Dell Inspiron Mini 9 Reviewed: Refining the Netbook Market
by Anand Lal Shimpi on September 4, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Expansion: More than a MacBook Air
Even today, whenever I pull out my MacBook Air I still get people amazed at how small it is, but it's the thinness that gets them - the footprint of the notebook is no different than your standard MacBook. Hold a netbook up to it and the MacBook Air starts to look rather large:
Apple MacBook Air (on bottom) vs. Dell Inspiron Mini 9 (on top)
You give up the thin profile of the Air, but you get something that's more comfortable to carry around (despite being more of a pain to type on). A side effect of the thicker chassis is that there's actually room for some expansion on the Mini. You get three USB ports, a 4-in-1 card reader (SD/SDHC/MMC/MS), VGA out and built in 10/100 Ethernet.
Unfortunately there's no room for an optical drive, and while Dell offers an external one you're better off saving the money and using the network or USB drives to get data on/off the machine. The hardware is fast enough to watch DVDs, but there's no hardware H.264 acceleration so most high resolution/high bitrate HD content (720p/1080p) is out of the question.
Below is a quick spec comparison between the Eee PC 901 and the Inspiron Mini, as well as the MacBook Air just for kicks.
| ASUS Eee PC 901 | Dell Inspiron Mini 9 | MacBook Air | |
| Dimensions | H: 1.5" W: 8.9" D: 6.9" | H: 1.07 - 1.25" W: 9.13" D: 6.77" | H: 0.16-0.76" W: 12.8" D: 8.94" |
| Weight | 2.5 lbs | 2.28 lbs | 3.0 lbs |
| Screen Size/Resolution | 8.9" / 1024 x 600 | 8.9" / 1024 x 600 | 13.3" / 1280 x 800 |
| CPU | Intel Atom N270 - 1.6GHz (45nm Diamondville) | Intel Atom N270 - 1.6GHz (45nm Diamondville) | Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6 - 1.8GHz (65nm Merom) |
| GPU | Intel GMA 950 | Intel GMA 950 | Intel GMA X3100 (144MB UMA) |
| Memory | 1GB or 2GB DDR2-533 | 512MB or 1GB DDR2-533 | 2GB DDR2-667 (fixed) |
| HDD | 4GB on board SSD + 8GB (XP) or 16GB (Linux) removable SSD | 4GB (Linux only), 8GB or 16GB SSD | 80GB 1.8" HDD or 64GB 1.8" SSD |
| Optical Drive | Optional External USB | Optional External USB | Optional External USB SuperDrive |
| Networking | 802.11b/g/n 10/100 Ethernet | 802.11b/g 10/100 Ethernet | 802.11a/b/g/n |
| Built in Camera | Yes | Optional | Yes |
| Battery | 48WHr | 32WHr | 37WHr |
| Price | $599 | $349 | $1799 |
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Woodchuck2000 - Friday, September 5, 2008 - link
...It's priced at £299...Would anyone pay $600 for one of these, and am I alone in feeling ripped-off?
bigben - Friday, September 5, 2008 - link
I, for one, thought that was brilliant.I would give that guy a job...
Baked - Friday, September 5, 2008 - link
Do a review on that too. Or better yet, get your hands on all the netbooks and do a round up comparison review!Gnyff - Friday, September 5, 2008 - link
Nice one. Now we just need to break the cursed trend of glare screens... I like to see what's on the screen - not my self, windows, lights and other reflections. It might add a bit to the fun to be able to see the photographer on a picture like the shown - but that's the first positive thing I've found for "glare" screens :-PCheers,
Anders (Still looking for a 17" 1900*1200 notebook with good anti-reflex coating, seems only Apple and HP are sensible those days. Who would ever have guessed ;-)
Sunrise089 - Friday, September 5, 2008 - link
Dell has simply created two price points, one for the deal and for everyone else. For example:You can price a studio 15 for $699. So add a full-price mini 9 to that and you get $1048.
With the e-value code and the $99 'promo', you get the exact same studio 15 for $999 and the mini 9 for $99 which is $1098!
Pjotr - Friday, September 5, 2008 - link
You do not mention Bluetooth anywhere in the article. The Asus 901 has Bluetooth and it's a show stopper for me if it's missing. I need to use Bluetooth to use my unlimited surfing via my 3G mobile phone subscription. Acer One doesn't come with it.piroroadkill - Friday, September 5, 2008 - link
Bluetooth is an option on the Inspiron Minipiroroadkill - Friday, September 5, 2008 - link
Is bullshit - we get one choice, and it has to be black, comes with XP. Fail, epic fail.psychobriggsy - Friday, September 5, 2008 - link
However for that single specification, it is a good deal (taking VAT into account) compared with the US price.Jeff7181 - Friday, September 5, 2008 - link
How much free disk space is there on the 4 GB version? Just curious how much room there is for additional applications, updates, etc.