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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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 :)