How would you change Dell's Inspiron Mini 9?

Once we all understood that the netbook was more than just a craze to be dominated by ASUS and its Eee brand, it was inevitable that Dell would join in. Sure enough, out popped the Inspiron Mini 9, priced competitively and loaded with hardware good enough to satisfy most in the market. Now that the first wave of machines have hit doorsteps (and subsequently, office desks, airplane tray tables and bathroom ledges), we're curious to see if Dell's foray into the already crowded netbook market was a play well made. Are you happy you chose Dell's option over the others? Are you pleased with the value? Is the keyboard comfortable enough? Satisfied with the battery life? There's too much competition in this space to let someone get away with a halfhearted effort, so feel free to really spill your guts on this one.

[Serial 8-Ball Mouse @ Sep 26th 2008 6:35PM]

I would change the date, and fast forward to the dual-core Atom.

Also, I'd like it to look a little more industrial and less like a toy. Some harder edges and more metal (I'd pay a little extra and I am sure others woudl too). Maybe a Latitude Mini 9 soon?

[d00b @ Sep 26th 2008 6:50PM]

I would change Michael Dell's attitude:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10050225-92.html

You can't expect much of a product when the CEO of the company thinks it's only good for second-class use. The notion of "good only for a 30min experience" is exemplified in the bastardized keyboard layout that only exacerbates the weakness of netbooks. The availability of only black and white colors--when other Dell products get the colorized treatment--shows this to be a half-hearted effort for a perceived second-class product. Dell only wants to not get left behind, but he isn't playing to win. Dell's problem has been the willingness to put out mediocre products just to have a place at the table--cue the Dell DJ and now the mini Insp.

[Nick @ Sep 26th 2008 7:44PM]

Agreed, it feels more like of a family laptop rather than a business laptop, then again was targeted for what Michael called the , 30 min tasks.. pffft, 5 hours on a single charge for me didnt stop me..

my problem now is that any regular laptop now seems huge, and by that i mean the amplitude of space for your desktop, perhaps i should have just skipped netbooks and gotten myself a regular Inspiron.

Cheers,
Nick-

[Pulaski @ Sep 26th 2008 7:47PM]

I want a DB9 port. I travel a lot setting up routers and firewalls. I need something small to connect to the console port.

[Jeebus @ Sep 26th 2008 7:49PM]

No, I would not pay extra. It's already too expensive. These netbooks need to come down in price.

[David @ Sep 26th 2008 8:10PM]

Totally disagree with you - options are nice, but no one wants to pay extra for this. I got a $450 dell laptop with c2, 3 gigs of ram, and 250gb hd, and all the gimmicks. Why would i pay 450 for a 9 inch powered down version? Please don't mix the two markets. People might be willing to pay more for ultraportables, but not for low powered netbooks.

[IY @ Sep 26th 2008 8:34PM]

Yes. Latitude Mini 9, Please. w/ docking connector and support for DVI

[Mark Anderson @ Sep 27th 2008 4:58AM]

d00b, you do realise that's true of al netbooks, right?

[KC @ Sep 27th 2008 12:15PM]

I would agree with IY. A docking station would make this really useful.

Someone needs to make a physical sync button on portables to start backups or sync content from another desktop,server or whs, so that you can synchronize the content without having to turn on the netbook. Given that these netbooks usually have limited disk space, it would make sense to be able to manage content easily.

[Serial 8-Ball Mouse @ Sep 28th 2008 5:08PM]

@Jeebus, David

I said "others" would pay more. Not everyone on Earth.

[brewster_max @ Nov 1st 2008 10:14AM]

Just put a regular 1.8 inch hard drive in there and i'll be happy.

It looks like any other Inspiron and it will be upgraded and improved. The Inspiron 1500 took until the 1525 to be a decent and usable laptop. Just give it time and Dell will sort everything out. Or be made irrelevant by a Apple netbook (PLEASE).

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Sep 26th 2008 6:36PM]

Make the webcam a standard in all models. That'd be nice.

[Danny @ Sep 26th 2008 8:24PM]

But with dell you can add or subtract parts to suit your needs? What about someone who doesn't want a webcam? They can save a few bucks without one.

Personally, I'm very happy with my Mini. By having an SSD and no fans the little thing actually generates 0 noise. It's a little weird at first, not being able to hear the disk churn through data or whatever, but its definitely easier on the ears at night time (when you really notice it). Solid build, nice screen, and good keyboard (compared to Eee/Aspire etc). I think Dell really got this one right.

[default.aspx @ Sep 27th 2008 1:52AM]

Absolutely disagree! Not all people need or want built in cameras. And many people use their PCs/electronics in locations where cameras are prohibited. So why force the option down on everyone?

[Vance @ Sep 26th 2008 6:36PM]

These things really do need a full-size or near full-size keyboard. HP got at least that part right with the 2133. And, if rumours are correct, they'll slot a better, low-power CPU in there soon. That's the one that'll get my money.

Oh, and we NEED more than the pathetic battery life these things are getting.

Oh, and near instant-on.

[MeowR- @ Sep 26th 2008 9:44PM]

LOL. The keyboard is about the ONLY thing that HP got right IMO.

[Nick Catalano @ Sep 27th 2008 3:25AM]

These things just straight up need a good keyboard

the single/double quote key is in the weirdest place

Also, the ability to use 2 fingers on the touchpad to scroll would be very nice.

[PeteC @ Sep 27th 2008 4:20AM]

Yeah, the two finger scroll was one of the reasons i finally went for a eee901 over this, i still think the dell looks aesthetically nicer but the eee beats it on functionality and price, in the UK at least.

[Mike @ Sep 27th 2008 10:49AM]

I had the same thoughts. As soon as I took the one we were evaling off charge it dropped down to 97% battery. Disabling bluetooth stopped the immediate battery drain. Dell needs to make it easy to enable/disable Bluetooth/Wireless and Onboard lan. Maybe setup different hardware profiles?

[Nick Catalano @ Sep 28th 2008 4:17AM]

There is a little 'radio tower' function button that will bring up a simple dialog box that gives you 4 options, all off, wifi only, bluetooth only, and wifi and bluetooth ... I just keep it to "wifi only"

But then again, I keep the thing plugged in constantly... so...

[smak @ Sep 26th 2008 6:37PM]

thinner.

[maveric101 @ Sep 26th 2008 8:13PM]

@ serial

not quite, you would have to charge $1500 more for it.

[MadMike @ Sep 26th 2008 6:37PM]

I would add 8", change the cover to aluminum and put an Apple logo on it! :-D

[Serial 8-Ball Mouse @ Sep 26th 2008 6:41PM]

So, in other words, a MacBook Air with more ports.

[Chris Macdonald @ Sep 26th 2008 6:45PM]

and pre-installed linux! sounds good to me!

[MadMike @ Sep 26th 2008 8:43PM]

No, I said 8" more. 8 + 9 = 17. The air is 13"

I meant the Macbook Pro.

Gotta love the Windows fanboys. They are kind of like foreign intelligence services, so damn clueless yet they think they are God's omniscient gift to the universe. At least they haven't found Linux yet. Those guys, well, they know just enough to be dangerous.

[cesium @ Sep 26th 2008 8:52PM]

Are you sure it wasn't the fact that your idiotic statement was very vague in nature?

[MadMike @ Sep 26th 2008 9:23PM]

Oh I'm sorry it was too vague for you. I should have know I need lot of pictures and needed to spell out every little detail for you mentally challenged readers.

Christ... What's so vague! Dell mini 9 = 9" screen. I said add 8". 8"+9"=17" At least it did the last time I was in a math class. Oh lets see, we are talking about portable computers and not mainframes.

17" portable computer, all aluminum case with an Apple logo. Gee, I don't know many of those - oh wait, I know only one.

Yeah, you guys are real Einsteins.... And idiotic? Well, since it seems you had trouble adding two simple numbers, empirically I would assume that you were the idiot.

[rodan32 @ Sep 26th 2008 9:48PM]

Well, let's all thank MadMike for adding to the discussion. Thanks, buddy, big help! Now, go back to rubbing your precious Apple gadgets on your turtleneck collection.

[Matt @ Sep 27th 2008 1:57AM]

Our apologies, MadMike.

You see, with Apple's being so over-priced, and the marketshare so low, not many are familiar with the MacBook Pro, or whatever. In fact, the only reason I remember the Air is because it's the over-priced laptop that, as an HP employee, one of my CTOs used to cut his birthday cake with. Oh, and Lenovo, Sony and several other manufacturers make a far better version.

Go play with your trendy, iPhone-using, Starbucks drinking poser friends. You're clearly far too good for us simple-minded intarwebz users.

[default.aspx @ Sep 27th 2008 1:58AM]

Ridiculous, Apple products suck!

[default.aspx @ Sep 27th 2008 2:00AM]

"No, I said 8" more. 8 + 9 = 17. The air is 13"

I meant the Macbook Pro."

Macbook Air or Pro, do I really care? Apple products suck anyway.

[kidcanuck @ Sep 28th 2008 4:43PM]

It hurts my poor little mac to hear everyone saying that apple products suck. It hurts even more that I don't have the heart to tell it that it's the truth.

[jonny @ Oct 9th 2008 11:18AM]

since when did apple fanboys have any right to diss on windows or dell fanboys? aren't you guys the ones that are constantly kissing Steve Job's ass for whatever scrap of a bone he might throw to you next?

[nizzy1115 @ Sep 26th 2008 6:37PM]

2.5" hard drive and F buttons are the only thing that prevented me from buying it.

[Eric @ Sep 26th 2008 7:12PM]

A Bigger hard drive. Compressing data to fit on 8GB does not make up for the fact that it is still 8GB. Offering a dual core processor and a bigger battery would also be nice. I sent mine back after 1 week-end, the single core Atom and the compressed drive was just to much for my nerves!

[huh @ Sep 26th 2008 6:39PM]

I really want to see, and will definitely pay a little more, for a good mini convertible tablet implementation. Gigabyte came close with the M192, but it has too many flaws, especially battery life. Something small with fast handwriting support and 6 hour battery life for around $850 could be a real winner.

[john @ Sep 26th 2008 7:49PM]

Have you looked at the Fujitsu U810 and U1010? Look over on UMPCPortal.com in their product list. The only problem is that they don't have a vendor supported ubuntu option. Though, I think they are one of the platforms targeted by ubuntu-mid edition.

[huh @ Sep 26th 2008 7:54PM]

John, it's nice, but a bit too expensive, and the screen is a bit too small.

Running Ubuntu would be a great goal. Maybe a company could pick up support for something like Jarnal to use the tablet features.

[Zuvembi @ Sep 26th 2008 6:41PM]

Make it available in whore red. That was the deal breaker for me. I'm honestly waiting to buy it until it's available in something better than black or white.

[Rat Bastard @ Sep 26th 2008 6:41PM]

I'm with Zuvembi, I'm holding out for color. I prefer midnight blue to match my Inspiron 1720, but regardless. MAKE WITH THE COLORS ALREADY!

[m @ Sep 26th 2008 6:42PM]

i'm not crazy about the weird keyboard, but i could live with it. above all, i'd like the option of a standard hard drive, for reasons of price and capacity. that's what stopped me from getting one.

[Nick V @ Sep 26th 2008 6:45PM]

Make it cheaper to compete in price with the MSI Wind and Aspire One.

Get the Ubuntu version shipping already.

[roeroica @ Sep 27th 2008 2:14AM]

the MSI wind is pricier than this.

[blue @ Sep 26th 2008 6:47PM]

THIS WOULD BE GREAT AS A TABLET!!! I'd buy it for the pedigree and the absolute capability but the price would probly jack up to about $800 if they put in a stronger processor and more ram so it'd run well. it'd be the perfect size and weight to bring around as a tablet. THEN you could say it to be an iphone killer :)

[Benjamin @ Sep 26th 2008 6:48PM]

Mine arrives on Tuesday. I'll have to give more info then. Guess I'm not an early enough adopter :)

[Rich @ Sep 26th 2008 6:52PM]

$299

[Jeebus @ Sep 26th 2008 7:51PM]

I'm waiting for the Poulsbo chipset paired with a dual core Atom. That should make battery life last longer and make faster.

[Don @ Sep 27th 2008 1:54PM]

$199

[Objober @ Sep 27th 2008 3:16PM]

Agreed, I'm also waiting for the Poulsbo, I'd love to see the Mini 9 with the 945 Chipset compete head to head with the Poulsbo chipset on battery life and performance. Also, I'd always opt for 2 threads over 2 cores for a netbook, unless they could match power consumption. Also, I'm so excited for my Mini 9 (ETA October 2nd) that it's prompted me to make my first engadget post. Vista FTW.