Dell updates Inspiron Mini 10: new Intel Atom, design, longer battery life; $299

Dell on Monday updated its popular Inspiron Mini 10 netbook with a new design and longer battery life thanks to the newly-announced Intel Atom N450 processor.

The company has added optional HD entertainment bundles that take advantage of the new chip's performance. The 10.1-inch system now includes a textured, smudge-resistant palm rest, sculpted keys and up to 9.5 hours of extended battery life.

The entertainment bundles will include such features as an HD display, Broadcom Crystal HD media accelerator, surround sound capability, built-in HDTV tuner or built-in Wi-Fi location-enabled GPS.

Here's the quick stats list:

• New Intel Atom N450 processor at 1.66 GHz
• 10.1-inch display with standard (1024x600) or High Definition (1366x768) display available in coming weeks
• Built-in speakers with available SRS Surround sound
• HDTV tuner and location-aware GPS configurations available in coming weeks
• Bundles with Broadcom Crystal HD for smooth HD playback coming in Q1
• Built-in 802.11 b/g wireless with available Bluetooth and Mobile Broadband
• 1GB3 DDR2 memory at 800MHz
• 160GB4 or 250GB hard disk drive storage
• Choice of 3 or 6-cell integrated battery with up to 9.5 hours of battery life (Inspiron Mini 10 mobility bundle only).
• Choice of Windows 7 Starter or Windows XP Home, Ubuntu operating system option available in the coming weeks
• Lightweight: Starting at about 2.75 – 3.1 pounds5 with a 3-cell battery

The Dell Inspiron Mini 10 is expected to be available in early January and will start at $299.