Dell Inspiron Mini review roundup
By Nilay Patel 
posted Sep 4th 2008 7:23PM
posted Sep 4th 2008 7:23PM
Dell's Inspiron Mini 9 didn't waste any time going from its formal debut to hitting the review circuit today, and although its basic design didn't blow anyone away, it seems like an impressively put-together piece of kit for the price. Everyone laments the tiny keyboard, although it's apparently fine once you get used to it, but Notebook Review flat out says it won't cut it as a primary typing machine. PC Magazine says the 1.6GHz Atom and 1GB of RAM are enough for most tasks under XP, although multitasking is a chore; the Linux configurations seem similarly capable -- Laptop says the custom build of Ubuntu Remix is "smooth" and "sleek." The four-cell battery averaged around three and a half hours under both XP and Linux, which is decent, but several noticed that Dell hasn't made an extended battery available yet. We'd expect that to change soon, but overall it's a minor quibble -- could this be the netbook that finally makes you reach for your wallet?Read - Laptop (3.5 out of 5)
Read - Notebook Review ("...fabulous netbook... [but] only 'your new best friend' if you're willing to overlook a few flaws.")
Read - Washington Post ("... isn't perfect, but it does offer a terrific design and a good price.")
Read - PC Magazine (3 out of 5)
Under both XP and Windows, really?
Nilay, typo.
..but you know what they meant. XP and Ubuntu netbook edition.
With 8G, it's easy to stuff the both OS's in it.
That's exactly what I'm gonna do with mine.
Without dedicated F-keys in Windows??? The whole Windows experience would be SUCK.
Bye-bye Alt+F4
I think whoever that handled the marketing for this Dell Mini model, deserves a raise. (S)he did great. First, was the peek-a-boo intro that was "accidentally" discovered by Gizmodo, a well-trafficked gadget blog. Next, came the follow-up Photoshopped pics of the model in glorious candy red that got everybody hot and bothered. Then, came the so-called "rumor" that it will be available for $299, that got all the fanboys drooling. Last, by launch day, we see simultaneous reviews from all the large tech sites & mainstream publications. And the advertising cost for all this attention and publicity? Pretty nominal.
Still, marketing can only go so far. Going by the scores alone, the Mini is in the middle of the pack. Single-word verdict: Average.
The four-cell battery averaged around three and a half hours under both XP and Windows??
irst and i wish canada had these
sorry, econd...
etard
I fail to see the advantage to this model over the Acer Aspire One. The 1GB model sports a better keyboard and a larger hard drive right out of the box. Good luck finding one at Best Buy though...
Question. It seems like most people 'round these parts extol the Acer Aspire One. But I've read from other sources that the Wind has the Aspire beat for quality and a few other things. I realize that there is some subjectivity, but I'd like to know where more people stand on the Wind vs. Aspire debate.
Well basically I was looking for a EEE 901 that cost $100 less and had a more usable keyboard. This looks like it. Just as long as the SSD is the faster kind, not the one in the EEE 900 16G.
As Aspire One goes HDD. There's basically no need to compare it with Dell Inspiron Mini.
I believe it's still a big deal whether you think SSD makes a difference. I personally would rather choose SSD.
Noise from HDD (and fan) is something i'd rather not suffer from.
As to capacity, well, it depends how you will use the netbook.
Daily office computing simply doesn't require a 10G+ hard drive (correct me if i'm wrong).
Plus you can use an SD card as extra storage, just like what others did with the first batch of EEE.
I agree, I don't see the cost of the SSD to the "benefits" from having one right now as beneficial, especially for what I would use a netbook for.
If you use the netbook for basic internet use and all that, you won't need a huge HDD. But to some people, if they use this in the office, they may have to use more than 4GB of SSD space (once you install the OS you've typically got like 1.6GB left, please correct me if I am wrong). 1.6GB of space is not a lot today, unfortunately.
Just a question that'll seem stupid, but this is the Dell E right? I can't remember if it got renamed or not, but if this is the E then the $299 price tag for an 8.9" screen and 8GB SSD with Linux went out the window a bit, didn't it?
MSI Wind has 2.5 hours battery life (3 cell & a non SSD HD - NOT a good combo) if you're running it with as little battery use as possible - more like 1h20m if you're doing anything decent with the processor.
Why didnt they give them HDD's? 4-8gb ssd is useless, my first computer with Windows 95 had a bigger hdd than 4gbs. How about some cheap 20gb and 40gb hdd options?
It's because SSD is way better than HDD. And you don't have to pay at once. So Dell is only giving you the best.
I kid.
I think the upgrades are too expensive... but the "low end" is priced well though... Besides, Dell made a beautiful design :)
I totally agree. And it's easy to upgrade.
Many of the netbooks we've seen to date require a total tear-down just to add a DIMM.
I can't buy this without Splashtop (or "Inspiron-ON" ?)
Come on Dell !!! This is not what I want or need. I need splashtop. Really need.
Asus put it in their Eee Box, why couldn't you ? Set yourself apart from the rest.
Splashtop is part of the raison d'être of the nettop for me; open it up and BAAMMMMM...into a browser or skype, all at minimal battery usage.
(please don't tell me to use hibernate or sleep, that is not going to cut the mustard. )
I will wait.
[b]
hello nilay
Laptopmag gave it 3.5 / 5 not (4.5/5)
Dont misinform the croud :<
[/b]
I see 4.5/5 star...
whaddaya mean???
No, that's DEFINITELY 3.5/5!
it's 3.5 stars (3 full stars + half a star = 3.5) can't believe someone would mistake that.
I see 3.5 out of 5 as well. Not a 4.5 star netbook.
Think I will keep my Eee PC 1000h. You beat around the bush to long Dell.
I ordered mine today can't wait to get it.
@Nowire see it yourself its 3.5 stars not 4.5 as he says.....
http://www.laptopmag.com/images/3_5_stars.gif
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/dell-inspiron-mini-9-linux.aspx
/Picard "There are 4 lights!"
me too. i have to wait until october :(
Yeah, I'll be waiting for 2nd gen I think... someone quick agree with me before I make an impulse buy.
=P
seriously, what am I doing with a classic number 2 pencil when I got my brand new Mini 9?
"it seems like an impressively put-together piece of kit for the price."
Says who, Nilay? The reviews show that this thing is plain old average. Nothing more. What's with the overly positive post?
The interesting thing that Dell brings to the table is configurability. I ordered the Ubuntu model, and then maxed out the ram, upped the hdd to 8gb, and added the webcam. I think that the ability to customize everything about this computer is going to give Dell the edge.
On nearly every other netbook model, you have to choose between Linux on poor hardware, or Windows on good hardware.
The only downside is the lack of the red model which we saw earlier.
I think i'm going to stick with my acer. for only 350, you get a better keyboard, 1 gig of ram, xp and a 120 GIG HARD DRIVE. Nice try Dell, but Acer is still on top.
I agree. I'm sticking to my Acer. I got the 6-cell, 1 GB, 120 GB HDD, and I love it. If Dell had come in at $299, I could see this being a threat to the Aspire. At least they haven't gotten up the the over $500 price that alot of other netbooks seem to be running these days (most of the eeePC line and the 2133 from HP). I think most of these companies (other than Dell and Acer at the moment) are missing the point of netbooks. Sure, the small size makes it convenient for travelling around with it, but really, it was the price on the original eeePC that made it such a hot seller.
If SSD isn't a selling point, I think the upcoming aspire one w/ 6 cell battery for $399 is a better value.
But it's only got an 8GB SSD :(
If it was going to have a 16GB I'd pre-order one now... but... argh!
I'm with you, brotha
I like large capacity. 6cells, 160GB HDD, I'd like to put WinXp MCE, fill it up with Media, some games.Heck this could replace my 17" NB.
17" is too big to lug around.(don't even say it.) ;)
One of the review sites mentioned adding a 2gig RAM module after market. Any word on the max that the motherboard will support?
The Intel chipset will support 2GB, but watch out since the max is 1GB in each slot. (no 2GB DIMMs)
without expressgate or "Blacktop" .. .Epic Fail....
"it seems like an impressively put-together piece of kit for the price."
Sweet build quality: http://www.anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=3399
I bought one today. In black, 16 gig and XP. $465 plus tax but free shipping. According to the email I got Sept 19 is ship date and since I live in Texas it should arrive the next day.
I was an early eeePC buyer (4 gig Black Surf). I put XP on it, an 8 gig memory card and 2 gigs of ram. My only real problem with it is the small 7" screen. It's too tiny.
But I love it for travel. So, I've been waiting for the Dell.
i ordered the ubuntu version and upgraded ram to 1gb, ssd to 16gb, 1.3megapixel camera, bluetoooth. came out to a hair over $500. actually reading through the reviews it sounds like a really nice netbook.
cool thing about the mini: no fans, no moving parts at all, it's completely silent.
the lack of dedicated function keys doesn't bother me in the least. wow, you have to press FN and another key to access them. they are very, very rarely used by me. i'm really curious about the rest of the keyboard. the letter keys were made bigger, and some of the less-used keys like capslock were made smaller. looks interesting. reviews seem to indicate that after you use it briefly it's no problem at all. it's not like the acer's keyboard is outstanding or anything either -- and i've actually used it to confirm that. nobody is going to be writing their thesis on any of these netbooks.
has a better SSD than the acer.
all in all, for about $100 more i feel like im getting a lot of extra features that the acer doesn't offer, and it comes in a nicer looking package.
other thing i forgot to mention
i think there are 2 reasons that the dell mini is catching a lot of flack from bloggers:
1) the early "leaked" info hinted at a 299 price. now it's out and to get a nicely spec'd model costs around $450. oh well.
2) acer aspire one fanboys.i almost bought one myself. it's nice, but certainly has its share of issues too. it all comes down to balancing the extra $$ of the dell and deciding which issues you'd rather deal with. i chose the dell.
i think once people settle down from realizing it's not $299 like they were hoping, and the acer fanboys calm down, people will realize that this thing actually looks pretty darn nice... and for most of us an extra $100 or so isn't the end of the world.
it is true, there are some issues i have with my acer, but spending an extra 100 brings me to a price point where i can go to my local best buy, pick up a 14 inch laptop with a cd dvd drive, 2 gigs of ram and weighing at around 5 pounds. Of course it won't give me the size and weight i want, but it will give me much more functionality. I think that dell slightly missed the point of a netbook, but the market and the idea of a netbook is still young. Even though there is a flood of netbooks out there, with time the prices will get cheaper and cheaper, the hardware in it will get better and better, and the serious contenders will fight for our dollar. So its a win win situation for us.
I read it will take two gig in the one slot it has for ram.
Next question what will be supported from the open pcie slot 3g or could you put another ssd in the slot? hmm cant wait till mine gets here I feel the 8.9 smallest form factor is the sweet spot for me. 10 inches is too big for me I already have a macbook for a mid this seems to be the easiest to upgrade (mod) and no-one is talking about it being fanless. I too wished for blacktop or instant-on dual boot option. Maybe it will boot from sd slot for a backup or not to wear out the ssd so fast under windows. I doubt that Dell was optimized xp for ssd this can be somewhat of a painful task as i remember from the epc 702 i had last year.
Nice, but the fact that Acer has such a price advantage on them, means I will be waiting for that to be available again.
6-cell +160g drive for Less than the highest Dell, (NOT an Acer Fan boy- want it in 10" as a reader)
I WISH that SSD had the original battery savings as was originally thought, but since it is almost dead even I throw my weight behind larger size HDD for the same price
It sucks. Here's why:
1. Atom.
2. Not enough bezel; where you gonna hack all your GPS, fingerprint reader, and what-not in?
Honestly, Atom does suck (ARM's where it's at), but this baby's pretty sweet for the x86 realm.
Does it make me wish I hadn't already bought an Eee 701? No comment.
Are the Dell Inspiron 910 same as the mini 9? In that case whats this?
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins910/en/sm/minicard.htm#wp1183058
Once you customize it to match Linux Eee PC 901 specs it gets into the same $500-ish price range (but eee is still better - 6-cell battery, 4 + 16 Gb instead of just 16 Gb SSD, upgradable to 2Gb RAM, 802.11 g/n instead of just g). Oh, and preliminary ship date for Ubuntu version comes up as October 10, unlike Eee which you can have now.
This is not an Eee killer. Actually it's not even interesting.
I think Dell has hit a home run with their Dell Inspiron Mini. I has a normal trackpad with the buttons on the bottom where you expect them, rather than on the side as on the Acer Aspire One. The battery life is good on the Dell (Though not as good as the eee pc 901). I like the fact that the Dell is running Ubuntu, and that it is very easy to go from using the Dell interface, to just switching to the normal Ubuntu Gnome interface. Plus, with the Dell, has easy access to add more RAM, and the Dell website allows you to custom configure your netbook as needed. The only drawback is that they don't currently offer a choice of battery, as I would like a netbook that can go 5-6 hours of real world (read wifi or BT on), rather than 2-3. However, Dell is my front runner in the netbook space, I'll just wait for a battery option before I purchase mine.
I'm surprised at how many people prefer a gigantic-yet-fragile HDD over a smaller-yet-durable SSD. In my experience, *no one* needs anything close to 120+GB of storage, unless they're stock-piling pirated videos. Also, HDDs on portable devices usually have a pretty short lifespan, since the moving parts in a HDD aren't receptive to a lot of jostling. I've owned 3 laptops in the past, and all three HDDs died within a year. Does anyone *seriously* expect to need more than 8GB for simple web-surfing?
Daaaymmnn thats a pretty nice machine but is it really better on Ubuntu than XP?