Befitting their name, mini-notebooks have been defined by small 7 to 10 inch displays. Not anymore. The Dell Inspiron Mini 12 ($654 as configured) redefines the category by being the first to feature a 12-inch display. It’s also less than an inch thick, giving the Mini 12 the profile of a high-end laptop or ultraportable.

However, this is still very much a netbook designed for anytime, anywhere Internet access; it’s not a productivity workhorse nor multitasking maestro. The 1.6-GHz Intel Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, and slow 4,200-rpm, 60GB hard drive tell you that this is a companion device. Even among netbooks, however, the Mini 12’s performance is less than stellar (thanks to Windows Vista) even though we appreciate the more than 5 hours of battery life offered by its six-cell battery.

Sleek, Slim Design

The Mini 12 shares the same design DNA as the Mini 9. The rounded lid sports an identical glossy black coating (a white version will also be available) which is prone to fingerprints. Underneath the hood, the black keyboard is offset with a smooth silver palm rest and screen bezel.

The most striking aspect of the Mini 12’s design is its thin stature, making it reminiscent of slender—and expensive—ultraportables, such as the Voodoo Envy 133, Lenovo ThinkPad x300, and Apple’s MacBook Air. Measuring 11.8 x 9.0 x 0.9 inches at its thinnest, the Mini 12 is longer and wider than such 10-inch systems as the MSI Wind and Samsung NC10, but it boasts a similar weight, tipping the scales at 2.8 pounds with its three-cell battery and 3.2 pounds with its six-cell battery. While we couldn’t just toss it into a purse, as with the Mini 9, the Mini 12 slid into a shoulder bag without a problem. At 3.6 pounds with its AC adapter, this netbook still felt pretty darn light.

The extended battery protrudes from the bottom of the system, raising the back of the Inspiron Mini 12 slightly; when sitting on a desk, it sets the keyboard at a comfortable angle for typing. The bulk of the Mini 12’s weight is positioned toward the hinge; as a result, when the three-cell battery (which sits flush) is inserted, the notebook has a tendency to tip backwards when resting on a lap and balance on its hinge.

Spacious Keyboard and Touchpad 

Unconstrained by the smaller chassis inherent in mini-notebooks, one of the best features of the Mini 12 is its keyboard. The 92 percent–full-size layout is fine for touch typists and requires no accommodations in typing patterns. Unlike the Mini 9’s keyboard, the Mini 12 contains a dedicated row of Function keys, and the right Shift key has been slightly expanded. Nevertheless, some keys have been shrunk to make room, including the period and comma keys. Overall the keyboard was void of any flex and provided nice feedback.

The touchpad is similarly large and spacious and has a slightly textured surface. However, because of its large size and its position immediately below the keyboard, we accidentally moved the cursor or minimized windows with the palm of our hand from time to time. The two mouse buttons, located below the touchpad, were easy to click.

The Dell Mini 12 is well equipped with ports: three USB, as well as VGA, Ethernet, headphone, and microphone jacks surround the system. A 3-in-1 card reader is on the right side. 

Roomy Screen, Low Audio

The 12-inch, 1280 x 800-pixel resolution glossy screen makes all the difference to the netbook experience. Compared with 10-inch displays such as those found on the MSI Wind or Eee PC 1000H, the extra two inches allowed us to keep two Web pages open side by side and read them comfortably. We also didn’t find ourselves reaching for our larger notebook to accomplish certain tasks such as editing a batch of pictures. The screen has just the right amount of gloss, and horizontal viewing angles were good: a friend sitting next to us was able to watch a YouTube clip, and tilting the screen back caused minimal glare.

Above the display is a 1.3-megapixel webcam, which worked nicely in Dell‘s Video Chat powered by Sightspeed; our caller saw us clearly but complained of a slight green hue to the picture.

While the Mini 12 doesn’t bury its speakers below the chassis like many netbooks do—instead placing them across the top of the keyboard—they were weak. Even when cranked up to full volume it was still hard to hear from the other side of a small apartment.