Robin Hoods Playground

I recently acquired a Dell Inspiron Mini 9 lapton, or netbook as I like to call it. It's super small and light weight. Only weighs 2.5 lbs. Came with 3 USB ports, headphone microphone ports, built it microphone and web cam, 3 in 1 memory card reader, 1.6 GHZ Intel Atom processor, 1 GB ram, and an 8 GB SSD drive. Built in wifi and LAN as well. 4 cell battery with charger, full charge is good for about 4 hours. The one I got came pre-loaded with Ubuntu linux, but I figure the wife wouldn't like linux so I installed windows xp pro. That was really super easy to do too. I just had to hook up an external DVD drive, boot to the Windows xp disk, install it and then install the drivers from the disk that came with the computer and I was done, well, except for windows update...... Oh yeah, they come in lots of different colors so if you want to get into personalization, you can do that too. The one I got was Alpine White.

I think it's a great little device, but I have ran into some negatives along the way. First, the keyboard. Since this is a netbook, the keyboard is small. Smaller than any normal laptop out there. Makes for plenty of typos for fat fingers like mine until I get used to it anyway. Second, the lack of a built in DVD drive/burner. But as long as you've got an external one, your good to go there. The last negative I've found so far is the SSD drive. The one that came with this netbook is only 8 GB. Surprisingly, the base model is only 4 GB. They do have a 16GB upgrade, but the price for that upgrade is pretty steep, which is why I only went with a 8GB SSD. But now, I'm regretting that. After installing XP pro and doing all the updates, installing antivirus and skype, I have a paultry 273 MB of free space. I guess I need to install tiny XP LOL.

Performance is actually surprising. It boots like it's on fire. And it runs applications just as fast. It really surprised me. But from what I understand, this depends on the SSD that you get. If you get one thats made by intel, it's going to be slower than the ones made by STEC.

Anyway, if your looking for the ultimate in portability and connectivity, I would recommend this nifty little mini. But if your looking for a gaming rig, or something with huge disk space, this may not be for you. I myself am well pleased with the Dell Mini 9.

cool
man

crypie has been wanting me to get a 32gb or 64 gb ssd and load windows on it in the desktop just to see the speed
they say the start up is very fast
im sure im going to as soon as i get time from the 360 that is

I just timed it. From the time you hit the power button till you can actually start using applications, 30 seconds.

yea
that is nuts man
im going to do it as soon as i can

Damn man, I wish I'd have held out for the netbook madness that ensued after Asus launched the EEE in november 08. I got my hands on the launch EEE (701). I still love it, I've got ubuntu on it right now. I don't dare try and run windows on it tho, that's where the atom processor would be nice. The Mini 9 has some solid specs.

These are on Dell's homepage, $179 shipped for a refurb

Yeah, I got mine through the Dell Outlet. I was a little leery at first about getting a refurb, but it comes with a year warranty, so I figured if I didn't like it, I'd send it back straight away, and if I did like it, which I do, and something went wrong with it, I could always have it fixed.

Just for kicks and giggles, I timed the shut down, only 35 seconds.

My coworker got one of these and basically made it a Hackintosh... I think its a good idea but with such small harddrives I wouldnt be able to get anything done on it.

Well, it's a netbook. It's not meant to replace your desktop. But it would be nice to be able to put windows and antivirus on it and have some room for a couple other things. But I'm saving my money for a bigger SSD, thats for sure.

Save A LOT OF MONEY. haha them things are expensive

I've just recently got a Dell Mini 9 as well and I love it. I had to get mobile broadband seperatly though, however is great in size and fits snuggly away so i don't need to have a massive desk to clutter up my small flat!

I got one a Dell Mini at the beginning of the year. I love it. I have the 16 gig ssd and went ahead and ordered a two gig stick of ram from crucial. I use every day.

Hello..
Hey I just read your post now and Dell inspiron Mini 9 laptop is really cool..My feeling was just like you when I bought this laptop. I really like my laptop very much because as you say It's super small and light weight. Its performance is also nice which I like the most. Thank you for writing this so I could also write about this laptop.