Best Selection in netbooks

By JohnKr (NE Pennsylvania)

This review is for: Dell Inspiron iM1012-687OBK Mini 1012

I spent weeks looking into different netbooks and eventually bought the Dell Inspiron Mini 1012 for several reasons. First, I liked the keyboard when compared to other netbooks. The mini-keyboard in 1012 was much easier to use and I had a lot fewer mistakes.

I did not really like the touch pad of one of the netbooks I tested in store displays. My plan was to add a wireless mouse. After using the touchpad for several weeks, I'm getting better with him, and I think I'm going to forget about the extra bulk of a mouse.

I was planning on my Dell netbook upgrade to 2 GB of RAM and was discouraged by the lack of cover on the Dell. Many of the competing models from other manufacturers, had a panel of a screw at the bottom of their netbook, the swap out memory and the hard drive very easy. I upgraded from my Dell Mini to 2GB and the procedure was not too difficult. Remove three screws on the underside of the keyboard allows for easy access to the memory and hard drive are repealed.

The main reason I bought the Dell was the included Windows 7 DVD installation. The other netbooks had to install a recovery program on their hard drive, but no means of the operating system when the hard drive failed or was damaged by a virus. I had to reinstall the operating system several times on my other computer and would be uneasy with a computer that lacked the ability to install from a CD. I have a USB DVD optical drive as media access is no problem.

I see no problems with speed Windows 7 and prefer it over the older Windows XP. I removed the trial version of McAfee and install the free version of Avast Anti-Virus. I think McAfee was a slowing of the system. I have also removed Microsoft Works and replaced it with Office 2007, which runs fine on the netbook.

I have some posts indicating the Dell 1012 is going to read hot. I'm not sure if the extra RAM helps, but my system is only slightly warm after hours of use.

Finally, I like to organize the Dell Dock screen that software preinstalled.

I think the Mini Inspiron 1012 offers the best features at a competitive price and I have no regrets about my purchase.