Dell Inspiron Mini 9
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Last year, the world of budget notebooks was turned
on its head with the introduction of the ASUS Eee
PC: A 2-pound laptop with a 7-inch screen and a starting
price below $300. Prior to 2008, "budget notebooks"
were bulky, overweight 15-inch laptops while "ultra-portable"
notebooks commanded a premium price well above $1,000.
In no time at all terms like "budget ultra-portable,"
"subnotebook," and "netbook" became
part of the techno-geek vocabulary. Every notebook
manufacturer on the planet (even some that you might
not know) scrambled to create their own "netbooks"
... and Dell has finally joined the party.
The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is an 8.9"
netbook with a $349 (Linux) or $399 (Windows XP) starting
price and some impressive features. Dell was kind
enough to supply us with a pre-production copy of
the Inspiron Mini 9 so that we can conduct in-depth
testing and let you know if this netbook really is
"your new best friend" ... or just the weird
kid you try to avoid on the bus.
Our pre-production Inspiron Mini 9 features the following
specifications:
* 1.6GHz N270 Intel Atom Processor
* 1GB DDR2 533MHz (1 DIMM)
* Ubuntu 8.04 Linux with Custom Dell Interface (Includes
Open Office)
* 8.9" 1024 x 600 WSVGA glossy LED backlit display
* 8GB miniPCI SSD card
* Intel GMA 950 Integrated Graphics
* 802.11b/g Wi-Fi
* 4-in-1 Media card reader
* 1.3 Megapixel webcam, Dell Video Chat application,
Dell Support Center
* 4-Cell 32Wh Li-ion battery (14.8V)
* Size: 9.2" x 6.8" x 1.3" (including
feet)
* Weight: 2lb 5.5oz (with 4-cell battery), 2lb 11.6oz
(with battery and AC adapter)
* Price: $434 ($474 with Windows XP)
Build and Design
The design of the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is quite similar
to other netbooks we've seen in recent months. The
exterior is covered in glossy plastics with smooth
lines, rounded edges, and a style that looks like
it's trying to strike a balance between "fun"
and "functional." The look is pretty basic,
almost like a miniature version of the Inspiron 1525
notebook. Glossy plastic is found on the top of the
screen cover as well as around the entire LCD and
palm rests. Matte black plastic is used on the base
of the netbook and on the keyboard. Overall, the look
is quite nice, but the glossy LCD lid is a magnet
for fingerprints and makes the new netbook look a
little tarnished after just a few minutes of use.
The build quality of the Mini 9 is amazingly solid
for a subnotebook of this size and weight. The construction
is mostly plastic but all of the plastics feel strong
enough to handle being tossed around inside a bookbag.
Even the glossy plastic surfaces seem to resist minor
surface scratches. However, the most impressive build
quality element in our pre-production unit was that
the inside of the chassis is reinforced with magnesium
alloy in at least one location (behind the keyboard
and in front of the battery). This helps the Mini
9 withstand much more abuse than a typical all-plastic
netbook.
In terms of upgradeability, the Mini 9 is much easier
to upgrade than most netbooks currently on the market.
Many of the netbooks we've seen to date require complex
disassembly in order for you to get to the storage
drive, system RAM, or wireless cards. Even worse,
some other netbooks have slots for upgrades but no
connections on the motherboard so it is impossible
to upgrade them. This is not the case with the Mini
9.
Dell engineers were wise enough to place all key
upgradeable components in one area directly beneath
a simple access panel that you can remove with a regular
Phillips screwdriver after removing two screws. The
Mini 9 uses standard notebook DDR2 RAM (800MHz underclocked
to 533MHz), standard wireless mini cards, and a mini
PCIe SSD card.
Operating System and Software
As mentioned, Dell offers the Mini 9 with either
Windows XP or a customized Ubuntu Linux operating
system. Our pre-production unit came equipped with
Ubuntu, and the Dell-developed custom interface is
point-and-click easy and acts similar to Windows ...
only easier (if you don't try to install new applications).
The Mini 9 comes preloaded with dozens of useful
applications for everything from work and email to
listening to music and watching movies. Unlike the
many free applications that come preinstalled on Windows-based
computers, almost none of the applications on the
Ubuntu operating system should be considered "bloatware."
In fact, almost every application on this netbook
is both useful and easy to use.
Click on the "Web" icon and you can select
from one of multiple bookmarks or just open the Firefox
web browser. Click on the "Productivity"
icon and you'll have instant access to the Open Office
application (compatible with Microsoft Office) or
Adobe Reader for PDFs. Click on any standard movie
file and the video plays in either the Media Player
application or inside Firefox ... you don't need to
spend hours searching for video plugins and codecs,
the movies just play. Don't waste time downloading
iTunes. Just plug in your iPod and the Music Manager
detects the music player and begins importing the
songs. It's all part of the beauty and simplicity
of Linux. Things just work.
On the other hand, if you ever find that you need
an application that isn't already installed in Linux
then you need to be familiar with the console and
typing strange lines of code like "sudo dash"
and "apt-get." In other words, it's not
as simple as just downloading a Windows program installation
file from a website and clicking "install."
If you're concerned about Linux, don't worry. Dell
is also offering the Mini 9 with Windows XP, so the
Microsoft faithful can breathe a collective sigh of
relief.
Keyboard and Touchpad
Most low-priced, full-size notebooks currently on
the market feature poorly built keyboards that show
significant flex/bounce when typing pressure is applied.
Thankfully, most netbooks have remarkably firm keyboards
due to the fact that the chassis is so small there
isn't much empty space inside the notebook for the
keyboard to flex or bounce.
The keyboard on the Mini 9 is less cramped than what
we've seen on the 7-inch and 8.9-inch ASUS Eee PCs,
but the Dell keyboard is still very compact. Even
though I've gotten used to typing on netbook keyboards,
the first few hours I spent typing on the Mini 9 were
quite frustrating as the small footprint and tiny
keys require you to use a "hunt and peck"
style of typing rather than traditional touch typing
methods. This means that passwords get mangled, emails
look like gibberish, and playing games that require
keyboard commands becomes quite aggravating.
Of course, once I got used to typing on the tiny
keyboard the keys felt just fine ... but this keyboard
isn't designed to be used as a primary/main computer.
For users who would buy this notebook as their "main
computer" in their home or office, a full-size
keyboard and external mouse are recommended.
The only "major" complaint I have about
the keyboard on the Mini 9 is that the function keys
are all located in the middle of the keyboard rather
than the top row. Also, there is no F11 or F12 key
... which is bad for people who use F11 to maximize
their web browser window or use F12 as a programmed
shortcut key. Please, Dell, give us F11 and F12 on
the next generation of this netbook!
The touchpad design is surprisingly nice for a budget
netbook. The surface isn't exactly "large"
but it is larger than what we see on most netbooks.
The touchpad in our pre-production unit was a Synaptics
touchpad with excellent sensitivity, responsiveness,
and smooth tracking. The touchpad buttons are located
in the correct position and have nice, deep, well-cushioned
presses with no annoying "click" when pressed.
Display
The glossy LED backlit display on the Mini 9 is nice
and vibrant with rich colors and good contrast. The
white levels are very clear, leaning towards the slightly
warm/orange side. Colors look excellent with the glossy
screen, but at the cost of increasing screen reflections
and glare. The screen might be bright enough to view
outside, but with all the bright reflective surfaces
outside, the screen is nearly impossible to view comfortably.
Indoors the reflections are not a problem at all.
Horizontal viewing angles are good, so you and a
friend won't have trouble watching a movie on the
8.9-inch screen at the same time. Vertical viewing
angles are acceptable, but colors do tend to wash
out from above and become inverted when viewed from
below.
Performance
Our regular selection of performance benchmarks can't
be used with the pre-production Inspiron Mini 9 given
the fact that it is a Linux-based notebook. We will
be publishing a follow-up in the coming weeks with
details of how Windows XP performs on the Mini 9,
so please keep an eye open for that.
In the meantime, we can measure the time it take
to perform a number of simple procedures in order
to give you an idea of how the Mini 9 performs. Please
keep in mind that the speeds listed below will vary
depending on the number of applications you have open
at any given time (multitasking always slows things
down).
For those interested in the speed of the 8GB SSD,
hdparm benchmarks the SSD buffered read speed at 26.91MB/sec.
For comparison, the 4GB SSD in the ASUS Eee PC 4G
performs at 21.78 MB/sec. Meanwhile, a Lenovo ThinkPad
T60 with a fast 7200rpm Seagate hard drive has a buffered
read speed of 54.62 MB/sec and a Toshiba Tecra A9
with standard 5400rpm hard drive has a buffered read
speed of 44.87 MB/sec.
While the Mini 9 won't win any awards for performance
within applications, startup is quite fast and overall
performance is fast enough to keep most users happy.
True 1080p HD video content might be out of the question
based on the specs of the Mini 9, but the pre-production
unit used in this review was able to handle up-scaled
standard-definition video with stable frame rates
and smooth sound.
Speakers and Audio
While we're on the topic of sound, the speakers on
the Inspiron Mini 9 are reasonably impressive for
a budget netbook. While the two tiny stereo speakers
located beneath the screen can't compete with the
audio quality found on larger multi-media notebooks,
the speakers are perfectly capable of playing short
video clips or system sounds. As long as you don't
make the mistake of trying to listen to old-school
hip hop on the built-in speakers you might never notice
the lack of bass.
The only strong negative I have against the built-in
speakers is the fact that the maximum volume level
doesn't get as loud as I like without distortion creeping
into the sound.
The headphone jack on the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 works
well with the three different brands of earphones
I used during the test. No static or other noise was
noticed through the jack besides imperfections in
the audio source itself.
Heat and Noise
As we continue to see in our labs, nearly all of
the Intel Atom-based netbooks produce a reasonable
amount of heat while running. The Dell Inspiron Mini
9 is no exception to this rule. Under normal conditions
such as surfing the web, typing a document, or downloading
email attachments, exterior temperatures remained
at acceptable levels. The hottest spot on this netbook
was the area around the wireless card, so if you're
on a flight or away from a WiFi connection it might
be a good idea to turn off the wireless card to keep
temperatures even lower. The external temperature
readings below (listed in degrees Fahrenheit) were
recorded while browsing the Web and watching an AVI
movie file for approximately 30 minutes:
In terms of noise, our pre-production Mini 9 is quite
remarkable in that it makes literally no noise. There
are no cooling fans or spinning hard drives to bother
you (or the people seated next to you) while you work.
Of course, the fact that the Mini 9 lacks a cooling
fan is likely why the temperatures on this netbook
are slightly higher than what we've seen on some other
Atom-based netbooks. Still, the Mini 9 never becomes
unacceptably warm, so we accept this minor heat increase
in exchange for absolute silence.
Battery
Under normal use, backlight at 100 percent and using
wireless for web browsing and watching several DivX
movies at 75 percent volume, the Mini 9 managed to
deliver three hours and 38 minutes of battery life.
This is similar to what we've seen from Atom-based
netbooks with 3-cell batteries, but we were hoping
for more given the 4-cell battery in the Mini 9. Hopefully
battery life will improve when we test Windows XP
on this machine. Still, even with only 3+ hours of
battery life, the Mini 9 provides a reasonable travel
experience for a netbook priced below $400. Lowering
the screen brightness and turning off the wireless
card should provide enough battery life for prolonged
use.
Conclusion
Dell wants you to believe the Inspiron Mini 9 is
"your new best friend." Well, kiddies, the
Mini 9 is a fantastic mobile companion that helps
you stay connected and makes your life easier without
breaking the bank. However, I can't shake the feeling
that the Mini 9 is more like "the kid you're
friendly with at the lunch table, but isn't your BFF."
Yes, the Mini 9 is a great netbook. Yes, it has a
great price. Yes, it will probably sell very, very
well for Dell. No, this won't change the world as
you know it. The truth is that at least a dozen other
manufacturers have released or announced similar netbooks
before the new Inspiron Mini 9 arrived. Dell had all
the time in the world to develop something that slaughters
the competition in a way that only Dell can. Unfortunately,
while the Mini 9 is great, it still suffers from a
few of the same problems we've seen in other netbooks
(heat, annoying glossy plastics, bad keyboard, and
a small battery that could have been bigger without
sacrificing much size or weight).
Ultimately, the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is a fabulous
netbook that is sure to end up on many Christmas lists
this year ... but it's only "your new best friend"
if you're willing to overlook a few flaws.
Pros
* Small and light
* Easy to use
* Very well built and durable
* Responsive Synaptics touchpad
* Easy to upgrade RAM, SSD, and wireless cards
* No noisy cooling fan
* Low price for an ultraportable
Cons
* Gets a little hot
* Glossy plastic lid is a magnet for fingerprints
* No F11 or F12 keys, other function keys in strange
location
* 4-cell battery is nice, 6-cell battery would be
better
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