I’ve authored a couple of articles – including one for this site – on the practicality of using a netbook as an inexpensive field tool for project managers on the go.  I While I don’t see the netbook as the ‘only’ tool for a PM, I do see it as a cost-effective alternative to a larger laptop when on the go a lot.



If you have a desktop at home or in the office and you want a small, fairly durable machine to take on the road, I think you could do a lot worse than many of the netbook models out there.  I specifically have tested out three models from three different manufacturers: Dell, Acer, and HP.  Of the three, my favorite and by far the most used one has been the Dell model and that is the one I’m going to go into further detail about here in this article.



As you can see from the one of the pictures I’ve included of my actual Dell machine, I’ve ‘personalized’ it somewhat…but it helps it get noticed and I've let anyone and everyone 'play' with it who have asked - colleagues, customers, conference goers, etc....



Here are the major specs for the Dell Inspiron mini 10 that I have been using around the house, traveling, with customers, and at conferences.



Dell Inspiron mini 1012

 

 





     
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  • Intel Atom N450 processor




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  • Windows 7 starter




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  • 1 GB DDR2 RAM




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  • 10.1” LED-backlit display 1024x600 resolution




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  • 160 GB 5400RPM hard drive




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  • 6-cell battery




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  • 3 lbs




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  • 10.6” W x 7.6” D x 1.3” H




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  • Up to 9.5 hours battery life




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These specs are the ones stated by the manufacturer.  Everything seems accurate, although I would place the battery life more in the 5-6 hour range.  Still very acceptable to me as my main machine is a Macbook with a 2-3 hour battery life (bought it right before the 7 hour models came out, of course).



Let’s look at this model in terms of a few key categories….



Battery



It’s nice that Dell states the battery life as being up to 9.5 hours, but where and when they get that much of a battery is a mystery to me.  The real number is more like 6 hours and that’s still a nice battery life for most uses.  And as I said, it’s more than I’m used to on my main computer, so I was pleased with it.  Rating: A



Display



All the displays I’ve tested have been 10.1” screens, so the Dell isn’t setting itself apart here.  But I can say that it is a very clear and bright screen, and it’s the high-res glossy screen that I like – as contrasted with the non-glare HP version which I do not care for.  Rating: A



Keyboard



All three netbooks that I tested out had what is referred to as a ‘92% keyboard.’  What this means is that it is a full keyboard at approximately 92% of the size of a normal laptop keyboard.  I’m a fast typer, so the smaller keyboard is just going to cause me problems… there’s no getting around that.  But the feel of the Dell vs. the other netbooks I tested was much better in one of those hard-to-explain ways.  It’s still smaller than I prefer, but it was acceptable and for a netbook, that counts.  I’ve also ‘unofficially’ tested my kids’ ASUS netbooks and it far outperformed those.  Rating: B+



Touchpad



Touchpads are important to me.  The one thing that has frustrated me about many netbook touchpads and their two keys is the lack of responsiveness and the stiffness of the keys.  If they are hard to press, then they slow you down – they cause you to make errors.  The same was true with the 15” Gateway laptop that I used to call my main laptop before the Macbook came home with me.  It was also problematic in this area.



That said, I have found the Dell netbook’s touchpad to have a nice ‘feel’ to it and to be very responsive.  If I can get used to it quickly, then it works for me.  And I was able to do just that with this Dell model.



Rating: B+



Durability



I have two teenaged daughters using ASUS netbooks.  While I don’t regard the ASUS netbooks highly for a couple of reasons that I won’t go into here, structurally I’ve found them to be very durable.  If for no other reason than the fact that these girls have used them for more than a year each without breaking them!  That has not been the case with other laptops, cell phones, iPods, etc.



As for the Dell, it looks and feels durable to me and I’ve had no issues with it at home or in the field.  I personally believe that the smaller footprint also makes it more durable.  There’s much less chance that you’re going to hit a netbook on a doorframe as you’re walking around carrying just from the fact that it’s smaller.  Rating: A



Performance



The Dell Inspiron mini as performed admirably with its Atom processor and 1 GB of RAM.  Those specs aren’t going to blow any body away and they certainly aren’t going to come close to my Macbook, but that was never the intention of the Dell netbook or its counterparts.  It fits its niche extremely well and performs the key business tasks that I ask of it with little to no difficulty: running regular business apps like Microsoft Word and the entire Office Suite and Microsoft Project.  I’m never going to process photos on one nor would I recommend it for that function, but as a field machine for on-the-go use it’s great.  Rating: A



Overall