Dell Inspiron Mini 9 Reviewed: Refining the Netbook Market
by Anand Lal Shimpi on September 4, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Final Words
At some point there's got to be some convergence here between the smartphone and the netbook. A smartphone is too small for some of the things you want to do with it, and a netbook is too large. We'll need a new interface (multi-touch anyone?) and thinner, faster, more power efficient hardware but it's bound to happen.
I will admit, before the Inspiron Mini I didn't really show much affection towards netbooks. I understood their appeal and their purpose, in my mind the current netbook revolution is simply taking the ultra portable Sony Picturebooks of the early 2000s and making them affordable, which is great, but I never really fell in love with the design of the Eee PC or its competitors. The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 changed that for me; it modernized the netbook and at $349 I no longer felt like I had to justify why I was spending so much on slow hardware. And I can't stress enough how pretty this thing is, especially for something that costs less than $400. We always give credit to Apple for good industrial design and while I wouldn't put the Inspiron Mini on the same level as the ID of the MacBook Air, I'm quite impressed.
ASUS got the equation nearly perfect with the Eee PC, but I believe that the Eee and the Mini are really good for two different types of users. The Eee is more of the tinkerer's netbook, it's got a bit more storage, 802.11n and comes more feature filled out of the box. Dell's Mini ships at a lower price and with a correspondingly reduced configuration, but it targets the heart of what I believe the netbook user is: someone looking for a simple, relatively comfortable way of getting online and doing basic computing tasks. MSI aimed much higher with the Wind, with larger hard drives and attempting to beat ASUS based on specs alone but I'd argue that with a netbook it's not the specs that will crown a winner, it's the efficiency of the package.
At $349 I'd like to see the Mini ship with 1GB of RAM standard and with at least the 0.3 megapixel camera, as it stands my desired configuration ends up being $384. Of course I'd want it to be cheaper, the $299 price point being the magical target, but there is something to be said for Dell's current promotion. Buy a Studio 15, M1530 or M1330 and Dell will sell you the Mini for $99, treating it as an upgrade to a notebook rather than a standalone device. While the promotion is short lived, I do think it's one that makes enough sense to bring back as often as possible.
When ASUS launched the Eee PC I'm not entirely sure it knew who was going to use the device, nor am I sure ASUS expected the sort of overwhelmingly positive response it got. Dell has the luxury of seeing what ASUS did and coming out with a more focused, more targeted product - which is what I believe the Inspiron Mini 9 is.
The two do compete on some levels, but I fundamentally believe that the Inspiron slots in just below the Eee PC. If you wanted the performance of the Eee PC 901 but were put off by the price tag, the Inspiron Mini 9 may be what you've been looking for.
See the gauntlet? Yeah, it’s over there on the floor. Dell has done something very dangerous here, the netbook war is one that isn’t incredibly profitable for anyone involved but my standards are higher after using the Inspiron Mini 9.
Begun these netbook wars have.
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rowcroft - Thursday, September 4, 2008 - link
I have an Acer Aspire 1 - $349 for the 120GB HDD, XP (need it for WWAN card), 1GB RAM, but no bluetooth.Still, I think it's a much more compelling offer than either this or the Asus and suggest you get one to evaluate.
strikeback03 - Thursday, September 4, 2008 - link
I think that picture at the bottom of the first page shows why I hate glossy screens.What I am waiting for is someone to come out with a device that falls somewhere between an Epson P5000 and an Archos 5" internet tablet. Run a real OS, have a decent sized hard drive for music and photo downloads, multiple card readers, touchscreen, and the ability to go on the internet occasionally if it is around. Closest netbook is the Wind or possibly the Lenovo it would seem, but I wouldn't plan on typing enough to need a real keyboard.
prophet001 - Thursday, September 4, 2008 - link
seriously, 118 wpm? how in the world did you get that fast? i've been typing everyday for 6 years and I can't type that fast. Any tips?preslove - Thursday, September 4, 2008 - link
I'm torn now between betting the Dell Mini 9 or the EEE pc 1000H. There really isn't any reason to buy EEE 901, since it is more expensive than the 1000H, which is $549.99, and is only .8 pounds lighter. The 1000H has a much roomier keyboard that is supposedly closer to a "real" notebook's keyboard than a netbook.Two major advantages of the 1000H over the Dell, though, are that it comes with an 80 gig hd and a 6 cell battery. Also it comes with 1 gig of Ram standard.
Adding all the options to the Dell, Win XP, ram upgrade, camera upgrade, and bluetooh and it adds up to $494. That's $65 less than the 1000H, which has a better keyboard and a good sized hard drive, but is about a pound heavier.
I wish these two were in stores so I could compare the weight and keyboards, as that would probably help be choose.
One question: Can the Mini accept a 2 gig stick of Ram?
tayhimself - Thursday, September 4, 2008 - link
Yes 2 GB RAM interest here too. The Acer Aspire looks good to me as well.JarredWalton - Thursday, September 4, 2008 - link
10" netbooks actually start to become viable as a full-time laptop... almost. I'm not Ben, but I'm right with him in terms of typing on these things. I draw the line of comfort at 13.3" notebooks. Predictive typing would help some, but with the width of my shoulders I still end up feeling cramped on anything smaller. (Why can't I get a natural keyboard on a laptop? LOL)However, the above said, 10" is still small and I think too many people are looking at these as a full notebook/desktop replacement rather than a mobile device that supplements regular computer use. 2GB RAM and 80GB HDDs... and then next we'll need faster CPUs and discrete GPUs, and an optical drive, and.... It's a slippery slope, and I think you should either get a real notebook (13.3" or larger - or 12.1" if you don't mind the smaller keyboards) or understand that the netbook is not supposed to be a full notebook and use it as intended. For $350, the Dell Mini looks extremely promising.
n0nsense - Thursday, September 4, 2008 - link
I think the perfect one should be:1. Little bit more powerful processor (Atom dual core or AMD X2)
2. More advanced chipset (less heat more graphics performance and output options) which will allow playback of 1080p on TV.
3. Normal 2.5" HDD/SDD options for upgrade.
4. I would like touchscreen (multi touch is even better)
The rest i think is very close to be perfect.
The reason is for all this more performance is:
Try to listen to some last.fm radio on the web + some fullscreen flash web page or game.
And yes, i know, all this "more" will kill more expensive notebooks.
psychobriggsy - Friday, September 5, 2008 - link
1) Yes, a dual-core Atom would be nice, but it is already multi-threaded (whoa, what's up with this text box, it's gone all funky!)1b) AMD (soon will) have a 22W 1.5GHz X2. I don't know how much power it uses when PowerNow! is enabled, but AMD need to get a standard Athlon 64 out first that has PowerNow! ranges starting from 400MHz at very low voltage first. They do have a 15W Athlon 64 coming out soon as well.
2) This is the most important aspect, and where all the Atom netbooks are failing right now. It's almost criminal.
3) Really unimportant, these are mobile companions. Bet Palm feels stupid in cancelling the Foleo, when it turns out that form factor is what people want.
4) That Dell Linux interface would be perfect for touchscreen.
JarredWalton - Friday, September 5, 2008 - link
You do know that Atom N270 is like 1.5W TDP, right? http://download.intel.com/design/processor/datasht...">Reference A 22W 1.5GHz X2 would use over 10X as much power as the N270. The problem right now is the chipset; we need Poulsbo.psychobriggsy - Friday, September 5, 2008 - link
And the multi-threaded Atom is 2.5W, and the 64-bit Atom is 4W, and the dual-core Atom will be 8W.Also Paulsbo will suck, it's designed for MIDs, maybe the netbooks will be okay with it, but barely. It's a 130nm chip so however cool running the process they are using, it's limiting the clock speed of the GPU, and the number of features it can have.
AMD have an 8W Athlon 64 already, and in reviews the platform consumes less power and outperforms Atom - in a desktop scenario.