What do (PRODUCT) RED™, Passion Purple, Spiderman and Digital TV all have in common? The Dell Inspiron Mini of course! Today we are adding a few more goodies to the Mini family or specific family members. Let’s start with the updates that impact the entire family (Mini 9, Mini 10, Mini 10v, and Mini 12.).
As of today the Mini is now Mighty in that the purchase of select Dell Minis can contribute directly to saving lives. Ideastorm posters like 22Cactus22 will be happy to hear that all Cherry Red Minis are now part of the Dell (PRODUCT) RED portfolio, and Dell will contribute $5 of the purchase price of a (PRODUCT) RED Mini to the Global Fund to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. To date, Dell and other (RED)™ partners and events have helped to generate more than $130 million for the Global Fund. 100% of that funding goes directly to AIDS programs in Africa, with an emphasis on the health of women and children. Like the campaign says: Buy Dell. Join (RED). Save Lives. Update: Been getting some questions about global availability. The (PRODUCT) RED Mini 10 is available today for customers in the Americas; it will be available tomorrow for APJ customers in Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Singapaore and Malaysia; it will be available in EMEA countries within the next several days.
Next on the list is a Dell exclusive that should get some Spidery-senses tingling. For a limited time we are including a 2GB USB key with the Spider-man movie pre-loaded, a $12.99 value, with the purchase of select Dell Mini Deals. This is Plug & Play and doesn’t require any special handling, connections, etc. I personally like the potential of entertainment content on a flash drive and it’s a perfect pairing for the Mini class of product. USB keys are certainly easier to carry and more durable than DVDs. According to my “sources” we can look for more than meets the eye in the future. Dell is on the leading edge of a growing trend and I expect to see an expanded selection of these “Movies in a Flash” in the second half of the year.
The popular Dell Inspiron Mini 10 is also getting a few additional features and options added today. First we expanded the external personalization options on the Mini 10 to an even dozen with the addition of a seventh color option, Passion Purple. Individuals can give their Mini 10 a distinctive signature look with a color option or one of the five unique Design Studio works of art by Tristan Eaton. The next new option makes the Mini 10 a bit more businesslike – we are offering Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 ($149) preinstalled. This means the Mini 10 is ready to take on mainstream productivity tasks like Word, Excel and even PowerPoint while you are on the go. (hint – consider upgrading to the HD display (1366×768) for $35 so you can view more content on the screen, e.g. more spreadsheet columns, the entire PowerPoint slide, etc.)..
Finally, today Dell is the first to offer one of the most exciting features to hit the netbook category yet – an optional built-in digital TV Tuner ($50) that will receive over-the-air live digital TV
signals. You know all those commercials you’ve been seeing “Are you prepared for Digital TV?” Well, your TV may not be ready, but the Mini 10 is and will pick up most of the local TV stations digital broadcasts. So why would you want a TV tuner on a Mini 10? If you’re a sports fan, imagine taking the Mini to the local ballpark and catching the color commentary and instant replays while flipping to the last round of the PGA match on another channel. Or, catch the local evening news while sitting out on the deck. Or, watch the latest episode of your favorite show while taking a study break at a local coffee shop. True story –a colleague was carrying a Mini 10 with the TV tuner for the last week or so and tuned in one of the NBA playoff games while at a local coffee shop. At one point he had about a half a dozen people standing around watching it with him. I saw this in action last week at our Urban Meet up event in New York City, and I’ve got to tell you, go with the HD display, the built in TV Tuner and the 6-cell battery and you’ve got a sweet deal for ~$450. To be clear, you will need to stay in one place to catch the broadcast signal – for now. You can’t be commuting on the train, or in a car and watch TV on the Mini 10. We need to wait for a “mobile” digital TV broadcast standard to be certified. Some of you “gadget gurus” may have caught that Dell Mini 10 was instrumental in a technology demo of the ATSC M/H candidate standard with LG and Roundbox, Inc. at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB2009) show last month in Las Vegas. I don’t know a lot about this but it’s the next step that will allow you to watch mobile television channels while moving from point A to point B – should be ready sometime next year. But enough about the future – the Dell Mini 10 has the features mentioned above available today, and www.dell.com/mini is standing by to help guide you through your order. Have fun!