Netbooks Reviewed Netbooks Reviewed Netbooks Reviewed Netbooks Reviewed Netbooks Reviewed

The Dell Vostro A90 is an ultra-mobile netbook marketed to appeal to frequent travelers and small businesses. With a weight that starts from 2.36lbs with 4-cell battery, the Dell Vostro A90 provides a super lightweight yet cheap portable thinking machine. The weight, however, may vary depending on configuration and manufacturing variability.

 

This small thinking machine may seem familiar to netbook users. This may be because the Vostro A90 is a Dell Mini 9 repackaged and repainted all black.

 

The Dell Vostro A90 comes with an Intel Atom processor. Although not the fastest processor around, its computing speed may be satisfactory to anyone looking for a portable thinking machine. The Dell Vostro A90 could run for over four hours, giving its users ample time to work while traveling.

 

Specifications
Central Processing Unit	Intel Atom N270 (L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB)
Operating System	Windows XP Home Edition, Ubuntu Linux® 8.04
Dimensions	1.07″ / 1.25″ x 9.13″ x 6.77″
Chipset	Intel 945GSE
Screen	8.9 inch Wide Screen WSVGA (1024 x 600 screen resolution)
Random Access Memory	Up to 1GB2 DDR2 Single Channel 533MHz
Storage	16GB Solid State Drive
Graphics	Integrated Intel 945GSE graphics card
Connectivity	Integrated 10/100 RJ 45 Ethernet network interface, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi standard
Camera	Optional 0.3 mega pixel camera with integrated microphone
Power Supply:	30 Watt AC adapter 100-240VAC, 4-cell lithium ion battery

 

Pros

One of the big advantages to the Dell Vostro A90 is that it is upgradeable, especially its solid state drive, RAM and Wi-Fi. Apart from Windows XP and Ubuntu, one can also install other operating systems like Vista, Windows 7 or Mac OS in Dell Vostro A90 without encountering problems due to the components used in manufacturing this netbook. The Dell Vostro is also noticeably quiet, since it has no fans and uses no hard drives. Despite having only 8.9” of screen, the Dell Vostro’s LCD is extremely sharp.

 

Cons

The Dell Vostro A90’s keyboard is quite small, making it unsuitable for persons with large fingers. However, touchtyping may be awkward at first and the user would have to be familiar with the button layout.

 
This netbook’s processing power is not something to boast about. Software installation is not fast and has difficulty in moving large chunks of data. The Dell Vostro A90 comes with at least 16GB of disk space, but it may not enough considering that some people use their netbooks as storage for files.

 
Just like any other netbook, the Dell Vostro A90 does not have an optical drive to play DVDs or install CD-based applications with. The Dell Vostro A90’s optional 0.3 megapixel camera is just not suitable for video teleconferencing needs.

 

Conclusion

The Dell Vostro A90 can perform several applications suitable for one’s business needs, thus making it one of those ideal machines that can be used for outfitting field personnel. One should not expect much from it though if the user wants to mix business with pleasure. One cannot play speed-greedy and memory-hungry 3D games with these netbook. The Dell Vostro A90 is purely designed for business needs for people who are always on the go.

Related posts:

1. Dell Vostro A860 – Review

Tags: Dell Vostro, Dell Vostro A90, netbook review

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 19th, 2009 at 10:31 am and is filed under Dell, and is tagged with Dell Vostro, Dell Vostro A90, netbook review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.