Introduced in November (2008), the Inspiron Mini 12 cvasi-netbook has pretty much lived its life, with Dell confirming that the model is being discontinued. Although some say Intel's disapproval of 12-inch Atom-based machines is the reason for the Mini 12's retirement, Dell says that the decision was made because 10-inch is the 'sweet spot' for netbooks and that larger portable PC's "require a little more horsepower to be really useful."

Overall, whatever the reason, one thing is certain, the Mini 12 is out of the picture leaving more opportunity for Acer and Asus' 11.6-inch machines.