expensive.

For that kind of money and with video playback being a feature you need, i'd be looking at either a dual core Atom with Nvidia Ion, or better still, something using the new AMD fusion platform as linked above.

Alanstrainor

glasso wrote: »

something like this.

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Lenovo_IdeaPad_S205_1076388.html

you'd get delivered to Ireland for about €360/370

I'm even tempted by that!

The dell is doesn't compare at all to the likes of the above.

Zonda999

That lenovo really is much more like it for the money in question. €380 is horrendously expensive for a netbook with a single core atom and only 1gb of RAM. That lenovo has AMD fusion doesnt it? Judging form the graphics card specification. Even in the absence of those graphics, the chip in the lenovo is way quicker. Lenovo is probably better built too

Hmm, thanks for the suggestion. God bless the weak euro eh? I actually have an option on a discount on lenovo kit here at home, but wasn't aware of this model, will definitely check it out and see if either option makes sense.

Any more suggestions, or anybody got any more advice on the dell Mini?

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

Hmm, thanks for the suggestion. God bless the weak euro eh? I actually have an option on a discount on lenovo kit here at home, but wasn't aware of this model, will definitely check it out and see if either option makes sense.

Any more suggestions, or anybody got any more advice on the dell Mini?

I think the advice on the Dell Mini is don't buy it.

Alanstrainor

Steer well clear of the Dell. It would have to be considerably cheaper to be worth buying.

Zonda999

Absolutely steer clear of that one in you original post. If you really really wanted a Dell, i'd go for something like this. Its celeron ulv chip will make it it a nice bit quicker than the other dell. Tbh though, i'd still think that other lenovo above is worth every penny extra, although the linked dell is at a decent price too!

hmmm, the dell WAS the highest spec model on the range though, the base model is only 329, which is reasonable, i bumped it up for the bluetooth option. Still though, thanks for the advice, will take it on board and have a look at the lenovo.

j@utis

there's no Lenovo Ideapad warranty service in Ireland. if something goes wrong you'd have to mail it to UK, might get pricey.

Overheal

get a XOOM or something, the netbooks are **** for performance.

Zonda999

Zonda999 wrote: »

If you really really wanted a Dell, i'd go for something like this. Its celeron ulv chip will make it it a nice bit quicker than the other dell.

This is actually a really good deal and very close to what I wanted spec wise. Thanks a lot.

Is this save on laptops site any good? Are they reliable? Has anyone had any experience in getting stuff delivered to Ireland from it?

Zonda999

Deleted User wrote: »

This is actually a really good deal and very close to what I wanted spec wise. Thanks a lot.

Is this save on laptops site any good? Are they reliable? Has anyone had any experience in getting stuff delivered to Ireland from it?

Hurry, says theres only 1 left in stock!

Yeah, i got a samsung q330 delivered off them in February, the trick is to choose no British mainland delivery and put in Ireland as your postcode. I ordered on a Sunday night and it got to me in Cork on Wednesday. Flawless, as is the way with a lot of boardsies who order off them.Some do seem to run into to issues with their credit cards though, as in they end up having to ring them to confirm that they actually exist! Do a search around here and the bargain alerts forum and you'll see. I'd certainly recommend them anyway

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

This is actually a really good deal and very close to what I wanted spec wise. Thanks a lot.

Is this save on laptops site any good? Are they reliable? Has anyone had any experience in getting stuff delivered to Ireland from it?

I actually have that laptop - it's very nice. the only problem with the version that is on sale there is that the trackpad is pretty annoying (they changed the trackpad later but the one on sale there is the original version). other than that it's a great little machine - nice screen, great keyboard, hdmi. will run office and hd video no problem.