aysiu
May 4th, 2009, 08:40 PM
I loved my Asus Eee PC 701 for a while, but as bigger and better (and actually cheaper) netbooks kept coming out, I got envious. So I've been scoping out other options for a while.
I almost had my heart set on the HP Mini Mi, but I just found out that Dell now sells the Mini 12 with Ubuntu. How did I miss that? Was I the only one?
See. If you go to the Dell Ubuntu page (http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/linux_3x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs), they list only four models with Ubuntu (no Dell Mini 12 listed there).
But if you go to the Dell Mini 12 page (http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-inspiron-12?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn), you'll see two are offered with Ubuntu.
Now I'm a little torn. I've read up on the HP Mini Mi a lot, and I'm comfortable with its flaws. I also read the reviews on the Mini 12, and it sounds as if Dell's Ubuntu implementation there is only half-hearted. But a 12" screen is very tempting, especially after having used a 7" screen for a year (and, yes, the Eee PC is my main computer).
The other day I went to Best Buy to see how the keyboard is on the HP Mini, and my eyes widened "This thing is huge!" My wife, who has a Macbook Pro, thought I was insane, because the keyboard is actually not even a full-sized keyboard. Compared to an Eee 701, though, it is huge.
P.S. Don't recommend the Starling (http://system76.com/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=92) to me. I'm not interested in it.
P.P.S. I believe in voting with your wallet, so I will not buy Windows preinstalled any more. If the Eee 1000HE came with Linux, I would get that in a heartbeat, though.
I almost had my heart set on the HP Mini Mi, but I just found out that Dell now sells the Mini 12 with Ubuntu. How did I miss that? Was I the only one?
See. If you go to the Dell Ubuntu page (http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/linux_3x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs), they list only four models with Ubuntu (no Dell Mini 12 listed there).
But if you go to the Dell Mini 12 page (http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-inspiron-12?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn), you'll see two are offered with Ubuntu.
Now I'm a little torn. I've read up on the HP Mini Mi a lot, and I'm comfortable with its flaws. I also read the reviews on the Mini 12, and it sounds as if Dell's Ubuntu implementation there is only half-hearted. But a 12" screen is very tempting, especially after having used a 7" screen for a year (and, yes, the Eee PC is my main computer).
The other day I went to Best Buy to see how the keyboard is on the HP Mini, and my eyes widened "This thing is huge!" My wife, who has a Macbook Pro, thought I was insane, because the keyboard is actually not even a full-sized keyboard. Compared to an Eee 701, though, it is huge.
P.S. Don't recommend the Starling (http://system76.com/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=92) to me. I'm not interested in it.
P.P.S. I believe in voting with your wallet, so I will not buy Windows preinstalled any more. If the Eee 1000HE came with Linux, I would get that in a heartbeat, though.