Dell – More Inspiron Mini 9 Deals, Advice

Dell Inspiron Mini 9 Every few weeks, Dell has some very good deals on their 8.9-inch Intel Atom-based Inspiron Mini 9 netbooks. You can pick up the base for $249, but some of their pre-configured models with better features, and some of the upgrades are on sale or discounted.

For the most part, I would recommend against the baseline $249 model – the Ubuntu Linux distribution is good distribution for these ultraportables (and Dell has done a lot of work on their particular installs), but the storage is a 4GB Solid State Drive (SSD), and it wouldn’t take much to fill that up if you are offloading photos or video to it. I know that’s not what people intended these devices for, but that’s what people are doing with them.

If you are leaning towards an Inspiron Mini 9 and your budget is around $400, this is what I would do:

Visit the Inspiron Mini 9 page at Dell Home and Home Office

You can select the $299 model (normally $319) to get the Windows XP option, otherwise select the $249 baseline model for Linux.

Microsoft Windows XP Home model – $389
Specs: 1GB RAM, 16GB Solid State Drive (SSD), 1.3MP Webcam.
1) Select Obsidian Black as the color
2) Standard 1 year warranty
3) Select 1GB DDR2 RAM/Memory – adds $25
4) Hard Drive – select 16GB Solid State Drive (SSD) (add $40)
5) Integrated Webcam – $25 extra for 1.3MP, ($15 for 0.3MP)

Ubuntu Linux 8.04.1 – $379
Specs: 1GB RAM, 32GB SSD, 1.3MP Webcam
1) Select Obsidian Black as the color
2) Standard 1 year warranty
3) Select 1GB DDR2 RAM/Memory – adds $25 (2GB is $75)
4) Hard Drive – select 32GB Solid State Drive (SSD) (add $65)
5) Integrated Webcam – $25 extra for 1.3MP, ($15 for 0.3MP)

Some notes:
– If you don’t plan on video chatting or using Skype, you can save $25. If you do plan on video chatting, Skype, etc., I highly recommend the 1.3MP webcam over the 0.3MP Webcam. It’s only a $10 difference, but the video is much improved on the other end (assuming the person you are talking to has a good internet connection).
– $59 extra for a two year warranty with the added in-home repair if you qualify isn’t bad
– $20 more gets you Bluetooth 2.1
– Depending on the model, you maybe able to go up to 2GB of RAM using third party memory, if you are comfortable with doing it yourself. Some models don’t offer that option.