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

Hey everyone I'm thinking about buying one of these mini 9's from dell.com

For $444 plus shipping etc. I can get the mini 9 in white or black running Linux with 512MB of RAM, a 16GB solid state hard drive, bluetooth, and a 1.3Mp webcam. Is this the cheapest price right now? Are there any sales going on right now?

It's cheaper to just buy a 2GB stick of RAM from newegg.com and put it in myself than upgrading online. However it seems that only 1GB of RAM works with Linux. IS THIS TRUE? Is it just the Linux that Dell uses? Could I use my own Ubuntu and have all 2GB available? What speed DDR2 does the mini support, all the way up to 800?

Also, I see that a lot of you have been adding SDHC memory to the mini, why is that? Is it just treated as another hard drive? Is it fast enough to store MP3's on to play with a media player on the mini? What if I have to take it out to use the SDHC card from my camera, do they swap easily?

Finally, I've read that the 32GB solid state hard drive runs slower than the included 16GB hard drive. IS THIS TRUE? Will I be able to upgrade the included 16GB hard drive with a drive of my choice in the future if they get faster/cheaper?

Thanks all for the help! I think I'm going to buy one of these soon and I want to know all the facts ahead of time.
Smitty

 

Hi Cin,
I haven't had the guts yet to do it. I may after the New Year...
How about you? Thinking about it?
J

 

Hope everyone had a great holiday, really enjoyed mine. The mini is the first thing I grab when I get home (Well, after the cold beer of course) and with a quick charge during dinner I have no problems with battery life.

Overall the little guy has impressed me. Time to take the lil guy to Starbucks and see how many babes it can pick me up

 

Hi Jane, no I haven't done it yet. I want to dual boot. But, I'm waiting for a few *extras* I ordered to arrive, before doing so...So prob's after the New Year also, for me.

Yes, nice holiday. Great things are working out. Hope all the *babes* pick you up! What will you do with your mini then?

BTW, my I9 stays charged for a great amount of time. One of the nice things, I like about it!


Cin.

 

Thanks for those links, I put them to use, What do you think?

 

Your welcome! Your background for your netbook is awsome!

Mine is attached for my I9:



I really like all the options you have with XP's Powertoy's!

How many are you using of them, may I ask??

Cin

 

That's cute Scott. It's a magnet fyi from what my son says

 

Now thats the mini 9 review I was looking for!

I have really been pleased with the Ubuntu. So many free programs that work so well are just a download away and the mini is blazing fast without the bulky windows OS slowing it down.

I have had issues getting it to work on the wireless network at my office.
I know the SSID & WEP but was not able to get it to work. On networks without a lock it logs right on and works perfect.

Cin'
How are you making out with yours? This place has kinda died a bit now that everyone got their mini's in. Guess we are too busy playing with them.

 

It's the holidays. I don't know about everyone else, but I haven't had a ton of time to post lately. There's just too much going on.

 

Hey Scott! My I9 is working out just fantastic! I've been carrying it around in my handbag (w/sleeve..of course)...and it's just great!

I think, its due to the holidays and such...

Hey yah Mick... The keyboard became so easy to use after 1 day!

Well, perhaps after the holidays we shall see you around more!


Cin

 

Told ya.

Easy peezy.

 

For sure....twas a *piece of cake*, once you let your fingers do the typing, and become familiar with something completely new!

I am a Qwerty Typist! :yes:


Cin

 

How long does it take returned items to get to the repair depot? I had FedEx pick up my defective Dell Mini on Monday (Dell sent me a box to put it in). There is nothing registering on "My Account" section of the Dell website and I don't have a tracking number for the package. How will I know when it has arrived??

Does anyone have any experience with returning a Mini for service? I'd appreciate an info--I wish the repair/exchange would happen soon but I'm betting this is at least a 2 week process.

 

I've had good results with returns as well as money back and also
sending in and getting the computers fixed and sent back.

They do it really fast.
________________________________________

oh and Cin, what kind of battery did you end up with.
Funny I noticed Ruby runs cooler than snowball, but the same batter.

 

Second round attempt, all of you Mini owners/experts with tons of posts in this thread please chime in and answer some questions???

Hey everyone I'm thinking about buying one of these mini 9's from dell.com

For $444 plus shipping etc. I can get the mini 9 in white or black running Linux with 512MB of RAM, a 16GB solid state hard drive, bluetooth, and a 1.3Mp webcam. Is this the cheapest price right now? Are there any sales going on right now?

It's cheaper to just buy a 2GB stick of RAM from newegg.com and put it in myself than upgrading online. However it seems that only 1GB of RAM works with Linux. IS THIS TRUE? Is it just the Linux that Dell uses? Could I use my own Ubuntu and have all 2GB available? What speed DDR2 does the mini support, all the way up to 800?

Also, I see that a lot of you have been adding SDHC memory to the mini, why is that? Is it just treated as another hard drive? Is it fast enough to store MP3's on to play with a media player on the mini? What if I have to take it out to use the SDHC card from my camera, do they swap easily?

Finally, I've read that the 32GB solid state hard drive runs slower than the included 16GB hard drive. IS THIS TRUE? Will I be able to upgrade the included 16GB hard drive with a drive of my choice in the future if they get faster/cheaper?

Thanks all for the help! I think I'm going to buy one of these soon and I want to know all the facts ahead of time.
Smitty

 

Hey Smitty!
I didnt forget you...and I will have some thorough answers for you a bit later this morning (at work)...

Unless, some of my fellow I9 owners can chime in beforehand.


Cin

 

Does a manual come with the mini? If not, where could I find one? Thanks

 

Here are the various manuals and service guides for the Mini 9

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins910/en/index.htm

 

Hey Pickles, somewhat of a small manual...but the linky that atbnet, attached above would have much better information for yah!

Cin

 

GREAT!! Thanks a bunch folks.

 

It comes with PC2-6400, I would just stick with that when you upgrade. I am running a regular Ubuntu 8.10 install and it sees 2GB just fine. I have never used the Dell OEM version of linux so I can't speak to that.

I have an 8GB SDHC card that I use for storing audio/video content, just a bit of extra storage that I can easily pop in one of my other machines to load it up. It is easy enough to pop out so if you need to use it in your camera really quick it won't be an issue as long as you have some free space. My camera doesn't have any issues with using a SDHC card that has some non-picture content on it.

The solid state drive is super easy to swap out from a hardware perspective. I am not able to see on Dell's website where they offer a 32GB, so I am not exactly sure what drive you are talking about. If I can find a 64GB drive for a reasonable price, I'll probably upgrade.

 

http://mydellmini.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=826&start=10#p16522

Woot! Got the InvisibleShield in today and applied to my Mini!!

 

Cool, taking a look at zagg.com it looks like they are 30% off, at that price I might have to get one. Was it easy to install?

 

Yeah way easy...took about 15min.

 

I took my 16 GB hard drive out and installed a 64 GB (pretty easy - two screws). It's $200 at mydigitaldiscount.com

I do not see me needing anything higher than 64. Now I have a 1 GB stick laying around since I put a 2 GB stick in there as well as a 16 GB. Gggrrrr....hate wasting stuff.

 

Nice deal! I wonder if Newegg has anything like that...
*checking*





Cin

 

The only other place I'm aware of that sells the Invisible Shield is Best Buy, and even that is limited.

 

Thanks SO much for all the feedback! I just looked again and the Dell Mini 9 has the option for a 32GB HDD, but I think I'll just stick to the 8 or 16 for now especially since I can just pop in a SDHC card to store my audio/videos.

Linux is going to be great, did you have to get a USB CD drive to instal Ubuntu 8.10 or are you able to format a USB drive to do it?

 

Amazon also sells may Invisible Shield products but not for the Mini 9.

 

You aren't the first person to mention the 32GB option that I can't seem to see. Are you going to Dell.com then going to the Small Business or Home section?

edit: Nevermind, I just noticed the option is there if you configure the base $349 model but not when configuring the other higher models... odd...

edit again: Just priced out a Ubuntu model with Red lid, 512MB, BT, 32GB, and 1.3mp web cam for only $524. If I was buying one now, that's what I would get. Such a good deal

 

I have a 64 GB that I have been waiting to put in.. but have been chicken.
Any words to the wise?? warning???

 

Thanks, Mick

Yes, any words to the wise on something like this? I have heard it's a fairly simple task!


Cin

 

Unbelievable, just been checking Dell Outlet for I-9 and a couple days ago there were a few hundred. Today it's been bouncing between zero to ten or twenty! They must really be shipping them puppies outa' there!

 

More than likely Dell server issues are the reasons for inventory inconsistencies...

 

Who know's maybe or maybe not! But, it would be a good thing, if so!

Hmm..maybe? Didn't really think of it this way!


Cin

 

I just missed a good deal on one the other evening for $309......Scratch & Dent -- XP, 16gb SSD, 1gb RAM, Camera. Gotta be really quick or those will be gone in a jiffy!

 

There is a 20 percent off coupon today so that's why they're flying out of there. People are refreshing over and over just to catch the ones that go back into inventory from expired carts.

 

Ok I bought the mini 9 in white from Dell.com with 8GB SSD, 512MB of RAM, Bluetooth, and Webcam. The total came out to $438 shipped to my door.

Next I went to newegg and bought a 2GB stick of DDR2-800 RAM for $20 shipped and a 16GB SDHC card for $25 shipped.

I plan on installing Ubuntu 8.10 (not the dell version so I can use all 2GB of RAM) and also a stripped down version of Windows XP to compare speeds and power consumption.

How do I go about installing an OS from a flashdrive instead of a CD drive?

 

Here is a guide for Windows.

http://www.eeeguides.com/2007/11/installing-windows-xp-from-usb-thumb.html

This guide is written for Eeebuntu, but it will work with any linux distro.

http://www.liliputing.com/2008/12/how-to-install-eeebuntu-with-a-usb-flash-drive.html

 

ooh that's too bad.

Are you going to use this coupon for the 20% off?

20% off Refurbished Dell Mini 9 Laptops Coupon
Code: 31H6K68QQT$9SK

Prices are starting at $263. Stock changes during business hours, so refresh every 15 minutes to see new inventory.

Thank you very much, for adding this!


Cin

 

Guy's/Gal's...I've added a *Helpful Links* Section to the first post in this thread. If you have anything you want to add..just let me know!

I think this will be very helpful. Shoutout to atbnet for also thinking of this!


Cin

 

Cin, thanks for the Coupon Code, I wasn't able to find it earlier. Right now all they have is 117 Mini's with XP and only 8gb SSD for $379.

 

Your welcome!

I hope you are able to use it. I'm sure you will be able to find something in there. Just keep *refreshing*

And, let us know if you ended up purchasing!

We would love to see the specs'.


Cin

 

I love how they have these special coupons about a week and a half after I already bought a mini on the outlet (sigh...). That mini cost me over $400 and is currently back at the depot for repair as it arrived damaged. I won't have it for another week so that means 2 weeks total for the send back to Dell. Bummed out.....

 

Ordered my Mini 9 yesterday with the 20% off at the dell outlet... Can't wait to get it.

 

Oh no! Bah..That's not good! Too bad you can't just have them return it, and get a new one with the coupon code.

I know that can't happen..but it would be nice it if worked for yah.

Try, and hang in there just a bit, I know its hard too.

That's awesome! May I ask what your total cost was?? What color? etc.

Cin

 

336 shipped. Specs in the sig.

i had to reorder it 3 times... aha, at first i bought a brand new one, but canceled that to get one at the outlet. then bought one at the outlet only to find out that the very next day(jan 1) there was a 20% off coupon. thankfully i found the coupon for it!

 

Yeah, you got a sweet deal! Congrat's! You will enjoy it, once you receive it.

It's good that shipping is fairly quick from the Outlet!~


Cin.

 

lol i got a question.. if i use my notebook fan will i be able to run counter-strike 1.6 smoothly? aha i know the screen is going to be tiny, but i just wanted to know how well this thing works running games. i don't plan on gaming though, but i'm just excited to get it!

oh yeah.. and did anyone do the OSX hack? i'm thinking about it, but i'll need to find more info about it.

 

I was able to play Quake 3 on it pretty smoothly, if I remember correctly that is around the same requirements as CS so I bet it'll do ok.