Dell Jumps on Cheap Notebook Trend

Cheap, small notebooks look like the next big thing. Dell today announced it was jumping into the burgeoning segment, which doesn’t quite have a name yet—some call them netbooks, others mini-notebooks, still others ultramobile PCs or UMPCs. Dell’s machine will start at $399, and sport a wee 8.9-inch screen, the Wall Street Journal reports.

On the price scale, Dell’s offering falls between the category’s best-known device, Asustek Computer’s Eee, which retails for $299, and rival Hewlett-Packard’s $499 Mini-Note. “The bottom line is that we are going to enter the market with products that are smaller and lighter and address more mobile users in a very cost-effective way,” said a Dell spokeswoman. (More laptop stories.)