THE OFFICIAL: Dell Inspiron 9 (Mini I) Thread...

Off topic - Cin has done a great job of organizing all of us (people interested in the Mini Inspiron). Show some love and give her some 'Reputation' using the middle icon below her user name.

 

There appears to be some misinformation regarding the graphics and chipset used in the Mini 9. The service manual lists the Intel 945GSE, but the sales page specs lists the graphics as GMA950 and the chipset as the 965PM / GM. However, x3100 graphics are used in the GM965 chipset.
The service manual also shows the graphics memory as limited to only 8MB! This is what really worries me. Hopefully the Dell documentation is wrong. Or perhaps it is as simple as allocating more graphics memory through the BIOS.


Mini 9 Service Manual (pdf)
Intel GMA (Wikipedia)

 

hmm, i was looking at the config page for the mini and it had no option for red. maybe its a product red version?

 

Well one thing is for sure, it does NOT support an x3100. ROFL

 

Hey Guys! What's up????

Ok...If I didn't have my 1530, already and was looking...I would grab that deal before time ran out! $99 for the mini...good deal.....


I was hoping to get home tonight and hear from all of you...that they just released it in Red, and other colors vs. the black and white! lol....



Cin

 

I went to Bestbuy to find the Acer Aspire One, no such luck, but I have two more that I can go to Gotta love California

 

Yes, that's why Im hearing..you can't find them at the BB stores

Well, you 2 more to go...The Huntdown Begins!!! I will keep my fingers crossed for yah!

WoOT Friday is about here!


Cin

 

Good luck! However, I tried 4 local stores and another 7 that I had family around... none of them had any in stock.

Amazon is getting some on the 23rd though.

 

I wonder when BB will get them....Amazon eh? Coooolio! :yes:


Cin

 

24th now

If I end up buying one, I'll get it from Amazon. Just hoping to see in person at bestbuy.

 

That's exactly what I'm planning to do.

 

Ooops, that was the Setup Guide I posted earlier. Here is the Service Manual. Some interesting tibits:

-There is a SIM card slot behind the battery bay
-"NOTE: If you are installing a communication card from a source other than Dell, you must install the appropriate drivers and utilities. For more information, see the Dell Technology Guide." So it appears the empty PCI-e mini-card slot is not BIOS locked to a WWAN card
-"NOTE: The analog microphone is not present if you have ordered the optional camera. Instead, you will have digital array microphones with the camera." The camera module is sourced from Creative Labs
-Windows drivers are available now: link
-Either a Broadcom or Atheros WiFi card is used.
-The WWAN card will be the Dell 5530 HSPA, which has a $204 list price (?!)

 

Ouch.. I didn't realize that a 32 GB SSD was still around $400.. I guess scratch the part about upgrading to a 32 GB SSD, it does defeat the purpose of an inexpensive netbook.. but I still think upgrading to a 2 GB RAM is a viable option for increasing the performance of this little netbook. I don't believe the other netbooks out there allow you to upgrade the RAM so easily as the Dell.

So, I'm just going to wait for a big sale from Dell as some of the other posters here have alluded to before jumping in on this laptop. Fortunately I'm in no rush to get this netbook so I can wait for a great deal.

Has anyone heard of anything regarding possible upgrades with a 2nd generation of these Dell netbooks.. like whether they will be upgrading to dual core Atoms or anything?

 

Ok, so the benchmark section of the PC Magazine review shows the Inspiron 910 as using a 64MB GMA950, which should be enough for any game or application capable of running on this hardware.

 

Hey there!
I haven't read this one yet! Thanks for sharing Will check it in a bit!

Happy Friday everyone....

Maybe more info/changes, today? Who knows!

Cin

 

Where do you find the Mini as a 99 dollar add on?

 

I didn't see it either. Not that I want to buy another Studio 15 as mine is coming today. What luck!

 

Honestly, I'm not in the market for a Studio 15 either. I'm only on day five with my Inspiron 13, and there's no way I'd move up to a fifteen inch model. For me, a thirteen incher is pushing it for size.

I'm just curious.

 

yah i i think the 99 mini option is gone i cant find it.

 

Was it ever really there?

Has it not started yet, or was this just a rumor to begin with?

Has anyone actually ordered this deal?

 

It was supposed to start today at 6 AM CT

http://yourblog.direct2dell.com/2008/09/04/without-further-ado-meet-your-new-best-friend/

 

Congrat's to you!

I can't find it either .....hmmmm.


Cin

 

the mini deal can be found at

http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/sale_laptops?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

It appears to only work on those certain evalue codes atm. Not sure if dell will change it or not. I checked and the 30% code worked with the 1530, but the total overall price with the mini was about 350-400 more then what I paid this past weekend after I applied the 30% coupon, so not really a deal there for me, so I won't be canceling, unless they allow it on all configs. I will have to call my EPP rep later today and find out.

 

Dell jacked up the pricing on the configurations that comes with the $99 mini. Epic failure.

 

Gah! I had configured a $750 Studio 15 + Mini 9 bundle deal yesterday, but later they removed it from my cart and wishlist. I hoped that it was simply because the deal was pushed to the website too early. But now they pull this price inflation stunt! So unless a Dell CSR can fix this they have lost two purchases.

So Ultimate Failure then!

 

Thanks for linking it here for everyone! I need to get on the EPP site and check it out there.

When, I pulled up the EPP site, yesterday...it said the I9 page *was temp. unavailable*


Cin.

 

Mini 9 has built in 3g card:

http://gizmodo.com/5045701/dell-inspiron-mini-9-has-hidden-built+in-3g

 

Hmm... that's convenient

 

It is convenient, Vodafone has already jumped on the 3G ability.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/04/vodafone-to-offer-3g-equipped-inspiron-mini-9/

I guess if you need data functionality rather than a phone, such a package would be what you need. Especially if the price is subsidized.

 

Another nice linky! Thank you!!! I get to read lots of interesting things later on


Cin

 

Just waiting for coupons or something to bust out =). I'd prefer this over the Acer Aspire One but there's a pretty large price difference for basically identical performance, or even inferior, depends on your view on whether you want a 120gb hdd or 4/8/16gb ssd, etc. So hopefully Dell decides to drop the price a little so it can better compete with Acer's offering.

 

Hehe, it was imminent. It would be very generous of Dell to offer a Mini 9 for $99 and to keep the notebook prices the same. Businesses tend to do the phantom price hike... sneaky Dell

The price of the Mini 9 itself isn't too great. I guess they had to convince people to buy it by tricking them into the "savings"

 

Ha! I'm waiting on the drop in price and, more color choices I don't want to buy a whole new lappy to get the I9 for $99!


Cin

 

Yeah... I don't think it's the best promotion Dell could have started off with. However, I think there will be many people that will be buying a new notebook already and tack on the Mini to the order as a "Hey, it's only $100 for another notebook. Why not?" type deal.

 

I agree... For me already having my 1530..it wouldn't work...OH unless I got another one LOL I think there will be better promo's as the days, and week's go by!

Hey you changed your Avy and Siggy Looks nice


Cin

 

Thanks!

Yeah, I expect some good promotions by the end of the month. If not, I will almost certainly buy the Aspire One.

 

NP! ...I'm kind of *stewing* over the same idea....giving it a month..for more colors (me Red) and such..


Cin

 

here is a great in depth review for those who have not seen it... could have been posted before...

http://www.anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=3399

Impression I got from this review was that it is well built and the reviewer makes note that the IM9 looks more expensive than it costs... which I find interesting because the Asus 901 and AAO netbooks look 'cheaper' made when you see and use it in person when compared to regular sized laptops (for example, hp and lenovo)...

 

There have been a lot of Ubuntu based IM9 videos but here is an XP version... hopefully he goes into a full on review soon...

http://cnettv.cnet.com/9742-1_53-50003584.html

 

Found on the following CNet review site: http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/del...3240837.html?ttag=rev_spon_prod&tag=mncol;lst

Note that the varying sizes in the video chipset memory... Dell has 64MB and the Asus for example has 128MB.. which probably explains why on the CNet iTunes performance test (from above URL) the Asus performed better...

 

Well, you are just finding all kinds of cool stuff!!

Thanks for sharing. These are great resources!

 

WoOT! Thanks for sharing (again)

Cin

 

will this pretty thing to be able to play movies? thank you !

 

Yes, but the movies either need to be digital copies or you need to use an external DVD drive. The mini does not have a built in CD or DVD drive.

The other problem you may run into is storage. If you create a true backup of a DVD movie (1:1 ratio) it takes about 7GB of storage. That's nearly half of the largest SSD option that Dell is offering right now. To combat this, you could purchase a compact external drive, such as the Western Digital Passport series - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136249

 

networkwasher, thank you for reply ! .. what's about dvdrip movies that movies from DVDs that I own? i mean if this mini 9 is powerfull to play such movies?

 

Are you talking about downloading DVDs from peer-to-peer networks?

If so, I can not admit to condoning this but yes, as long as you have enough storage, the Mini should be able to play them just fine. You may notice a high CPU usage while it is playing, creating other programs to lag, but if you are watching a DVD you probably wont be doing anything else on the Mini at the same time.

Hope this helps!

 

I fixed your sentence

But yes those will play fine. It's just if you want to play a DVD itself you will either need an external drive or to encode it yourself to a file to play.

 

Thank you guys for your replies ! I have also changed my sentence just in case now I can sleep well knowing it plays movies

 

No problem. Be sure to tell us all how much you like it if/when you get it!

 

I completely disagree with your suggestion the AAO looks "cheaper". In the last 12 years of owning laptops I've gone through several Toshibas, an Inspiron xps1210/9300/1710, and still currently own a Sony SZ and an Acer One. I've also used the EEE 1000H for a month or so before I sold it and replaced it with the Acer One.

The build quality on the Acer One is VERY, VERY good. The fit and finish is far superior to my SZ (Sony btw is probably the most overrated laptop manufacturer on the planet). Zero flex, completely solid and looks well built from any angle. The battery fits perfectly (isn't loose like the battery on old xps or my SZ). Not bad for the $249 I paid for it.