Dell Inspiron Mini 9 - Several Reviews

September 4, 2008

Quite a few reviews of the new Dell Inspiron Mini 9 netbook popped up today, once the embargoes were off.

PC Magazine gave it a 3 out of 5, and believe that for the size of the device, especially with the bezel around the screen, they could have fit in a 10″ display, and the keyboard could use some work, although they were impressed with the mouse buttons.

LAPTOP Magazine has also posted their review, with the Mini 9 doing slightly better in their view, and with mentions of the touchpad and buttons, but they also felt the speakers were much better than others in the same category.

JerryJ at NotebookReview.com has posted a video of it in action, as well as several screenshots of the Dell-configured Ubuntu Linux installation and interface. They also mention the keyboard (which is lacking a dedicated row of function keys).

Finally, Anandtech gave it much higher praise than the other sites that have posted their reviews today, discussing the build quality as well as the design (included in the review are several close-up photos of the hinges as well as the internals - they cover the fact that the Mini 9 is actually fanless - as they point out, there are no moving parts with the SSD and passive cooling of the Intel Atom.

Written by D.C. · Filed Under Dell, Intel Atom, Netbook, News, Reviews, Reviews - Video

Dell Inspiron Mini 9 - Available for purchase

September 4, 2008

It’s official - the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is now available for purchase, starting at $349. The specifications of the 8.9″ netbook that were leaked yesterday were pretty accurate.

Two of the base models are shipping two weeks from today, and you can pre-order through the Dell Home & Home Office Store .

Notes:
- 16GB SSD option for Windows XP
- 1GB Maximum RAM
- Bluetooth 2.1 is optional
- Free 2GB of online storage through Box.net

There are two colors currently available: Obsidian Black, Alpine White,

Can be purchased at:
- Dell Home & Home Office Store - starting at only $349

Availability (before customizing):
- 4GB SSD, 512MB RAM, Linux: October 9, 2008
- 8GB SSD, 512MB RAM, Windows: September 18, 2008
- 16GB SSD, 1GB RAM, Windows: September 18, 2008

Dimensions:
Width: 9 inches / 228.6 mm
Depth: 6.7 inches / 170.18 mm
Height: 0.6 - 1.2 inches / 15.24 -30.48 mm
Weight: 2.28 pounds / 1.03 kg

I’ve posted a small gallery as well:
Dell Inspiron Mini 9 Gallery

The memory limit of 1GB is a little disappointing, but if the SSD is fast enough, it hopefully won’t matter.

Written by D.C. · Filed Under Announcements, Articles, Dell, Featured, Intel Atom, LED Backlighting, Netbook, News

Dell Inspiron Mini 9 - Specs, Flyer

September 4, 2008

Over on UMPC Portal, there’s a photo of a Dell flyer that looks to contain specifications and pricing for the 8.9″ Dell Inspiron Mini 9 (you know, the Dell Inspiron Mini, Mini Inspiron, Inspiron 910, Inspiron 910 Mini).

Looks like the only major differences (besides pricing) between models is the amount of RAM, a 4GB Solid State Drive (SSD) or an 8GB SSD, Linux or Windows, and the Webcam.

This very well could be what is released later today (or tomorrow) by Dell. Here’s the specifications and editions:

Standard Edition:
- $349 USD
- Ubuntu Linux 8.04
- 512MB RAM
- 4GB SSD
- No Webcam

Social Edition:
Read more

Written by D.C. · Filed Under Accessories, Announcements, Dell, Intel Atom, Netbook, News

Dell Inspiron 910 Mini - Thursday Instead? (WSJ)

September 3, 2008

After reports yesterday that the 8.9″ Dell Inspiron 910 would be rolling out this coming Friday, the Wall Street Journal came out and said that they believe it will be this coming Thursday instead.

The date comes from a software developer who is going to have some of their online storage software / services bundled with the Inspiron 910 and Dell did confirm the software would be bundled.

The storage service (Box.net) allows for backup / storage of documents and photos, which could free up storage space for the lower capacity SSD versions of the Inspiron 910 (since photos are taking up so much space these days).

Read: Wall Street Journal (subscription maybe required)

Written by D.C. · Filed Under Announcements, Dell, Intel Atom, Netbook, News

Dell Inspiron 910 - This Friday (Sep 5)??

September 2, 2008

Could the wait be over for the 8.9″ Dell Inspiron 910 netbook? Gizmodo sure seems to think it’s this upcoming Friday - September 5th, 2008.

We’ve heard this before, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, given that they’ve released quite a bit of information about the Dell Inspiron 910 already (or the Inspiron Mini as it was once called).

It is getting to the point where Dell will be under a lot of pressure - the 10.2″ Lenovo IdeaPad S10 netbooks will soon start shipping (and they turned out to be so popular that Lenovo temporarily stopped taking pre-orders). We are also seeing some six-cell battery versions of the Aspire Ones popping up.

Read: Gizmodo

Written by D.C. · Filed Under Announcements, Dell, Intel Atom, Netbook, News

Commodore Announces UMMD 8010/F Netbook

September 2, 2008

This is definitely unexpected. Pocket-Lint is reporting that we have a new netbook from a familiar company (at least familiar to those of us who got our start with comptuers back in the 1980s). It’s Commodore (remember the Commodore 64 or the Amiga?) and they have just announced the Commodore UMMD 8010/F.