Dell adds $100 32GB SSD option to Inspiron Mini 9

Sure, the base price of Dell's Inspiron Mini 9 is pretty palatable, but good luck passing through that hard drive selection screen with this option unchecked. Yep, as now, Mini 9 buyers can opt for a capacious 32GB solid state drive (a luxury already available in Japan), which is a $100 upgrade over the standard 4GB SSD. Enticing enough to make you finally pull the trigger?

[Thanks, THAR]

[Charlie Tokowitz @ Nov 23rd 2008 7:36PM]

about time. if only it was one of those nifty high capacity ssds

[KAIKAI @ Nov 23rd 2008 7:50PM]

but...doesnt it defeat the purpose of a netbook ??
i mean....are you really gonna spend over $500 on a netbook ??
oh wait.......

[Flashpoint @ Nov 23rd 2008 7:58PM]

KAIKAI

while I have said before that I think the term "netbook" should only apply to computers with screen's smaller than 10", weight lower than 4 lbs, and a price tag under $400, this 32GB SSD drive is after all, an OPTION. I don't have a problem with a 32GB SSD for $100. That's pretty damn good in fact. I

Hopefully by summer, SSD drives will reach $100 for 100GB or better.

[Boards of Canada @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:10PM]

If someone need a small and light computer I dont think the price will matter.

[GiF @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:40PM]

It should have high capacity for how thick it is...

[Student Driver @ Nov 23rd 2008 10:24PM]

I just ordered my second Dell Mini9, and I would have added this drive without thinking twice. These units are very nice to have, and are much, much more portable than any other laptop in the price range. I like netbooks, and this unit runs Vista perfectly. So, I see this style of system sticking around for a while (and the HDD upgrades are welcome).

[Aguiluz @ Nov 23rd 2008 7:39PM]

I'd take a mechanical hard drive for the price. :/

[dannyry @ Nov 23rd 2008 7:40PM]

like on the eee 901, i would wait for speed tests, could be pretty slow add on

[babbaganush @ Nov 23rd 2008 7:45PM]

or it could be a good deal

[Jason @ Nov 24th 2008 11:28AM]

You can get a BETTER deal by configuring one of the instant savings options. Instead of adding $100, choose the one that already comes with 16GB and it only costs $25. When you start here, you get an additional 512MB of RAM and you get $40 off instantly.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DNDWXA5&s=dhs

[The WC @ Nov 23rd 2008 7:51PM]

Okay, I'm going to sound like a newbie (and in many ways I am), and ask, "What exactly are the advantages of an SSD over a standard hard drive?" Seems like less memory to me...

[Drew Green @ Nov 23rd 2008 7:56PM]

(Supposedly) faster read speeds.

[Chris Knight @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:02PM]

The biggest advantage would probably be less power consumption (ergo longer battery life).

[ethana2 @ Nov 23rd 2008 9:03PM]

Ridiculously small read and write latencies.

[Canoo @ Nov 23rd 2008 9:16PM]

i always thought of ssds being an advantage because there is no moving parts. thats why they've been putting them in super portable notebooks isnt it?

[OCEAN 'CLAK' 20th @ Nov 23rd 2008 9:48PM]

No moving parts, more stable and less likely to fail, and mid to top end ssd's give faster speeds than hard dives

[OCEAN 'CLAK' 20th @ Nov 23rd 2008 9:52PM]

@ The WC

No moving parts, more stable and less likely to fail from accidental damage, and mid to top end ssd's give faster read and write speeds than hard drives, sorry for posting twice.

[Student Driver @ Nov 23rd 2008 10:26PM]

It's great for vibration and other less than ideal handling. The first Mini I got was for my wife and daughter, who don't treat computers as well as I'd like. Since this unit has no moving parts (not even a fan) it's nice and quiet, and perfect for use in a car (watching movies) and the way they handle it (poorly).

[sam @ Nov 24th 2008 7:34AM]

Okay, so what exactly are the advantages of traditional hard drives? Seems like just more disk space to me. :)

Seriously, if we're arguing about what can and can't be called a 'netbook', imo forget price, anything with an HD should be disqualified. These things should have low power, silent operation, and shock-tolerance as a priority. And you do not need to store your entire pr0n collection on the netbook...

The shop told me it would cost $569 with a typical configuration, though admittedly I could've saved $50 by not adding the nice sticker. $50 for a sticker? Sheesh. It's not even Hello Kitty...

[Roman @ Nov 23rd 2008 7:57PM]

If it's over 100MBps read/write, it may be worth a look...

[phil @ Nov 23rd 2008 9:12PM]

It's probably not. Most likely 70/15 MB/s (read/write). And those are max transfer rates. Real world is most likely slower.

[circusa @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:05PM]

I purchased ubuntu version in Sept, that was delivered last week. After keyboard issues, phantom typing, and webcam issues - it never worked. And numerous calls to dell customer support that support is only available 11-7 central standard time (yeah...for linux), I was finally told that to fix the webcam that NEVER appeared on any hardware check, that I should look for drivers on my own if I wanted to fix this...So I sent it back after 3 days talking to the nice people in dell cs...Lesson: purchase at your own risk - this machine may work out well for some, but I'm typing right now on my msi wind with similar specs and a standard US layout for less money - No SSD true, but it's cheaper and the webcam works, and the keyboard, and I didn't have to look for drivers for my new machine...or call dell cs...but hey it does look better.

[Boards of Canada @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:17PM]

Dude I dont believe you. Dell have a really good service and delivery is super fast (at least in Canada and Japan). They would not deliver a product with an unsupported device... it will be suicidal business. I own few Dell products (including my marvellous 30inches screen) and I have only praise for the quality and service. Dell Japan even gave me a free copy of Vista english when I complained about the included japanese OS. Banzaiiii Dell!

[Peter @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:45PM]

@Boards of Canada
Did you say that Dell has good technical support? It is better then Bell; but then again, anybody is better then Bell. I've had so many problems with Dell after I purchased an Inspiron 530 a few months back and have vowed never to buy from them again. Their tech support wasn't bad when I bought my XPS D233 back in '97 when they had their tech support in the US, and they even helped me with problems that they weren't even supposed to, but now their tech support is one of the worst. Linksys for me has the best tech support.

[Tony @ Nov 23rd 2008 10:40PM]

"Dell have a really good service..."

My last issue with Dell took 7 months to solve. This was only 2 years ago, and that was the last Dell I will be purchasing for a long time.

[Kevin @ Nov 23rd 2008 11:56PM]

I have never had a problem with Dell CS. I have almost completely replaced every part in my Dell Inspiron E1705. New LCD, (shipped and on monday and got back with new lcd on the same wednesday,) new keyboard, new hard drive, new cd drive, all shipped to me and i replaced them myself in the comfort of my own home. only one way shipping. No hassles. Even reshipped all the start up disks (including copy of windows XP after the cutoff date). Only issue with them was the delay of the shipping of my mini 9. ordered day it came out and it got here begging of nov. but it was well worth the wait. Yes the keyboard is different, but if you sit down and force yourself to use it, you will get used to it. i prefer it now.

[Byrdman @ Nov 24th 2008 12:12AM]

Dell Home CS is awful, however Dell Business is another story. The Business end of it is great. Ive had no problems with their support on my Latitude D820 (purchased through a Dell corporate contract)

[hi @ Nov 24th 2008 1:08AM]

Kevin, that means Dell is terrible as you needed to replace all of that

[Kevin @ Nov 24th 2008 8:32AM]

i see it as that they saw my problem, took the necessary steps to convience me and not have my laptop for an extended period of time. I use my laptop every day for work and school and it really hampers my production when i am without it so they saw my needs and took the steps to offer a solution. More than what most CS will do for anyone these days. I had no problem with that. I loved it. And that wouldnt be the cs dept. that would be repairs dept who sucks if you want to point blame some where.

[digitallysick @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:05PM]

Rip off , newegg has a 64gb SSD for 150.00 gskill

[ryan @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:37PM]

Don't the Inspiron Minis use miniPCI SSDs, though? The G-Skill is much larger.

[puhsitch @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:58PM]

Yup, I'm pretty sure it uses PCIe. A 2.5 inch drive won't cut it.

[digitallysick @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:59PM]

I believe they us sata hard drives, can anyone confirm?

[phil @ Nov 23rd 2008 9:01PM]

I'd be willing to bet these are MLC SSD at those prices. So the write speed will be slow, slow, slow. SLC SDDs are faster, but also about twice as much.

FYI, the only mini PCIe SSDs at newegg are all MLC (all 5 of them). MyDigitalDiscount has SLC listed, but none in stock at this time.

[phil @ Nov 23rd 2008 9:07PM]

digitallysick:

No, the Dell Mini-9 uses mini PCIe for the SSD. The 32GB MLC is $99 at MyDigitalDiscount so the price is surprisingly fair on Dell's site. It's too bad that MLC sucks performance-wise. The *16GB* SLC option at MyDigitalDiscount is $179.

[megamouse @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:06PM]

So I can strictly come dancing with a laptop?

[Mobius_1 @ Nov 23rd 2008 9:26PM]

No. That would be too entertaining and not skillful enough, and you'll be forced to quit by the judges, and somehow the whole country only cares about this in the middle of an economic crisis.

[AVG @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:07PM]

32GB = Comfortable Vista install. So, yes, I think it'd be worth going for it.

[Grant @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:19PM]

i can't imagine why you would want to put vista on this thing, it would probably run like shit.

[Boards of Canada @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:21PM]

really? confort confort... what an obese OS!

I personnaly like mine under 3gb.

[JohnTitor @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:29PM]

do they really spell it "confort" in Canada?

[The Dude @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:46PM]

Planks of the United States > Boards of Canada

Discuss.

[Shawn @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:48PM]

yess wii due

[AVG @ Nov 23rd 2008 9:14PM]

I made a franken-puter out of some parts for my mom recently so she could do the basics from her room. 950MHz or so, 512MB of RAM. I put an FX5500 in it and the thing runs Vista + Aero without a hitch.

I think this would be just fine. Next time do some research, too, this has been brought up about a million times and it runs perfectly on many current netbooks (this one included).

[JohnTitor @ Nov 23rd 2008 10:26PM]

it was probably a Quadro FX 5500

[Boards of Canada @ Nov 24th 2008 12:02AM]

oooops sorry, my bad... and I copy pasted it!

Boards of Canada are the best! along with Saturday Lo-fi, Four Tet and Caribou... Sad there is no new album since long time... snif!

[Kevin Farley @ Nov 24th 2008 12:57AM]

@ John Titor

Boards of Canada (The Band) is from Scotland.

@ Boards of Canada

Correct, they are indeed great.

[FLaSHBaCK @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:34PM]

Alright, well im really really interested in getting one of these and was wondering if anyone could give me some clue as to what i should do. also, should i get the linux or xp?

[ryan @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:39PM]

I think they only come with Ubuntu.

[FLaSHBaCK @ Nov 23rd 2008 8:46PM]

nope they come with xp also