DELL Mini 9 Netbook
Hey guys I'm contemplating picking up one of these as soon as they are available again. Has anyone got one already that can share their experiences.
For Tuning I think its a brilliant concept. Nice and small, solid state and apparently quite well built.. Think I might go white for a change too.
Is the SS drive big enough...?
Have you seen the MSi Wind...?
16GB I reckon is plenty as a tuning only Laptop. The thing I like most is its completley solid state and is said to have the best build quality of all the other netbooks in the segment.Originally Posted by joecar
I haven't really looked at the MSi as yet but I may consider it as well as the ASUS eeePC
i've purchased 2 asus eepc's at work for our sales staff.
They have really good battery life, but i dont know how you'd go with using it for efilive. they only have a 10" screen.
Thats exactly why I want a Netbook. So much easier to cart around and plus the 2 batterys for my Dell 6400 are shagged making it pretty much useless for street tuning.
Today I ended up buying a Mini 9. They are mentioned as sold out on the Dell Website but I rang through and got one. The specs of it are more than enough to run XP Pro and EFI LIVE. The battery life is apparantly quite good and it only weighs a kilo.. I got it for $569AU with my Defence EPP Discount.
I did look at the eeePC 901. The specs and price a similar enough, but I like the design of the Dell better.
Macca,
Let us know how it goes, performance-wise and usability-wise... I like the compactness!!
Does the Dell Mini use the Atom N270...?
not a laptop, but it's actually smaller, check it out: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article867-page1.html
I think its an N270 as its the same specs as the eeepc one. The Dell Spec Sheet indicates it like this.
Intel® AtomTM Processor (1.6GHz, 512KB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB)
Well I got my Mini 9 a few days ago and from playing with it and setting it up how I want it to operate, so far I'm pleasantly impressed.
For Joe. Yes it has got an Atom N270 processor.. The same as the eePC's do.
So far I've found that with it running XP home, performance is more than adequate. I may buy a 2gb DIMM of RAM for it, pending on how far I bloat it with software. Because of the RAM shortage (1gb) I'm really trying to restrain myself from putting to much crap on it.
The LCD Monitor is a key highlight. I don't think any netbook on the market could hold a bar to this thing as its really that good. Viewing angle is incredible and I can see details on the screen up to about 80 degrees.
Expansion is good too. The unit has 3 USB 2.0 slots and a multi card reader which is compatible with SD HC cards. I've bought a 16gb SD HC card for a bit of extra expansion as the standard 16GB may restrain me further down the track.
The WiFi and Bluetooth performs well and is comparable with my Dell Laptops regarding range and performance.
The TouchPad is very clean in design. There is no seam to it at all. Just a small step that flows with the rest of the chassis to let you know its there.
The Keyboard has been the biggest thing to get used to. The size of the keys is fine but the way they are set out is not quite what my touch typing style is used to. Its not really a fault as the keys have to go somewhere on such a small chassis. But it is something to get used to. The quality of the keyboard is top notch though.. The keys feel better than my bigger Dell's.
Battery Performance thus far has been very good. I haven't done a min performance test yet with just the V2 plugged in. But with screen at full brightness and Telstra Next G wireless connection turned on downloading XP updates, I managed to get 4 hours of battery life out of it. I have a feeling with Wi-Fi off and the screen set a bit dimmer it may go 5 hours.
Now I bought this Netbook for Tuning first and foremost. I may use it on flights and what not but Tuning is its primary job.
So far its been great. The small size makes life so much easier to lug everything around. The screen is small but its sharp enough to see the B Scan page with ease.
So anyway it gets a big thumbs up from me and I can see a real market in these cheap Netbooks for Tuners alike. The flexibility of them is just great and it sure as hell beats the hell out of lugging a 17inch Laptop around.. I should have got one years ago.
Macca, thanks for the pics... it looks about 2x the size of V2...
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