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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Klug - Friday, September 5, 2008 - link
Thanks for the review.Maybe I misread but I could not find any info about the external PSU... How fat is it?
I currently use a M1330 and the external PSU is a pain (big, heavy, thick cable, etc).
Netbook is nice but when used "on the road" (ie: train, meetings, etc), it needs to be carried with its PSU. If the PSU is fat, that's bad.
benlen - Friday, September 5, 2008 - link
I missed this my self. An is a important information an a netbook.I found the answer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M37j5BnERw">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M37j5BnERw
about one minute in.
I am happy with the type.
They say it is 2.6 lbs with the psu so the psu should be about 0.4 lbs.
But I still havent found a picture on the UK psu. I hope it will be a travle type where you can change the plugs/connectors
I am by the way selling my M1330 to only have a mini 9 and a stationary
strafejumper - Friday, September 5, 2008 - link
i've been researching lappys for a week trying to buy my first one.found one i love from lenovo 15.4" but the one problem is all 15.4" lappy's that i've been looking at seem to have the exact same florescent lcd and when i went to circuit city to look at some they all looked very dim because of the vertical viewing angle.
Then i was in a local shop and they had a macbook air and it was totally different, many times brighter and still bright even at angles. Looking for a cheaper laptop than the macbook air now that has this good an led lcd. May have to wait a while.
wvh - Thursday, September 4, 2008 - link
Looks interesting, especially the passive cooling... But as someone who works in several countries, I think they made a mistake with their peculiar keyboard layout. It's not easy to get used to all the different international layouts, laptop- vs. full-sized keyboards, model-specific multimedia- and function-keys, and having manufacturers come up with their own proprietary layout on top of that makes their product much less appealing to me.
JoshuaBuss - Thursday, September 4, 2008 - link
nice carpet, anand! :)alpine18 - Thursday, September 4, 2008 - link
The dell sounds interesting, but I'll keep my eeepc 901 for now. I love this thing.It is great to see so many new netbooks in the market place. When they come out with a new netbook with the dual-core Atom, I'll probably buy one.
I differ with the article author's view on battery life and use. My eee 901 has effectively replaced my full size Gateway laptop. The thing sits at home since I got my 901, little more than a glorified portable desktop. I use my 901 all day without having to recharge, take it to meetings so I can act like I am taking notes when I am actually catching up on other work.
For me, the deal breaker for the Dell would be the battery life and 1GB memory. I have 2GB of memory in my 901 and need the 5-8 hours of battery life. If the Dell had the same battery life as the 901 and was upgradeable to 2GB, I'd seriously be thinking about getting one.
MamiyaOtaru - Thursday, September 4, 2008 - link
Glossy Screen? Why? So I can see what's behind me better than what I'm working on? Especially for a portable computer that just might be used outside, a reflective screen is dumb.I know glossy screens sell better in brick and mortar stores, but people are dumb (ooh, shiny!)
Nice to have a choice I suppose, so those who like it can get the Dell and I can get something else. But that's my point really, I'd get something else.
abakshi - Thursday, September 4, 2008 - link
Dell seems to have done better than I expected, but I'd be curious to see how you'd compare with the HP 2133 Mini-Note in terms of build quality, keyboard, screen, etc.I have a Mini-Note (C7 1.6 / 2GB / 120GB 7200rpm / Vista Business), and while granted, most configs are priced higher than the average netbook, the design is awesome and it's built better than any HP/Dell/etc. laptop I've ever seen. More importantly, the keyboard's light-years ahead of the EeePC and all other netbooks I've encountered thus far, and with a nice bright 1280x768 screen, it's a pleasure to work with on the go.
Roy2001 - Thursday, September 4, 2008 - link
1. Dual core Atom.2. Power saveing Poulsbo chipset + HD decoding feature.
3. Smooth HD/BD movie play back.
4. Has at least 8GB SSD built in and a SDHC slot so I can insert a cheap 32GB SD card (some day) as 2nd HD.
5. Has mini-HDMI output.
5. Built-in camera should be standard.
6. 1GB RAM should be standard.
7. 10" LCD with 1280x800 resolution.
8. Bluetooth built in so I can use a wireless mouse/keyboard without a dongle.
The more I can dream is touch screen, wireless USB hub, and more...
Matt Campbell - Thursday, September 4, 2008 - link
I'm really impressed with what Dell has done with the Mini, they struck a great balance with price/features and it looks fantastic. Thanks for the suggestions - the Wind, Aspire and Lenovo S10 are on my review wish list as well. Keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming HP 2133 Mini-Note review. Hopefully between Anand, Jarred and I we'll cover everything eventually :)