Customer Ratings & Reviews

I picked this up on April 10th to serve as a backup to my work lap top, which dies with scary frequency. It's a panasonic toughbook which has experienced 3 major crashes since July 2008. This seems to do the trick. I need a back up/travel machine that can handle LARGE MS-Word files. so far so good. I did have to add more RAM (to 2 gigs), upgraded from Windows 7 Starter, which was just ugly (Home premium seems to do the trick), STRIPPED OUT Windows Live (which is a memory pig and annoying), Stripped out MS Works and installed MS Office (2007-Enterprise). Toss in a wireless mouse (the trackpad IS terrible) and I'm a very happy camper. Best $500 I've spent in a long, long time.

first of all its so convenient to carry around because i'm college student. I did a big mistake earlier buying big laptop which is very heavy. this has a around 8hrs of battery life on one charge. HD display though its small. I wish it ran on some other platform like XP. windows 7 is ok but i think its more appropriate for a powerful computer. i totally recommend it.

I wantedsomething to take with me on the bus to check emails, do some light work etc but did not want a full blown laptop because of the weight and cost. This seemed the ideal way to go. I was right. Slips easily into my backpack and does't add much weight which is good at my age (over 50). I went for the longer battery life and really appreciate that since I can be out and about all day. The only problem I have is sometimes it will suddenly slow way down for no apparent reason. Video will hang up etc. I'm going to upgrade to 2G memory and see if that solves the problem.

I own a small business with 95% of its sales online, so being able to work from anywhere is very important to me, but sometimes my Blackberry is just too limiting to be useful. My Dell Vostro laptop is my main computer, but it's too big and heavy to tote around regularly, plus I don't like carrying around a computer with sensitive business details, client information, etc. I'd always thought netbooks were too small to be useful, but after a glowing recommendation from a friend who owns one, I started looking into them. For the money, I am very pleased with this purchase, and pleasantly surprised with its performance. POSITIVES: very lightweight and portable, slips easily and neatly into a tote or medium/large handbag. Buy a sleeve to protect it from dents, dings, and drops, and you're good to go. It wakes up from hibernation and is ready to use very quickly. So far the battery life has been wonderful. Performance is snappy, especially after removing the trial McAfee software (I downloaded Microsoft Security Essentials). Detects and connects to even weak wifi signals very quickly, loads programs in a snap. So far watching video (YouTube and Netflix) have been very smooth and enjoyable although the sound is a little tinny...I wasn't expecting AMAZING sound on a netbook but I was a little disappointed in the quality with my earbuds plugged in. NEGATIVES: Granted I'm used to working on a laptop with its own cooling fans (in addition to using a cooling deck) but I was genuinely shocked at how hot this netbook gets during prolonged/heavy usage. Not "noticeably warm," I mean HOT. Hot enough that it became uncomfortable to use even on my lapdesk, and when I placed my palm against the bottom and then the keypad...wow! Not hot enough to leave a mark, but definitely hot enough to make me put it down for a while...it just became too distracting to use. I can definitely understand how the trackpad/mouseclick issues mentioned in other reviews here would be maddening, but it hasn't been too big of an issue for me...I tend to click the mouse by tapping anywhere on the touchpad, not one particular corner, so this hasn't bothered me too much. The location of the touchpad so close to the spacebar has meant I've accidentally brushed it with my thumbs and inadvertently highlighted large areas of whatever I was working on, but it's a netbook...space is tight. I'll probably buy a miniature optical mouse for when I go on the road and know I'll be using it for extended periods of time and switching back and forth between programs frequently. Finally, the dreaded Windows 7 starter...I was very nervous about Windows 7 in general, being an XP user, but so far the Windows 7 experience hasn't been too bad. The dock at the top is handy, and I look forward to some of the other features they advertise when I upgrade from the starter. THAT SAID...I agree with other reviewers who say the base price on this item should just be increased to come with standard Windows 7...I knew from reading in advance that this came with a starter, and will be upgrading later when I have the spare cash, but the very fact that you HAVE to upgrade to fully unlock the functionality of this computer is very irksome. I'm not as concerned about customizing my wallpaper as being able to quickly snap back and forth between programs, etc. Big thumbs-down on the money-grab tactic. OVERALL, I'm VERY pleased with this purchase...I'm able to work on anything from documents to store updates on the go (especially with wifi available practically everywhere, including McDonalds in a pinch!) then transfer the data via flash drive to my main laptop. I still have functionality and workability while maintaining convenience and (so far) reliability. I would definitely recommend this netbook.

The only negative I can find is that the computer didn't include a anti virus/security software program. Considering that this computer is perfect for email and surfing the net, this should be included in the package. It is small and compact and provides plenty of hard drive (250 gig) and the 1 gig of RAM is sufficient for it's intended use. I don't use it for mobile so I can't speak to how it works for that. Overall a good computer.

I bought this Dell mini to take with me when I travel for pleasure, primarily to be able to connect to the internet and to have e-mail access. The first machine I picked up, refused to allow me to log on after about three days of use. Best Buy replaced it. The second piece of equipment operates fairly well, except for one troublesome feature to be noted below. For such a small computer, this Dell is relatively fast, has a very good screen and does everything I need. I recently spent two weeks running around Turkey and found the mini was convenient to tote and functioned reliably. I downloaded and stored digital photos and the speed of download and the quality of the pictures on the screen were great. The only negative I have seen is rather annoying and is probably associated with the Microsoft 7 operating system. About every third time I start up the computer, either the user profile fails to load or I am "denied access." Both of these failures require a reboot. The first mini (i.e. the one I returned) had the same problem and then failed to boot after successive tries. I hope that the annoying booting problem on this computer isn't a harbinger of future failure.

Seems to be a good product only had for a week, but very fast processing seems to run like a normal laptop, but much smaller and easier to handle. External dvd drives work fine with it, haven't tried movies yet but again it's built for ease of use and internet browsing, not really for entertainment.

easy to use and pretty quick.i think its great for the price,and i like the size, you can take it anywhere!!!!!!!

I purchased my netbook because it was doesn't weigh a lot. I can take it with me when ever I need. Which is not often. But I have that option. The key pad is easy enough to use. I did purchase a small mouse because I like the functionality of a mouse better. I would recommend this product to other people.

Good basic computer for vacation use. Like the wireless connectivity and video conferencing