Dell Mini 9 – Netbook Review
I recently purchased a new Netbook, while there are a number on the market from Asus and Lenovo. I chose to good with the Dell Inspirion Mini-9. I chose the Window XP version configured here.
The reason I decided to go with the Netbook was two fold. First, and probably most important was price. As configured, and with discounts and coupons found my Netbook cost me $350 pretax. That's cheaper than my newly purchased Kindle (reviewed here) and about the same as an unsubsidized Blackberry Storm. To get the (close to) the functionality of a full laptop, at that price point, is very compelling.
The second reason, and by far the more interesting one, is just how functional this device can be with its limited resources. With open source and web based software 
The available software doesn't stop there, after learning that I had purchased a Netbook, Prassel sent over a link to a GigaOm post with half a dozen excellent ( and free) software tools for optimizing a Windows XP Netbook.
The device certainly does sacrifice some features and functionality for size. The battery gets about 3 hours, a little less with everything running and connected to the internet. With the pre-loaded software from Dell, the Hard Drive has about 14GM of free memory, plenty for documents and some music, but far too little for most people full libraries, and it's only about 2x's the free space you get with a Gmail account. This is only a minor problem however as there are tons off great online storage tools available. The device even comes pre-loaded with some free trials. We have a review of our favorite, Dropbox here.
The keyboard does take some getting used to; my hands are feeling cramped typing this post, and navigating around applications and Windows without a mouse (a favorite bragging right of heavy excel users) is very difficult. However I'm finding that my keystroke accuracy and typing speed are already improving after just a few days working on the device.
One final drawback to the Netbook is the net itself. Our wireless Internet went down the other day and I found the functionality and usefulness of the computer severely limited. Without my online storage, or Last.FM I couldn't play music, without Hulu or Youtube there was no online video, and it's hardly the kind of machine that you can play games on. It was pretty much just a spreadsheet and a word processor until we got the internet back up and running.
All in all, I have been very pleased with the Dell Mini as a net focused computer. For users looking for a quick and easy tool for internet access, simple and short document creation, small and convenient and especially for those who have access to another, standard computer, this is a great device for you.
*Update – More Pics!
