Dell Retires Mini 12 Netbook, But Why?

A couple of days ago, a Dell employee posted on the Direct2Dell blog that the company was retiring the Mini 12, a "netbook" that it released way back in February. This understandably caused many to question the reason, as I've met no one that has thought bigger netbooks were a bad idea (unless we're talking about the confusion for their placement in the market). So what's the deal?

Michael Arrington, of Tech Crunch, has a lot to say on the matter, and has had a lot to say ever since the Mini 12 was released. In a post made in January, he mentions that with Dell's latest (at the time) release, Intel wasn't happy, and it's easy to understand why. Intel makes more money off of the beefier machines (thanks to their better processors, chipsets and other components). No problem would exist if consumers purchased netbooks to complement their notebooks, but that's rarely the case.

So with Intel obviously more concerned with selling notebooks over netbooks, this announcement from Dell, coupled with the fact that, again, I've met few who haven't liked 12" netbooks (I also own one), the decision to pull out seems a bit odd. From a consumer standpoint, 12" notebooks are great. They're affordable, and the perfect size, depending on who you ask. The 1280x800 resolution is far, far better than the netbook standard of 1024x600, and the larger keyboard helps also.

As someone who loves 12" notebooks/netbooks, I really hope this isn't going to become a trend. Dell made it clear that when people use 12" notebooks, they expect to do more with them, so in a sense, they are disappointed. 10" netbooks, however, are limiting in many different ways, making the slower processor a non-issue. Either way, though, with Intel's CULV ramping up production and AMD also targeting the 12" market, hopefully Dell will become the only company with this mindset.

Probably a couple of reasons. First, Intel doesn’t like 12-inch netbooks because they are deep into dual core territory, where Intel has much healthier profit margins. For casual users a 12-inch netbook with an Atom chip works just fine, and they are buying these devices instead of more expensive dual core machines. Intel has put pressure on OEMs to build netbooks that have 10 inch or smaller screens.

Californian GM Dealerships to Sell Cars on eBay

When purchasing a vehicle, new or not, it's always been common practice to go to a local dealer and have a look around. But with the popularity of the Internet, it was only a matter of time before people would sit at their computers and browse instead. And why not? At your PC, you have access to thousands of cars, not dozens, and you can even look outside your own state for specific models if you have to.

When people do look to purchase a car online though, it's usually not brand-new. Rather, it's an older model that someone chooses to buy either because it saves money, or because they want an older model that's not exactly easy to come by (mint Chevelle's, for example). But that might change soon, thanks in part to ideas spawned by GM's turn-around plan, which will bring their new cars to eBay.

This will start out as a trial, and run until September 8th, and it really only applies to Californians. Of the 250 GM dealers located in that state, 225 of them have opted into going online. As a consumer, you'll be able to visit a site like GM.eBay.com and peruse GM's many models (spanning Chevrolet, Buick, et cetera), find the model you want, and then discuss the sale with the nearest dealer. It's not as simple a process as clicking a button to buy, as consumers will have the ability to haggle or ask questions.

This is also an interesting move for eBay, as typically all auto sales have gone through their sub-site eBay Motors. Not this, though, as each of GM's brands will have co-branded pages on the actual eBay site, and search results will be found on eBay, not eBay Motors. Whether this will begin a trend or not is yet to be seen. If proven successful, it's unlikely that the Sept 8 end date would be upheld, and chances are many other US states (and perhaps Canada) would join in on the fun.

My question to you is, would you rather purchase a brand-new car online, or go to the dealer? For me, I'd prefer online, only because if the time came to purchase a new car, I would have done enough research and seen the model in real-life before committing to a purchase. As with most things, the online convenience is just too good to pass up.

The test comes a month after GM made an unusually quick exit from bankruptcy protection with ambitions of becoming profitable and building cars people are eager to buy. Once the world's largest and most powerful automaker, new GM is now leaner, cleansed of massive debt and burdensome contracts that would have sunk it without additional federal loans.

Toshiba Applies to Join the Blu-Ray Disc Association

Remember HD DVD? The HD format that never could? Well, it's been well over a year since Toshiba officially pulled out of the HD format scheme of things, and since then, the only HD optical format has remained Blu-ray. It's been long-rumored that Toshiba would shift over to the Blu-ray camp, and begin releasing players there, and that's just what's going to happen, according to a company-issued press release.

In what is no doubt one of the shortest press releases I've seen recently, Toshiba says not much more than  the company has applied to join the Blu-ray Disc Association, and has intentions to release related products in the future. This is a long-time coming, and I have to say I'm mostly impressed that it took them so long, as Toshiba is a well-known brand when it comes to HD and high-end media in general.

Could this also be confirmation that there is still hope for Blu-ray to hit the mainstream? Many have doubted that it will happen, and since HD DVD's death, Blu-ray demand hasn't exactly exploded. But, things are indeed improving. This past spring, prices for Blu-ray players dropped, and as a result, sales soared by 72%. We'll have to wait a wee bit long to see if the trend continued into the current quarter.

Not to raise another rumor from the dead for the hundredth time, with Toshiba seemingly being the exclusive vendor to produce external ODDs for Microsoft's Xbox 360, I can't help but wonder if there's any chance we'll see Blu-ray come to that console anytime soon. Something tells me no, but stranger things have certainly happened. After all, if an add-on such as that could sell for around $100 retail, there might actually be a market for it.

Tokyo-Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) announced today that the company has applied for membership of the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) and plans to introduce products that support the Blu-ray format. As a market leader in digital technologies, Toshiba provides a wide range of advanced digital products, such as DVD recorders and players, HDTVs and notebook PCs that support a wide range of storage devices, including hard disk drives (HDD), DVD, and SD Cards. In light of recent growth in digital devices supporting the Blu-ray format, combined with market demand from consumers and retailers alike, Toshiba has decided to join the BDA.

Tech Roundup - August 10, 2009

Motherboards & Processors
• AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition - TweakTown
• ASRock X58 Extreme - TweakTown

Displays & Video Cards
• Galaxy GeForce GTS 250 - Hardware Bistro
• VisionTek HD 4890 OC - Neoseeker

Memory & Storage
• Kingston Hyper DDR3 2000MHz 3GB - Pro-Clockers
• OCZ Agility 120GB SSD - PureOverclock

Peripherals & Gadgets
• Cresyn C750E Premium Sound Isolating In-Ear Headphones - Tweaknews
• Rosewill RM-8500 Wireless Laser Mouse - Dreamware Computers

Cooling
• Cooler Master Hyper 212+ CPU Cooler - Bjorn3D
• Evercool Buffalo Socket 1366 CPU Cooler - Pro-Clockers
• NZXT Sentry 2 Fan Controller - Neoseeker

Chassis & Power Supplies
• Corsair Professional HX850 850W Power Supply - Hardware Canucks
• NZXT Beta Chassis - Overclockers Club
• Sharkoon Silent Storm 460W Power Supply - Technic3D

Competitions, Complete Systems & Et cetera
• Acer Aspire One D250-1165 Netbook - TweakTown
• ASUS Eee PC 1005HA Seashell Netbook - PC Perspective
• Callpod Keeper Password and Data Vault - Hi Tech Legion
• LG enV Touch - Digital Trends
• Nikon Coolpix P90 - Digital Trends
• Rugged Gear and Technology - Digital Trends