Dell's Mini 9 vanishes from retail site as red Studio XPS 16 returns (update: Mini 9 is on the outs)

We don't want to point fingers, but at the same time Dell's Studio XPS 16 red option suddenly returns -- now a "Merlot" instead of once-axed "Crimson" -- the Mini 9 conspicuously goes missing from the company's website. Coincidence? We think not. It's a regular murder mystery, and it looks like we have our prime suspect here, caught... erm, red-lidded. Catching the killer, though, won't bring it back, but at least its younger brother, the Vostro A90, still seems to alive and kicking.

Update: We just got off the phone with a Dell customer service rep who told us the same thing a handful of our tipsters heard: the Mini 9's being phased out, with its official "End of Life" possibly as soon as Monday. Shed a tear for our 2008 netbook of the year.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Read - Merlot red Studio XPS 16
Read - Dell.com search for "Mini 9"
Read - Refurbished Laptop stockroom

[nerdtalker @ May 29th 2009 7:28PM]

Is this a glitch or are they seriously getting rid of the Dell Mini 9? I've sold at least 5 of those to friends after they saw mine...

[David @ May 29th 2009 8:00PM]

Is DELL still trying to sell the 1330 and 1530?

sheesh .. those things are ANCIENT. How about taking those out of commission and upgrade them first.

[Derry Quinn @ May 30th 2009 5:58AM]

Yes, they may be ancient but there is no money in netbooks. This is evidence of that I think.

[Junemas @ May 29th 2009 7:34PM]

Is there even a difference in the color other than the name? Crimson Red and Merlot Red?

[Sean @ May 29th 2009 7:46PM]

I guess Merlot is more sexy

[JohnTitor @ May 29th 2009 7:52PM]

also more girly, "Crimson" might have upset some people when they see what it really looks like

[ahhduy @ May 29th 2009 7:39PM]

red ftw

[Steven @ May 29th 2009 7:44PM]

I just got off the phone with a Dell rep. It's official. The Mini9's are EOL this Monday. Yes, June 1st is your last day to get one for the best Hackintosh on the planet.

[JohnTitor @ May 29th 2009 7:50PM]

actually I think they are phasing it out in place of the 10v is which not only an improvement (so long as they one day give the HD screen option) but also just as good for Mac OS X

[nerdtalker @ May 29th 2009 8:14PM]

Why on earth are they doing this? There isn't a single netbook they offer at the same price point that is as small or versatile, not to mention as good a hackintosh! I'm going to turn a friend of mine's dell mini 9 into one in an hour or two as it is!

[Poo_and_Wee @ May 29th 2009 8:25PM]

You can't go wrong with the MSI Wind U100 or the HP Mini 1000 either tbf. I mean, when it's all installed with the proper kexts and updates and stuff, everythings great. I'd say the Mini 1000 (which cost me £200) is the best of the bunch anyway.

[soobin27 @ May 29th 2009 9:31PM]

Yes it is, I'm on a Vostro A90(pretty much a mini9) with osx 10.5.6 right now.
It runs OSX beautifully. With the Dell EFI, even the volume buttons work!

[Eddy120876 @ May 29th 2009 8:56PM]

The Question is

How the Hell can take the mini 9 out of your page completely..knowing the Mini 9 is a very popular netbook

[jay jay @ May 29th 2009 7:51PM]

why are they phasing it out aren't netbooks the fastest growing segment in the pc industry? also netbooks were one of the few places where dell showed strong sells last quarter (their overall profits decrease big time last quarter).

[Watts @ Jun 1st 2009 11:51AM]

Netbooks are a curious Catch-22 for the industry right now -- they're the fastest growing market segment, but the margins are so thin that if they're sold at any discount at all the company loses money. Users love netbooks, but computer makers don't share that love. They'd solve that if they just bumped the price up $100 or so across the board, but of course if they did that, everyone would think the netbooks are too expensive.

[RedlineVTEC @ May 29th 2009 7:53PM]

There's now a Merlot Red option for the Studio XPS 13, too....sweet.

[singj97 @ May 29th 2009 7:56PM]

The Mini 9 was a work in progress and was ahead of its time. Now is the time to move on. I am a loyal Dell customer. I have a loaded Inspiron 1525 laptop and Inspiron 530 desktop.
http://jamesmsingleton.com

[JohnTitor @ May 29th 2009 7:58PM]

Merlot is also on XPS 13 now too
and the XPS M1730 is getting axed soon as well
I'm still confused as to why the M1530 and 1420 are still in existence

[jackcutts @ May 29th 2009 7:59PM]

Until the Mini 10s and 12s can be upgraded to 2gb RAM, the Mini 9 is the ONLY choice. Truly love my Mini 9 glad I got one when I did.

[Jayayess1190 @ May 29th 2009 8:32PM]

The Mini 10v can be upgraded to 2GB (buy your own stick) and that option for the 10 is coming soon

[David @ May 29th 2009 7:58PM]

A90 is still around, but it's sad to see the Mini 9 go. Mini 9 is going to be a classic because of it's versatility and price. I'd keep an eye out in the DELL outlet for some bargains. If you see a 4gb ssd .. stay away from it though.

I hope they take that same 8.9in form factor and pop in a 10" screen and an edge to edge keyboard.

[Charles R Hamilton @ May 29th 2009 8:10PM]

Mini 9 2gb ram w/64gb SSD running OS X FTW.

Does the 10v run OS X as good as the 9? If it doesn't, i'd look for mini 9 to hold it's value quite well. It's an awesome mini mac.

[Cameron @ May 29th 2009 8:13PM]

If you want a mini 9, just get the Vostro A90, its the exact same machine but in all black instead of black/silver and in my opinion looks nicer.
Also, the mini 10v is an all around improvement from the mini 9, it has all the benefits (expandable to 2GB RAM, no moving parts at all if you get the SSD so its dead silent, the best OS X compatibility) but has a much better keyboard than the mini 9 (just look where they put the damn apostrophe/quote key), a slightly larger screen, etc...

[Eddie W @ May 29th 2009 8:47PM]

Problem with the 10v is that it has a slightly smaller screen resolution and no option to upgrade to a higher res like the 10. Not that this is a deal breaker. I have the mini 9 and I'm wondering whether I would have waited for the 10v if I had known it was coming. The larger keyboard is nice.

[Epsilon-Not @ May 29th 2009 8:23PM]

It's really a shame all the small netbooks seem to be getting phased out... First the 7-inch Eee, now the 9-inches are starting to go?

Still awaiting the 17-inch netbook....

[Jacob @ May 29th 2009 10:33PM]

well the smaller the netbook, the more cramped the keys and the more difficult to use. I think it was natural for the smaller netbooks to be phased out.

[Epsilon-Not @ May 30th 2009 12:24AM]

Meh, to me portability goes above everything- I've had no issues on my first-generation Eee's keyboard, except for once in a while screwing up on the shift key. If I want a full size keyboard, I'll use my (gasp) full-size laptop...

The thing is, now they seem to be targeted more towards people who want a cheap laptop, which is a different market I think than the early ones were.

[Phil Perman @ May 29th 2009 8:32PM]

The Mini 12 has been gone for a little while now, I guess with the demise of the 9 Dell are shrinking down to a single netbook line. Makes sense I guess

[Jayayess1190 @ May 29th 2009 11:43PM]

Being replaced by an 11.6" culv notebook.

[michael lambie @ May 29th 2009 8:50PM]

Funny i just bought one this morning as i suspected they were phasing it out. gotta have my hackintosh

[Gabno @ May 29th 2009 9:12PM]

With moves like this, it's no surprise Dell has fallen off the podium.

People want netbooks because of their size/weight, durability, and battery life. The Mini 9 surpassed other models in these categories, (including the 10 and 12), which is why it was so popular.

I think Dell has a management problem...

[Fraggle.Rock @ May 29th 2009 9:17PM]

I LOVE my A90... Dell Minis FTW :-)

[Adderz @ May 29th 2009 9:21PM]

I specifically got a Mini9 because they are smaller than the 10" models.

Netbooks are about small size, so why are they becoming BIGGER.

Fair enough if they came with an increase in resolution but some 10"s have the audacity to offer LESS at 1024x564.

The only improvement is keyboard size, but honestly, the 9's is big enough for my largish hands.

[icepick_method @ May 29th 2009 10:22PM]

$200 netbooks were probably cutting into their bottomline. people who would have originally spent $1k+ for an xps1330/50 are now spending $200 for a mini. I know because that's exactly what i did.

[Alexandre Emond @ May 31st 2009 7:05AM]

+1 Me too
And I'm VERY happy with my purchase. No 10in screen for me. With a 10in, i can't fit all my gears in my small corporate breifcase.

[Richard Glitter @ May 29th 2009 9:59PM]

+1000 on the Vostro A90. I recently bought one, and it's a fantastic little machine. Looks better than the Mini 9 in all black as well. And runs OS X just as well (exact hardware). That said, I'm thinking they just want to consolidate into the 10v. I sure hope they offer it in an HD screen like the 10, if they do I will buy one in a second.

[Boards of Canada @ May 29th 2009 10:10PM]

Weird decision... I hope they will replace it by something better and keep the price low. Dell ftw!

[Nick @ May 29th 2009 10:15PM]

Its sad that the only netbook that works pretty much perfectly as a hackintosh is being discontinued!!

[Rick @ May 29th 2009 10:22PM]

After this and the Adamo, it is confirmed: Dell management either wants their company to fail or they are just stupid.

[Terry @ May 29th 2009 10:41PM]

That red looks like ass. Especially with the lame leather strip. This is Dells idea of design. Try to make your laptop look and feel less like cheap plastic by putting a leather strip on it. Wow.

[Lee Goldstein @ May 29th 2009 11:23PM]

I got a Vostro A90 for $199 about 2 weeks ago (took them a MONTH after I ordered it) - upped it to 2GB of ram, and threw in a 32GB runcore SSD drive. SWEET little machine, and with the DELL EFI, runs OSX beautifully - FAST, and slick, all the keys work just like a mac - volume, brightness, and has a webcam, bluetooth, its flawless.

WHY end the mini 9???

[Alex McKee @ May 29th 2009 11:51PM]

NOOOOOOOOO!!!! I just convinced the head of the English department at my school to buy a bunch of Mini 9's for students to use! He was gonna put in the purchase order after finals... CRAP!
He'll probably end up getting 10s instead, so whatever.

[Alex McKee @ May 29th 2009 11:55PM]

Maybe I spoke too soon, the fact that the A90 still appears to be there, (my machine), means that large purchases would probably still be available.
http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-vostro-a90?c=us&cs=04&l=en&ref=lthp&s=bsd

[Broadwing @ May 30th 2009 12:52AM]

With the 10v, one could really say that the 9 isn't discontinued, it's just been upgraded with a larger case, better keyboard, more options... Ah, the little things a dash of marketing can do for you.

The 10v continues the GMA950 multiplatform goodness, so not a terribly big deal. Just wish you could upgrade the screen like on the 10.

[David @ May 30th 2009 3:29PM]

The problem is, with a tiny bit of engineering the 10v could fit inside of the mini 9's form factor.

I do hope they bring back that same mini 9 form factor with upgraded components.

[Andrea @ May 30th 2009 2:21AM]

I really hope that Dell has some new 9-inch model ready to be released, that's the only reason I can think off to stop selling the Mini 9. Please let it be so, allthough I'm holding off any netbook purchase untill the release of Windows 7.

[pika2000 @ May 30th 2009 2:22AM]

I hope this means Dell will replace the mini9 with an updated mini9 model (presumably with Poulsbo). 10" is still too big for me for a netbook. 9" seems to be the sweet spot. If not, I guess there will be a lot of traffic on Dell outlet site for people looking for the mini9.

[TIMMAH! @ May 30th 2009 3:45AM]

Wow, that's a shame. I really love my mini9. The only thing I would change about it is give it a different keyboard like they have on the Eee or the Acers where the cursor direction keys are a little offset and you have a proper sized right Shift key. Other than that it's pretty much a perfect machine.

[BOGRASH @ May 30th 2009 7:05AM]

what is it with every single netbook in existence managing to have some fatal flaw that leaves me fuming with incandescent rage?

[wampo @ May 30th 2009 8:46AM]

They are gone crazy
Mini 10 with HD screen and 6 cell
449 USD at dell.com
474,01 EUR at dell.de
No more affordable 8.9"
And they kicked the vostro out for 147 EUR last week.
Dell is just a bunch of honky tonky pot smoking controller and marketing guys