I've been interested in Dell's line of Ubuntu running netbooks. The Mini-10 looks like exactly what I've been looking for in a netbook, and the Dell name should provide some level of comfort and assurance that the hardware will work well, right out of the box. Right? Maybe not.

In an open letter to Michael Dell posted at Free Software Magazine, Tony Mobily details the difficulties he experienced with his Mini-10: freezing, driver problems, and bad tech support.

"As soon as the wireless card coughed into life, the computer froze.

Let me say this again: it froze.

A fantastic friend and IT scientist was sitting next to me as this happened. He looked at me. He said “This is impossible. They can’t sell something that doesn’t work. It’s like… it’s like selling a toaster that only gets the bread warm. Or… it’s like… it doesn’t work”.

At that point, I actually hoped my computer was faulty — I must be the only person on Earth who would even hope for that! I persisted and tried a few more times — the little beast would freeze within three and six minutes. Guaranteed.

I searched online. Mine wasn’t an isolated cases — other people experienced freezes too with Inspiron Mini computer in their stock installation. I wasn’t the only person who’d bought a toaster that only made warm bread."

He goes on to describe reinstalling a newer version of Ubuntu which fixed some things, but broke others. This was of course followed by lots of wasted time on hold, and speaking with tech support based out of India. The whole letter is definitely worth reading, but to summarize the Mini-10 is more headache than it's worth, and is not as carefully thought out a product as you might wish. I know I'll be looking elsewhere when I'm ready for a netbook.