Dell's Mini 9 Product Manager chatted up, promises more where this came from

As if you needed any confirmation that Dell wasn't just going to abandon the Inspiron Mini 9 all by its lonesome in the marketplace, Laptop Mag spoke with Dell's Senior Product Line Manager John New, who had some comforting words for the multi-SKU crowd. John confirmed that built-in 3G is in the works, a dedication to cramped SSD drives and a potential six-cell battery. He also said that "As we get into the category, we reserve the right to do more," which could mean a 10-inch version, though we're also getting wind of a 12-incher in the wings.

[JohnTitor @ Sep 5th 2008 9:00AM]

well I was wondering why talk of the Inspiron E Slim stopped

[John @ Sep 5th 2008 9:04AM]

Where's my $99 deal? I've been checking all morning! I need 2 laptops now!

[adrock @ Sep 5th 2008 9:06AM]

Excuse my ignorance: How do 3G laptops work? Can you just stick your sim card in it and go?

[zervin @ Sep 5th 2008 9:09AM]

3G laptops, like my M1330 and the mini, have a sim card slot in the battery compartment. The 3G card goes into an empty mini pcie slot just like the wifi cards. ACTUALLY, its a frequented fact that most of the large usb broadband cards, just have a mini pci card inside on a daughter board. So alot of people dissect usb broadband cards to get the mini pci/pcie cards. 3G broadband requires pcie.

[Mack Swift @ Sep 5th 2008 9:06AM]

Where's the $99 deal????? Nothing on Dell's site at all.

[zervin @ Sep 5th 2008 9:06AM]

I'm sitting this round out, when I can get the loaded version for $100 less, then we can talk. I really hate I passed up on the $360 Lenovo S10s now though.

[Serial 8-Ball Mouse @ Sep 5th 2008 9:12AM]

A 12" model? Wouldn't that just make it the Dell Latitude X1? I had one of those. It was awesome.

Then somebody stole it.

::sigh::

Memories.

[lebebop @ Sep 5th 2008 9:22AM]

I think I'll stick with my iPhone for moding / hacking

[Dr Zoidberg @ Sep 5th 2008 11:01AM]

I hate you.

[roach @ Sep 5th 2008 11:28AM]

But your iPhone would be crashing all the time. It's like someone is hacking your phone...by Apple!?!

[gotdibz @ Sep 5th 2008 9:30AM]

WHERES THE 100 DOLLAR DEAL?...does anyone else here have a better website? with updates on this deal?

[hugoliva @ Sep 5th 2008 11:32AM]

Here it is, but it's not near to be a "DEAL"
http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/sale_laptops?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

[bob e @ Sep 5th 2008 9:31AM]

I am waiting for the $99 deal, already have a Studio 15. Best laptop I have ever used. Planning on picking another up to sell on eBay just so I can get the Mini for $99

[miro @ Sep 5th 2008 9:44AM]

You can get the Acer Aspire One with 1gb ram, 120gb hdd and XP for $350. And the AAO has a larger keyboard. Why get the Dell?

[Sean @ Sep 5th 2008 10:35AM]

Link please.

[WK @ Sep 5th 2008 2:41PM]

Dell = no moving parts. No hard drive, no fans.

I also tend to trust Dell's build quality over Acer's by a far margin.

[zervin @ Sep 5th 2008 10:15AM]

Here come the deals..8Gb drive and free next day shipping..via DealCatcher

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=dndwxa2&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&kc=productdetails~laptop-inspiron-9?sid=777&dgc=CJ&cid=24471&lid=566643

[Sean @ Sep 5th 2008 10:36AM]

You mean the base $399 configuration?
Man, what a deal!

[Jason A Howie @ Sep 5th 2008 10:17AM]

Alright I'm enticed.


But give me some screen shoots of this, "Dell customized Ubuntu" Because when I bought my Dell XPS 420 running Ubuntu I saw no major difference other than the driver support.

Don't get me wrong, I very glad Dell is doing this with Linux but screen shots are aways nice.

[zervin @ Sep 5th 2008 10:20AM]

Notebook revie has video of the interface. It's ubuntu Remix

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4578

[gotdibz @ Sep 5th 2008 10:24AM]

so i think dell pulled a fast one on us guys..check out this link people are discussing it more and with more info
http://yourblog.direct2dell.com/2008/09/04/without-further-ado-meet-your-new-best-friend/
you can only get the 99 mini deal with SELECTED OVER PRICED Studio 15, XPS M1530 or XPS M1330....SO its really not a deal anymore

[Apreche @ Sep 5th 2008 12:02PM]

It's absolutely true, this $99 deal is pretty bad. If it were up to me, I'd consider it false advertising. I spec'd out a Mini 9 and a Studio 15 and inserted them in the cart separately. Then I did it again with the coupon $99 deal. The coupon saved me a whopping $75 because the Studio 15 with the coupon was so horrendously overpriced.

Don't fall for this BS.

[Sean @ Sep 5th 2008 10:38AM]

More where this came from? How about the ability to order the Linux one with 16GB SSD and have it ship BEFORE October?
Because that's what I really want. I was one click away from ordering it and then I double-checked the ship date.
I may as well wait to see if the Lenovo S10 gets back in stock before then.

[A K @ Sep 5th 2008 10:58AM]

sent email to engadget but still no news notification about how CANADA just got the mini 9 released on their online store today... Woot...

[BOGRASH @ Sep 5th 2008 11:35AM]

WHERE ARE THE FUNCTION KEYS

[airhead @ Sep 5th 2008 12:21PM]

They should be right there by the caps lock key, shouldn't they?

[miro @ Sep 5th 2008 3:10PM]

@Sean...

If you can handle Best Buy... however, I believe this comes with the 3-cell battery.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8967335&st=acer&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1216425209738

[Kai @ Sep 6th 2008 4:13AM]

I think the 12-incher wouldn't be using Intel Atom chips... Intel wouldn't allow that, right?

[ncmach1 @ Sep 6th 2008 11:48AM]

Exactly, They stopped talks of this model so I bought a Eee PC 1000h.

[mattyb123 @ Oct 11th 2008 1:08PM]

I talked to a Dell rep who was visiting my college the other day and I mentioned to him that I would be ordering the Mini 9 soon and he told me to wait until November when the 12" version would be released and take this with a grain of salt, but he said "it will be the same weight, and the same price as the Inspiron Mini 9"....

Hmm??