Mini laptops: Dell Mini Inspiron, Acer Aspire One, Wizbook, Via OpenBook, RazorBook 400

We've seen the Asus Eee PC 900, the HP 2133 Mini-Note and the brand new MSI Wind, but there are plenty of other mini laptops that are preparing to take the world by storm. You can see photos of all of them by browsing the following few pages.

Dell is probably the highest-profile company to join the midget laptop party, with what the Internet has dubbed the 'Mini Inspiron'. Its official name, pricing and specifications are yet to be confirmed, but hot damn, it's sexy.

Next up is Acer, whose Aspire One has just been leaked ahead of the official Tuesday 3 June launch date. We've known about this one for a while, but it's the first time we've seen pictures. Specs-wise, it follows the herd with an 8.9-inch screen, and a super-lame mouse trackpad with buttons that sit on either side, instead of directly below. Meh.

Also announced this week was the Wizbook from Red Fox Technologies -- and no, we haven't heard of it either. Apparently the Philippine company "started with a series of motherboards as its main product which later on evolved into producing other product lines like videocards, barebones, peripherals and PC systems". Fair enough -- Crave started out with an electric typewriter and a Tipp-Ex, and look at us now. Oh.

We've also got shots of the Via OpenBook, and the 3K Computers RazorBook 400. UK dwellers are unlikely to get their hands on the latter, but the former will probably show up in a variety of machines -- albeit under varying names.

That's it -- this week -- for mini laptops, but we're willing to bet our backsides that half a dozen more are unveiled over the course of 2008. Don't forget to check full images of all these machines over the following few pages.

Once you've done that, read our WannabEees feature to see a host of similar machines, then go watch our exclusive video of the MSI Wind. Those are orders, please obey them. -Rory Reid

Update: Read our full Acer Aspire One review and Dell Inspiron Mini 9 review

Here's an official picture of the as-yet-unnamed Dell laptop. We're loving the glossy red shell, which presumably is made of the same stuff as the one on the gorgeous XPS M1330. We've no idea how big it is, but judging by the pencil it's pretty small. Unless the pencil is massive, of course. That'd be annoying.

Update: read our Dell Inspiron Mini 9 review

Here's the keyboard section of the miniature Dell. The keys look larger than those on an Eee PC, which is no bad thing. We're also pleased to see the mouse trackpad is large and the selector buttons are in the right place. Is that an 8.9-inch or a 10-inch screen?

Update: read our Dell Inspiron Mini 9 review

This here's the Acer Aspire One. Again, we can't confirm its specs until Tuesday when we'll get a proper hands-on, but from this angle it certainly looks the part.

This photo tells us an awful lot more about the laptop. Firstly it's running an unidentified operating system, more than likely based on Linux. We can also see a good-sized keyboard with a dedicated Windows key -- hinting it'll also come with Windows XP as an option. We like the fact it has a webcam, but that mouse trackpad -- with the selector buttons on either side -- is bound to be a pain in the rear.

This here's the Via OpenBook, the successor to the rubbish NanoBook. Via will sell these to system integrators who can alter and badge them with whatever name they wish. It has an 8.9-inch screen, plus a C7-M CPU, three USB ports, optional HSDPA, GPS, 2.5-inch 80GB hard drive, 4-in-1 card reader and a 4-cell 2,600mAh battery. The keyboard looks pants though.

The OpenBook looks pretty sexy in profile. The machine is the first of its kind to use two webcams, one facing the user, and one facing outwards. Why? No bleedin' idea. Both Linux and XP versions will be available. We'll no doubt see these machines adopted by system integrators such as Packard Bell and Mesh later in the year.

It's likely that the $299 (£150) RazorBook will only be available to US customers, seeing as that's where 3K Computers is based. It's still interesting, though. It has a 7-inch 800x480-pixel screen, a 400MHz low power consumption Ingenic CPU, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of flash storage, and a Linux-based OS with Flash graphical user interface.