Dell Mini 9 makes surprise reappearance on Dell's website
By Donald Melanson 
posted Aug 7th 2009 4:11PM
posted Aug 7th 2009 4:11PM
The official word from Dell may be that its Mini 9 netbook has hit "End of Life," but it looks like the company may have had a change of heart or (more likely) a surplus of excess stock, as the popular netbook has now made a surprise reappearance on its website. With a starting price of $299, however, it's not as cheap as some of the past deals we've seen, but you do still have your choice of quite a few configuration options, and a promised ship date of August 24th. So, if you've been holding off, you better get in now before they disappear, again.
[Thanks, Rob and Nathan]
[Thanks, Rob and Nathan]
I love my Mini 9!
Caveat emptor.
I surely would'nt trade my Vaio TT for one of those.
I own a mini 9 and hate it lol speaking of that my SSD drive on my mini 9 died a couple days ago its heading to dell soon :( may it RIP lol jking
I think its more the netbook part then the dell part that I hate though. The only reason I bought it is because I got it real cheap,anyway even for email/simple web browsing the keyboard drives me crazy I am always hitting the wrong keys. not only that but even for simple web browsing it is dirt slow ( running win xp ver ) plus it doesn't help that now I am getting the SSD drive replaced because it failed lol.
My Mini 9 is wonderful. I might just pick another up to install Snow Leopard! Xcode, Front Row, and MacFUSE work great on it! It makes a great Mac!
Come to dell.ca!
Come on!
You know you want to, eh?!
how to join
they must had realized that it being almost flawlessly compatable with Hackintosh was a great selling point :P
Mac OS X sucks.
Install Windows 7 on it for a superior experience.
Windows 7 sucks.
Install Mac OS X on it for a superior experience.
Windows 7 and Mac OS X suck.
Install Ubuntu on it for a superior experience.
There is nothing wrong with OS X, and there is nothing wrong with Linux or Windows either. Its really a matter of personal preference, wants, needs, and what you feel most comfortable using.
I will correct my original statement,
"They must had realized it was a good selling point to give the end user the ability to put the OS they are most experienced with on their machine, so that they don't have to learn how to use a new operating system."
@reluttr
Just kidding ^_^
I wanted to see the ranks from Engadget readers.
I guess the Mac osx sucks post was low ranked by Apple fanboys and the Win7 from Microsoft fanboys.
As for the Ubuntu one. Well, there are very few Ubuntu user to low rank me, i guess.
I want to buy that mother because my next computer upgrade, I've decided, is a self-built mac using a bootloader and, because I need a portable, a netbook to go with it (also loaded with os x) and mini 9's one of the ones that WORK. But I just got a macbook a year ago before I really knew much about os x in non apple machines... waiting for it to wear out before dropping bucks on computational equipment....
Disclaimer: I have not hackintoshed a Mini 9.
I wouldn't count on it. I've got a hackintoshed T60 and it mostly works, but it takes some doing -- probably about 5-10 reinstalls. That's not such a big deal, except for the inability to upgrade.. so you'll be stuck in this constant cycle of installing the latest hacked version, figuring out if the little tweaks for your hardware have changed in the new version, fixing your tweaks, reinstalling your apps, and so on.
On my T60 I just don't do any software updates, but that means when I DO need to update something in 6 months, I'll have completely forgotten what needs to be tweaked to make the video and WiFi and so on work properly.
@unix -
I haven't actually installed OSX on my mini, but only because I don't feel like springing for a legit copy. I'm admittedly an amateur when it comes to hack-installing an OS, but mydellmini.com has a number of really detailed guides on how to do it, and the community there is always working on fixes. I'm certain that installing OSX on the mini 9 (A90) isn't the nightmare you describe. I highly recommend checking out the site if you have a mini, even if you aren't interested in installing OSX. Everyone is surprisingly helpful.
I recently hackintoshed a Vostro A90, using a Runcore 64G and a new retail Leopard disk. I followed the instructions on mydellmini to the letter and it worked almost flawlessly the first time.
I also upgraded to 2G RAM and swapped out the keyboard for a far superior one, extensively documented at mydellmini. It has been a wonderful experience. The only issue has been that Restart causes the machine to shut down but not restart. The camera works, syncing with an iPhone works, wifi works, everything works.
I was hoping to get one before, perhaps it's time to get off of my ass.
Get it from the outlet if they are available. And before you do, search google for Dell Outlet coupons. I got my second 9 from there. Fully loaded, previously ordered new (Ordered, never powered on, so basically brand new, same warranty) Mini 9 for $301 a/t & shipping. Had been $370 before the coupon. So worth the search!
Ummm you could always get it with ubuntu for cheaper http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/notebooks/laptop-inspiron-9/pd.aspx?refid=laptop-inspiron-9&s=dhs&cs=19&~ck=mn
The Mini 9 with a Runcore SSD is such a sweet netbook. The fact it runs OSX is just gravy.
Great netbook, horrible keyboard though....
Yes and no. There are people that say this because "the keyboard is too small", and those people are idiots. This is just about the most compact computer you can get (yes, there are a few smaller netbooks, but usually with a really crappy screen), and as long as you use it for those types of tasks (i.e. media, mail, Internet, that's it), then you'll be happy. The people trying to use these as word processors, gaming machines, graphic production systems, etc...I mean, wtf?
However, a few of the keys (the apostrophe for example) are HORRIBLY positioned. Whenever I'm chatting, if I have to use an apostrophe, I always end up sending my message incomplete, because the enter key is where the apostrophe should be. So if that is your gripe, then complain-on.
We got the keyboard message loud and clear and incorporated the feedback into the next rev, i.e. the Mini 10 and Mini 10v.
I bought an Vostro A90 a while back, which is the "business" version of the mini 9. At this point it's a bit pricier, but I think it looks a lot better because the body is all black. It runs great too, even without a runcore, although I recommend the 2gig of ram upgrade because ram is so cheap.
The A90 is a little heavier as well correct? I believe they beefed up the inside chassis for "business". I was thinking about getting one of those and giving my mini 9 to my sister. Every once in awhile they have sales and are cheaper than the Mini 9.
I think the A90 is slightly heavier, but the difference is negligible. It's still super light.
Billy Mays went to Heaven riding the white horse. :(
Just picked one up last week from Dell Outlet for $169 + tax. Installed Windows 7 on it, and it's running like a champ (had to upgrade the RAM to 1GB, which is fine, had an extra sitting around). I love the system, it's the perfect on-the-go portable form-factor.
I've installed Both OSX & windows Seven on one ...
Windows Seven wins HANDs Down
Apple can forget thier Vista vs OSX commercials
Microsoft (Cant believe im going to say it) Has a WINNER with 7
I agree, and I'm someone who will gladly sit in front of Windows, Mac OS X, or Ubuntu (or pretty much anything really). Windows 7 looks nice, has some great new interface functions, and for the most part gets out of your way like Vista didn't.
I don't know if I'd call Windows 7 an OS X killer, but certainly both operating systems are on even ground at this point.
Honest question here, why would someone get this instead of an ipod touch? Bigger screen and keyboard?
yes and yes.
Ability to run real desktop pc preograms such as excel and msword. Ability to run (slower older) games such as Red Alert II. Abilityto browse the internet comfortably. I just as willingly pick up my mini9 for browsing as I do my larger laptop (sometimes more willingly due to the light weight/convenient size of the mini9).
Why buy this instead of an ipod is like asking why buy steak when you could buy an apple; they are not really competing against each other for your dollar.
A better question might be why buy the mini9 instead of a 13" laptop.
How about iPhone (or other smartphone) for mobile internet and PC (or a full-size laptop) for home use, bigger screen, full keyboard etc.
Have you tried writing on an iPod touch? It literally takes an hour to write like 500 words, and they're pretty much all misspelled.
[I tried it for a day to see if I could switch. The answer was a pretty resounding no ... err ... to conclude, I have both.]
Yay! Mini 9's are awesome.
My only concern is when (or if) I upgrade to Windows 7. SSDs are nice, but I don't exactly have a lot of storage space here (16GB to be exact).
wow, Engadget missed the boat on this one. This boat arrived and sailed a week ago.
Dell reintroduced the mini-9 as a "4 day event only" starting on 24 July. They actually stayed up a bit longer then the originally promised 4 days (either because nobody was buying them and they had to sell out their stock, or because they were so popular that they decided to keep them available as long as people were buying. You can pick your version of the truth).
Engadget, here is the correct link (to the dell blog post concerning this,not a link to the mini 9 webpage which doesn't exist)
http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/direct2dell/archive/2009/07/23/dell-mini-9-slight-return.aspx
@tmarks not sure which boat you're on, but the engadget link seemed to work just fine
"but it looks like the company may have had a change of heart or (more likely) a surplus of excess stock,"
No.
Right up until they were discontinued, they were very hard to get hold of, some people on mydellmini.com waited weeks or even over a month to get theirs. People are hackintoshing them like crazy, takes a Vanilla OSX plus an initial driver disk/usb with a few kexts. Very straightforward. and everything just works, trust me.
Smart move by Dell - they probably made another bundle of them, knowing they'll easily get the new inflated price..
woot, I got a [Thanks Nathan] in this... go me for finding news for engadget!
I sent this in too but got no love, haha! It's OK though, Engadget still kicks ass!
Sweet, I got a [Thanks Rob] too!
These have been on the site for a while, at least a few weeks.
I needed a travel laptop/netbook and was always draggin my feet but when I saw it available again and with a $40 discount (end of last month), it was a divine sign to get off my ass and get it! Got it yesterday and it's my first time using Linux and I gotta say.... Linux ROCKS!!
Dell Mini9 RIP. Bought one and couldn't stand the ultra small keyboard and the lack of function keys. Bought an EEE PC and now I'm happy.
I'm not a touch typist so I actually like the small keyboard. I wish I had enough money to buy another. These things are great. Also every emulator I tried all the way up to ePSXe and N64 work great. Wireless dual shock three baby!!!
it works now for me too.
But my comment remains; the mini9 reappeared on dell TWO weeks ago. Dell no longer links the mini9 from the front page of their website or advertises it on the mini page, which they did a week ago.
I suspect these build pages as still up because they haven't deleted them from their website, not because they "actively started selling them again". That happened two weeks ago.
for all those people that couldn't get enough of the worst in class keyboard!