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

So, did you get a replacement then?? And, if so how is it working out for you now?

AGal..Nice *mini* review you did there on your I10 giving some comparisons! I'm glad it's working out for you so far!

Please continue to keep us updated on it & also your I9, of course! I had wondered how the key board functionality would differ bet. the 2!~

Cin

 

Overall, I think that the differences on the two Mini's is only important if you have specific things you want to do with the laptop and if you are tied into wanting a certain size. If you just want to web surf and check email both do a great job.


I never tried the Mini with a Runcore SSD. I also have read that SSD's are faster than hard drives. To me, the Mini 10 seems snappier than my Mini 9--perhaps smoother is the better word. My Mini 9 works great but there are occasionally lags. Maybe I just need to adjust something on that laptop. In general, they function about the same.

One thing I definitely want to do is to get the higher resolution screen, bluetooth, and 2 GB ram when I get a fancier Mini 10 this summer. I can't understand why Dell didn't have these options available from the beginning. GPS and TV tuners are fun add ons, but you'd think something like memory and screen resolution would be choices offered right away.

A note to any of you watching the outlet for Mini 10's. There are some good deals right now with a 15% off coupon. My Mini 10 cost $270 plus tax (same configuration is over $500 on Dell Home). But watch the processors as some are being offered with the slower 1.3 Ghz rather than the 1.6.

The Ice Blue color is awesome--really different for a laptop (kind of a light, powdery pearl blue).

 

Any I9 Owners installed WLM on their I9's and having any prob's uninstalling??

I had one heck of a time uninstalling...

I thought I was going to have to do a clean install. I ran Revo U, and the uninstall didn't happen. I ran CCleaner..nope. I even went about it the old way, and WLM didn't even appear in Add/Remove Programs.

So, each and everytime I turned on my I9..WLM attempted to signon and that got annoying, that is why I wanted to remove it. Finally, after many tries..with the help of Revo Hunter Mode...I was able to Kill/Uninstall it at the Task Bar...Yeah..I will be going back to using Meebo now..I've learned my lesson w/WLM.

The strange thing in Hunter Mode was that when the uninstall went thru..I got these strange *characters/numbers*, so I don't know what that was all about.

If anyone has dealt with something like this w/WLM on their I9..please advise.

Cin

 

I'm thinking of getting back into a Mini 9, but I have a question before I make my final decision.

How is the Skype video calling performance with the I9 with the 1.3mp camera? Is it smooth, or laggy?

My previous I9 didn't have a camera, so I was never able to give Skype a go. As much as I'm using Skype these days, it wouldn't make much sense for me to dump money into another I9 if it can't keep up with the program.

 

i am not sure why you had such an issue with windows live messenger.
all you have to do is go into the messenger folder under program files, and then rename the .exe file and the program can no longer start.

kill th eprocess under task manager, kill the startup under msconfig, delete the startup reg entry using regedit. then rename the .exe file
you should rename both, messenger and windows messenger under program files.

end of story.

 

No, Mick..I don't use it on my I9..sorry..I have it on my 1530, and it's worked out just great though..I'm sure someone will be along to respond to you with feedback that has it on their I9 though!

I'm still enjoying the I9...barring the prior prob' I had been having all is good..Glad to hear your thinking of getting getting back into one!

Cin

Neither am I, that is why I posted. Thanks for the info'!!~~~

 

I got the 0.3mp camera and i can say the performance is smooth (the actual quality of the video is !@#$%), but 1.3mp it's a lot more, so I don't know how is going to be.

 

I finally got around to ordering another I9 this morning, when the coupons dropped. I figured I better do it now, before the supply of these things dries up.

I ended up getting a new, black, I9 with Ubuntu and a 1.3mp camera for 215 with tax. Not a bad deal, but certainly not as good as my first one (which I really should have kept).

I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on this thing. I plan on using it as my tinkering computer, as I already use an Eee Pc 1000he as my main laptop. I'm really interested in trying out a bunch of these new Linux distros, Windows 7, and Hackintoshing it. This one is going to be more of a toy, than anything else.

It's good to be back in the I9 fold. IMO, the I9 is the best netbook out there, and I've really missed it since I sold my original.

 

That's cool that you got your I9! Really, you didnt' get a bad price.

I bet you have it by next Monday.

I would only be interested in dual booting mine, if I ever decided to try it out

I can be slacker sometimes

Cin

 

Just picked up a refurbed mini 9- 8gb ssd, 1gb ram, & ubuntu for $186 shipped thanks to the coupon. Can't wait till it comes. I currently have a eeepc 1000HD, should be an interesting comparison.

BTW, this is my first experience with ubuntu

 

You will enjoy the I9 very much! Congrat's on your purchase also!

$186!!! Nice pricing!

Alot of I9 owner have had great experience with Ubuntu!


Cin

 

Yep. It arrived today. Now I have to wait for my SSD, so I can start having some fun with this thing.

 

What SSD did you order? I put a Runcore 64GB in mine about a month ago. Really happy with it. Running dual boot WinXP and Ubuntu 9.04. Finding myself using Ubuntu more and more, it really is a nice OS and faster on the mini 9 than WinXP.

 

I ordered a 16GB Supertalent. This is one of the newer Supertalents that has the 80/40 speed of the Runcores, but they run a little cheaper and can be purchased from newegg. If it works well, I may end up getting a 32GB at the same speed.

At this point, I'm still waiting on it to arrive. So, I'm just running a fresh install of Jaunty, which is very nice. When my 16GB gets here, I'll be giving it a fresh Windows 7 install, and after awhile, I'm going to Hackintosh it.

 

Grat's on the *new* arrival!! ...How long on the SSD?


Cin

 

It should be here any time now. It's on the UPS truck. So, tonight should be an entertaining evening.

 

Those SSDs from newegg seem pretty legit, if I would have seen those a couple weeks ago I would have definitely picked one up but with my new job and its liberal personal use policy for their systems, I find myself not using my Mini 9 so much.

I am thinking that if I did get the faster SSD that I might be able to run Vista Basic fairly well on my Mini 9, your thoughts?

 

Frankly, I don't see the benefit of running Vista Basic. Even without all of the Aero stuff, Vista's a pretty big hog.

If I was you, I just download Windows 7 RC1. I installed it on my new SSD this evening, and it's pretty darn good. It has the good looks of Vista (and then some) and the speed of XP (actually it feels a bit faster).

I'm no Vista hater. In fact, I really don't have a problem with it, and have been a pretty big proponent of running it. However, netbooks and Vista just aren't a good mix.

 

Hello again everyone,

Just checking back in with all of you. If you remember I bought my I9 during the Black Friday sale. So far I'm still loving it and I've had no problems at all with it. Works perfectly for all my on-the-go computer needs. I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good case for it. I still have a very basic sleeve for it but I need something small that can also hold the AC power cord and a bluetooth mouse. Also, could anyone recommend good bluetooth headphones for it to listen to music & movies in the car or airplane?

 

Anyone have a good coupon for the Mini9 at the dell outlet????

Please PM if you have any that you are not using



THANKS IN ADVANCE
TIM

 

you can't use bluetooth on an airplane, at least not legally. you can't use any devices that transmit.

 

It's back again ... Dell Mini 9 makes surprise reappearance on Dell's website

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DNCOXM2&s=dhs

Dell must have had to sell out their remaining stock or they were so popular that they decided to keep them available as long as people were buying.

You can pick your version of the truth...

 

Yikes!! An 8GB White for $299???? And to think I was getting Previously Ordered New units from the Outlet for $179 not so long ago!!

Although the Mini9's are nice, the 10v is almost identical in specs, but a one inch larger screen, and most importantly, a real SATA hard drive (great to have to put a fast SSD or a BIG 500GB drive for movies, etc...)

I liked my Mini9, but I think I like my Mini 10v more now that I have more space and faster storage! Those expensive, proprietary PCI slot SSD's were really just too small and slow for the price.

 

The problem with the 10v is that resolution. I wish they'd start offering the LCD upgrade on the 10v like the do the 10.

 

It's not there...I followed your link...but I could not find it on Dell's site when I went there on my own for a physical search.....

Maybe it was before, but it's gone...now.


Cin....

 

Hi Cin, try this link

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DNCOXM2&s=dhs

 

Got it! Thanks for relinking!


Cin

 

Just noticed the Mini 9 is back up on Dell's UK site: http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/hom...id=laptop-inspiron-9&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&ref=lthp

It hasn't been available (that I've noticed) for ages. Rather pricey though.

 

Is this thread still active?...

 

mini 9 has rebaged to Vosto a90 so the mini 9 is not dead after all?

 

That happened a while ago..

 

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellst...3z&c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&kc=laptop-vostro-a90

It looks nice

 

http://en.community.dell.com/wikis/...stro-a90-usb-key-drive-flashbios-utility.aspx

Mini9 & Vostro A90 BIOS has been updated for new year up to A06 & A05!

 

Thanks, Somms


Cin...

 

Thanks for informing us.

Here is the link to download the A06 Bios directly from Dell(the link above leads you to ISO hunt...)
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...typeid=-1&dateid=-1&formatid=-1&fileid=372333

 

I have finally retired my Mini 9, my SSD has burnt out and even simple browsing lags.

It did well in it's time! Just ordered a M101z...

 

Just got a Dell Mini 9 and I have a few questions about upgrades:

1)Anywhere I can buy a black top shell for it?

2)SSD wise, anywhere I can find a good and cheap SSD? is this one ok? Amazon.com: Super Talent 32 GB MLC Half Mini 2 PCIE Solid State…

3)Anything else notable that I should upgrade? (it already has 2gb of RAM in it)

4)Is there any type of TRIM software for these SSDs? or do they just eventually die out? (judging by the above post I am guessing yes?)

 

Ive had a mini9 for a while, it came with linux (my choice) and I havent bothered to upgrade bios yet, but today I thought why the hell not so I looked on dell site and the DOS version is A05 and the other version is A06. So why the difference? They gave up on us freedos users?