Dell Inspiron Mini 9 Reviews
Computer giant Dell makes its first netbook entry with the Dell Inspiron Mini 9. It is a late entrant to the market, but comes with a competitive price tag backed by a quality manufacturer.
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Do you own this netbook? Leave a user review below and help other buyers!
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5 Positive Reviews |
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0 Negative Reviews |
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I originally bought the Mini 9 loaded with Ubuntu. I liked the interface very much, but the os was buggy. Dell offered to swap it for a new one, but I decided I wasn’t ready to learn a whole new language (which I would need to know when seeking help), so I exchanged it for an XP-loaded machine. I had a problem with the os freezing on and off after booting, so I went to the Dell support site for help, and the very first troubleshooting solution worked for me, plus it was fast and simple to effect.
I really like the look and feel of my Mini 9. It is lightweight, easy to carry, and good-looking. The graphics are better than I expected they would be, and the speed isn’t bad, either. I got rid of the junk that came installed on it, and that helped, too. Videos are easy to watch on the Mini 9, and–once you dump the trash–the boot time is fast.
Many people complained of the lack of an F11 key. This was of no concern to me (what’s a couple of clicks?), but people should know that the updated bios does include an F11 function (FN+z).
The other complaint people have about the Mini 9 is the keyboard. Granted, it is not as good as the keyboard on some other machines, and I have not yet typed on it enough to determine whether I will get used to some of the quirks (most notably, the odd placement of the apostrophe and quotation key). In a few weeks, I will be typing much more on the machine, and then I will know how well I adapt. The keyboard does have a good feel, however, and the trackpad is nice. I read some comments somewhere by a Dell engineer who said that once users adapt to the keyboard, they should find that it is a good key arrangement.
Though I could have bought a netbook with an easier-to-use keyboard, the deal-breaker for me was battery life. The Mini 9 battery lasts significantly longer than the basic batteries of other netbooks. You get between 3 1/2 to 4 hours, depending on what you are doing and whether you are using a wireless connection.
No netbook is perfect, just as no computer is perfect. But I am pleased with my Mini 9 and am very glad I bought it. There seems to be a misunderstanding about the function of a netbook–it is not intended to be used for massive storage or multiple apps. It is for Web-surfing, email and writing small documents, which is why I bought it. We have a very nice notebook we use in various parts of our house and on trips, but I wanted something I could take to a coffee shop or various worksites and quickly blog or check sports scores. A netbook is perfect for those tasks.
I should add that I have the 8G ssd and 1G of RAM. For my purposes, that is just fine.
I ordered my Dell with Ubuntu, 1 gig of memory and a 16 gig drive. Everything worked right out of the box, even the wireless.
You Tube videos play flawlessly; Open Office works with no delays and games launch quickly. All in all, it just works.
It booted up in 26 seconds - on the very first try.
The only downer was that the ssd was formatted as a four gig, not a 16 gig. However, Dell released an update the day after I received my Mini which solved that problem..
After a month of playing with this little beauty, I have only one complaint. My six year old son has adopted it as his own. In truth, it is the perfect size for him.
I guess that I will have to get another one for myself.
The Dell Mini 9 is a great little computer. I have one in both Ubuntu and XP. If you watch the Dell refurb site you can pick one up on the cheap too. Both OS’s work fine. I like the Ubuntu a little better as it loads quicker and all I really do is net and email. Open office is fine for brief word processing. I ditched the default launcher and Ubuntu is actually quite easy to use out of the box. The XP isn’t bad either, a little slower start is all.
Positives: Price and battery life. The 4 cell will get you through a movie or two on a long flight. Size is very good. Screen is amazing. Trackpad is quite good. SILENT, no fan, no spinning hard drive.
Negatives: Keyboard is small, but you do get used to it. Touch typing IS possible despite what some pro reviewers say. If you spec a computer out with webcam, bluetooth, big hard drive it can get pricey. I recommend going lo tech. The SD card slot works great, even in Ubuntu so you can store movies, etc, on there and have more than enough storage.
My Dell Mini is wonderful for what I bought it for; carrying it with me to coffee shops and doctor’s appointments and such to check my e-mail while waiting. I am a touch typist and the Mini’s keys are actually big enough to touch type. For me, the only annoyance is the placement of the apostrophe. I had an Eee first but sold it because the keyboard was too small for me. I love my Mini!
I bought the Dell Mini 9 as a very portable machine for web-browsing, wardriving and studying with. It was ordered online before I had actually handled one in the flesh so to speak. I am very impressed witht he build quality and the design of the netbook.
I had read complaints about the keyboard being hard to use and keys being in odd locations. On my UK spec model the keyboard is fine and key locations are as expected.
I’ve installed XP from a USB stick which runs well and have also been able to run older games including Half Life, Black and White and World of Goo. Although these are certainly not graphically amazing they are enjoyable to play whilst on the move and run much better than I anticipated.
The 8GB SSD seems small but once you include a 16GB SD card storage is adequate for on the move. There is a great modding community for the mini 9 too which opens up means of adding extra storage and GPS integration amongst other things.
Overall I’m very impressed witht he Dell Mini 9 and would definitely recommend it.
I bought a Dell Mini 9 with the Maxis Broadband Internet package at the PC Fair in KL on December 08. It has been nearly a month now and except of a few hiccups i am quite satisfy with it performance. I recently decided to install a Home -student edition of Microsoft Word, Power Point and Window Excel. I have also upgrade the RAM to 2 Gb after reading some reviews and suggestion in LapTopMag.com. However to my shock the system started to reboot and shut off by itself with the blue screen keep popping out saying that it is a physical dumping exercise in progress and i have to restart every time this incident occured. When i call the technical support they said that it is bcoz ofthe upgrading of the RAM to 2GB! Is this true? I did change back to the original 1gb RAM…but occasionally the blue screen warning still occured. Is it bcoz of the installation of the microsoft office? but as far as the net surfing is concerned the connenction is smooth and geat. The streaming of videos and other files are also good