Dell’s latest netbooks, the Mini 10 and Mini 10v, were released in July of 2009. These cute little laptops come in 7 colors (Black, White, Pink, Red, Ice Blue, Jade Green and Purple) and as usual, when you buy one of their pink laptops, Dell donates $5.00 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

At first glance, they seem to be identical, but we have taken a look at how they differ, and the configuration options available.

As always with Dell’s computers, you can customize them – a nice feature which is pretty rare in the world of mini laptops. And in addition to the regular upgrades available, there are a few interesting extras offered such as an internal GPS and digital TV tuner. Neither one has an internal CD/DVD drive, so you would have to get an external drive if you want to install programs from a disk, or burn things yourself.

Both the 10 and 10v come with the option of Windows XP or Ubuntu (Linux) as an operating system, and the customization options vary a bit depending which OS you choose. If you are used to working in Windows and plan on using Windows programs (such as word, excel etc.), you’re better off going with the Windows XP OS.

Dell recommends Ubuntu for more advanced users who do not use windows applications and are “interested in open source programming”. Well, I’m a Windows user and I would definitely choose XP over Ubuntu.

Here are the rest of the specs for each (XP) system:

The 10v is the smaller (10.26×7.19×1.06-1.11″), slightly lighter (2.5 lbs with a 3-cell battery) and least expensive of the two, but there are still some good upgrade options available. The base configuration ($299 + $40 for pink) comes with:

• Intel Atom Processor N270 (1.6GHz/533Mhz FSB/512K cache)
• 10.1″ Widescreen Monitor
• 160GB, 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
• 1GB DDR2 SDRAM
• Wireless 802.11g Mini Card
• Intel GMA 950
• 3-cell Li-Ion battery

Optional upgrades available for the basic model are:

• Intel Atom Processor N280 (1.66GHz/667MHz FSB/512K cache) ($20)
• 16GB solid state hard drive ($30)
• 6-cell Li-Ion battery ($35)
• Wireless 802.11g/n (1510) Mini Card($35)
• AT&T built-in mobile broadband ($125)
• Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR ($20)

If you added all the upgrades and extras, the final cost would be $594. Upgrading to the N280 will make your system run a little bit faster, and I would definitely recommend getting the larger battery.

The Mini 10 measures 10.28×7.19×1.0-1.1″, weighs 2.6 lbs with a 3-cell battery and come with a few more upgrade options.

The base configuration costs $344 (+$40 for pink) and comes with:

• Intel Atom Processor Z520 (1.33GHz/533MHz FSB/512K Cache)
• 10.1″ Widescreen Monitor
• 160GB, 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
• 1GB DDR2 SDRAM
• Wireless 802.11g Mini Card
• Intel GMA 500
• 3-cell Li-Ion battery

Optional upgrades available for the basic model are:

• Intel Atom Processor Z530 (1.6GHz/533MHz FSB/512K Cache) ($50)
• HD Widescreen ($75)
• 32GB solid state hard drive ($75)
• 6-cell Li-Ion battery ($35)
• Internal Digital TV Receiver (ATSC) ($50)
• Wireless 802.11g/n (1510) Mini Card ($25)
• Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR ($20)
• Verizon, Sprint or AT&T built-in mobile broadband ($125)
• Built in GPS with Navigation Software ($70)

Note that if you want the digital TV receiver, you must upgrade your processor to the Z530. If you were to select all these upgrades and options, you would end up with a price tag of $799. Again, I would definitely upgrade the processor and battery, but I’m not so sure about the other bells and whistles on this one.

It’s all about personal preference of course, but if I had to choose one of these, I would go with the Mini 10v and upgrade the processor and battery and leave it at that (resulting in a price of $394). Why? Well, the N280 is a faster processor than any of the other options, I prefer a larger hard drive to a “drop proof” one, a larger battery is never wrong, and Bluetooth, HD, GPS and watching TV are not things that are important to me the way I use my netbook. The only thing I wish I could add is more memory. It would have been nice to be able to upgrade to 2GB.