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« What a difference 3G makes! iPhone battery life. | Dell Mini 9 Bios Screens »

Dell Mini 9 Netbook Unboxing

Well, this was waiting for me when I came home!

First impressions are of a solid, well made, light netbook with a very good, albeit glossy, screen.

Going to give it a good workout over the weekend.

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This entry was posted on 12/09/2008 at 09:43 pm and is filed under Dell, Eee and Clones. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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61 Responses to “Dell Mini 9 Netbook Unboxing”

  1. gordon says:
    13/09/2008 at 12:53 am

    Can you show what the screen looks like outside?
    Maybe in the shade on a sunny day.
    thanks

  2. Gavin says:
    13/09/2008 at 04:07 pm

    When (if) it gets sunny I’ll try! Screen is very bright indoors, I would say a even a bit brighter than my Fujitsu P1610.

  3. mike says:
    13/09/2008 at 05:15 pm

    Tell me can you boot another os from the sd card slot? Very useful to me if you can please tell us.

  4. Gavin says:
    13/09/2008 at 06:22 pm

    I’ll give it a go Mike!

  5. Kenji Hollis says:
    13/09/2008 at 08:25 pm

    Gavin, can you give us a look at the underside of the Dell, open the peripheral port and show where the SSD card goes, the Memory slot, and if it has the WWAN port and additional antennae for the WWAN?

    Also, can you show behind the battery to see if they still included the 3G slot? If so, we should be able to upgrade this thing to WWAN *extremely* easily!

  6. Jim says:
    13/09/2008 at 09:31 pm

    What does the keyboard feel like? Is it firm with little key travel?

  7. Colin says:
    13/09/2008 at 09:48 pm

    Gavin, good to see an unboxing vid from north of the border.

    I’ll second Kenji’s WWAN questions. I hear this netbook will be available with a WWAN minicard but Dell couldn’t give a time frame. Can you have a look and see if the MINIcard slots are there? There should be two - one filled by the wifi card if the documentation link below if correct.

    http://support.euro.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins910/en/sm/minicard.htm#wp1183058

  8. jer0me says:
    13/09/2008 at 10:02 pm

    Gavin, d0es it c0me with a built-in cd/dvd drive? I mean, y0ur package came with cd installers, but I did n0t n0tice the disc sl0t 0n the lapt0p.

  9. ThomDowting says:
    13/09/2008 at 10:36 pm

    Could you please show a video of you typing on it?

    The most important thing to me (and a lot of folks I think) is that they be able to touch type with it. Astoundingly none of the reviews has yet shown someone typing on it. If you would, please show typing in a wordprocessor format. Thanks!!!

  10. max walker says:
    13/09/2008 at 10:38 pm

    you could make a cup of tea in the time it takes to boot into |XP - awful

  11. Stryker412 says:
    13/09/2008 at 11:10 pm

    Can you show a true boot into Windows once you have the initial setup done?

  12. Gavin says:
    13/09/2008 at 11:22 pm

    OK, here goes!

    The 3G sim slot is there
    The keyboard is OK, there is a reasonable amount of key travel although I wouldn’t type a novel on it! Touch typing wouldn’t be easy I think.
    Both mincard slots are there as seen in my other post.
    No built in CD drive(!)
    XP boot time is 35 seconds from turn on to use.

    More to follow but hope this helps guys.

  13. Mario says:
    14/09/2008 at 12:18 am

    Great ‘unboxing’! Thanks. :-)

  14. google hosting review says:
    14/09/2008 at 12:36 am

    though it has a pci-e slot for wwan, there’s no antenna

  15. leaseguru says:
    14/09/2008 at 12:42 am

    Gavin how would you say screen brightness compares to LED brightness or even good standard laptop bright technologies?

  16. pt says:
    14/09/2008 at 02:23 am

    how bloody long does XP take to boot

    Asus Xandros is so much faster

  17. gagahput3ra says:
    14/09/2008 at 02:44 am

    Nice! Thanks for the video :)

    I wonder when will this netbook comes to my country

  18. Greenerist says:
    14/09/2008 at 03:33 am

    Hey, I was wondering are you filming this with a digital camera or camcorder?

  19. Fartblossom says:
    14/09/2008 at 04:13 am

    @pt

    Why don’t you read instead of posting stupid bloody questions? XP only takes a long time to boot the very first time it’s run. Post 12 tells you the actual boot is 35 seconds. Very acceptable.

  20. MM says:
    14/09/2008 at 05:03 am

    Can you use a regular Dell power adapter with this? Thanks.

  21. Alex says:
    14/09/2008 at 05:33 am

    will you have a chance to test out a 2G RAM in this machine? me still waiting for its arrival to my country.

  22. DENgerous says:
    14/09/2008 at 06:45 am

    Is there built-in microphone?

  23. martmann says:
    14/09/2008 at 09:31 am

    DENgerous:
    Yes there is a built in mic, on the bottom?!?! per the service manual (and the “Setup Guide” item 4) that I downloaded from the Dell site.

    I just ordered mine today, and was searching the net for something like this, and here it is, perfect!

    Thanks for all the info!!!

    My estimated ship date is September 29 to Washington State, US (16GB SSD, 1GB RAM, Internal Bluetooth, Obsidian Black, XP).

  24. jer0me says:
    14/09/2008 at 09:36 am

    Mr. Gavin, compared to the other netbooks with the same mini 9 specifications that you have used or reviewed before, how good is the mini 9 so far? Who tops the performance? And how long did it take for you to receive the netbook starting from the day you purchased it until the day it was delivered on your door.

  25. Gavin says:
    14/09/2008 at 11:04 am

    A few more answers.

    See my edited post on upgrading, guess I got excited seeing WWAN in big letters but on closer inspection I can’t see anywhere to plug the card in! Sorry guys.
    I’ve posted a screen comparison.
    XP times confirmed as 25 secs to boot, 10 secs from hibernate and 3 secs from standby.
    It was filmed on a Panasonic DMC-TZ3 camera, great video quality but poor sound!
    It won’t work with any other Dell power adapter
    I’ve ordered 2 Gb Ram to test
    There is a microphone
    Delivery took 7 working days from order to delivery.
    I would say better than the Eee 701 I had (feels quicker) and performance feels on a par with my Fujitsu P1610 with a similar keyboard feel, although the Dell has some smaller keys, the ‘.’ one being the most annoying!
    I’ll run some benchmarks later.

  26. mypup says:
    14/09/2008 at 01:00 pm

    Can you boot from the sd slot or usb?

  27. Daithi says:
    14/09/2008 at 01:05 pm

    Great unboxing
    Whats the battery life like though. Very important for most people.

  28. Gavin says:
    14/09/2008 at 04:20 pm

    Battery life is coming in around 3/12 hours. I’ve been charging to full and playing video, opening and editing docs and posting on here, connected via WIFI.

  29. Kenny says:
    14/09/2008 at 04:25 pm

    When an SD card is inserted does it stick out or is it flush with the mininote?

  30. Gavin says:
    14/09/2008 at 04:26 pm

    Kenny, it’s flush with the side of the unit.

  31. Adam says:
    14/09/2008 at 08:25 pm

    Thanks for the video! Nice to see what it looks like as close to in-person as possible.

    Cheers!

  32. Bigern1990 says:
    15/09/2008 at 04:26 am

    Hey man, awesome unboxing video. This is exactly the video I was looking for. I plan on purchasing one, but want to know a few things before I do…

    1) Is it possible to upgrade the ram yourself?
    2) Is it possible to replace the SSD drive with a standard 2.5″ laptop drive?

  33. Manu says:
    15/09/2008 at 09:40 am

    Hi Gavin,
    many thanks for the video, it’s of a big help!
    Nice to see Crucial catch on fast regarding memory upgrade:

    http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=Inspiron%20Mini%209%20(910)

  34. Oscar says:
    15/09/2008 at 11:51 am

    Heard it gets pretty warm from the other review. does it?

  35. Gavin says:
    15/09/2008 at 02:53 pm

    Ram upgrade is easy and Manu’s post has info. No way to connect a standard 2.5″ drive (apart from USB of course).
    Haven’t noticed it get particularly warm.

  36. Kenji Hollis says:
    15/09/2008 at 02:55 pm

    The fact that there’s a WWAN port, and there’s a 3G Sim slot on the motherboard means there’s hardware included for the use. Good. So, I should be able to buy the Molex connector for the Mini Card. This upgrade’s gonna be a cinch.

  37. Gavin says:
    15/09/2008 at 02:57 pm

    Post back any success Kenji!

  38. Michael says:
    15/09/2008 at 09:32 pm

    Your watch appears to be larger than the entire Dell laptop. Take that bloody humongous watch off before you scratch the computer!

  39. Gavin says:
    15/09/2008 at 09:34 pm

    No, it’s just the Dell is so teeny! ;-)

  40. Dave says:
    16/09/2008 at 07:27 pm

    So the mini actually supports 2GB of ram? Fantastic! Has anyone gotten a 2GB memory module to work in their mini?

  41. martmann says:
    18/09/2008 at 05:30 am

    Hey Manu,

    Thanks for the link (had to enter the “(910)” to the end manually), I ordered one, to upgrade my 910, when I get it.

  42. phil says:
    18/09/2008 at 05:44 am

    did the mini come with PC 4200 or PC 5400 ram? Dell’s site has the FSB listed at 533 mhz, which is 4200; but you pic clearly shows 5400 label on the ram. Is your FSB 533 or 667?

  43. Nathan says:
    18/09/2008 at 01:12 pm

    Phil, Dell has underclocked the RAM from 667 to 533. The mini ships with PC2 5400.

  44. Nathan says:
    18/09/2008 at 09:24 pm

    CORRECTION The Dell Mini ships with PC2 6400, which is underclocked from 800Mhz to 533Mhz.

  45. Jazz1 says:
    19/09/2008 at 03:32 am

    http://www.laptopmag.com/advice/how-to/dell-mini-ram.aspx?mode=video

    Laptopmag has a video showing DDR2 667Mhz upgrade. I contacted Corsair and they confirmed the type of RAM in the video VS2GSDS667D2. I found some on Amazon.com. My Ubuntu Dell is a month out so I can’t report on it working.

    So, will this aftermarket 667Mhz RAM be slowed down as well?

  46. Computechnica says:
    19/09/2008 at 07:00 pm

    New Ram link at Crucial

    http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=Inspiron%20Mini%209%20%28910%29

    2GB 200-pin SODIMM2GB
    Module Size: 2GB
    Package: 200-pin SODIMM
    Feature: DDR2 PC2-5300
    Part #: CT885015
    US $40.99

  47. Jazz1 says:
    20/09/2008 at 03:19 am

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

    Docs for Mini 9. I’ve been looking all over for these. Note the Setup guide says it does support higher Mhz RAM, but says 1GB. My earlier posting from laptopmag.com indicates 2GB works in their machine.

    I’m trying not to fold and get the Windows OS over Ubuntu just to get it before mid-Oct.

  48. labalanguera says:
    20/09/2008 at 06:19 pm

    Hi Gavin, great review & information.

    I know this device has not been designed to substitute an “every day laptop” BUT this is obviously true ONLY depending on How you intend to use it. My question is: since my main every-day use app. is outlook, have you tried to install it & use Outlook (i.e. 2003 or simmilar) and see if it is usable in terms of quick or toooo sloooooww .. Thanx in advance for any new info.

  49. Gavin says:
    20/09/2008 at 06:23 pm

    My partner Lisa has been using this as her day to day device and is running her copy of Office 2007 on it with no issues. Outlook 2007 is running nicely from what I can tell (i.e. she’s not complained)!

    The Atom seems reasonably fast for things like Office.

  50. labalanguera says:
    20/09/2008 at 06:29 pm

    Wow: thanx for your quick reply.
    Let me take anothe minute from you: is there any Hardware constraint in order NOT to use 4 GB of RAM ? And regarding using a standard external display with the Mini, can it display resolutions such as : 1024×768 or 1280×768 ? my sight is not perfect and when using the mini 1024 x 600 is really MUCH better than 1280 x 600 BUT as I intend to use ext. displays as much as possible (although no need for super High res. such as 1680×1050 since I almost would have to put my nose on the screen to work…) it should be able to adapt to standard ext. display resolutions

  51. Gavin says:
    20/09/2008 at 06:31 pm

    Well, it’s a single sim slot (if that makes a difference, not sure). I’m going to swap in 2Gb soon and I’m going to test using an external monitor and post the results so check back tomorrow. :-)

  52. Jazz1 says:
    20/09/2008 at 09:12 pm

    What would be the maximum LDC physical screen size the Mini 9 could drive?

  53. Gavin says:
    20/09/2008 at 10:43 pm

    Guys, check my post on Dual Displays, up now.

  54. ds says:
    23/09/2008 at 12:06 am

    Hi there,
    So is 16GB the max for the SSD. It is a little too small for me. I am waiting for the Lenovo S10 but don’t know when will they release this in the UK. Also there aren’t that many Lenovo dealers in London

  55. Menoats says:
    23/09/2008 at 01:12 am

    Great video, I can not wait for mine to arrive. I am stumped why they included CDs though if it does not have a CD-drive. Also it is great to know their is a microphone built in. Thank you Gavin. Please post about the ram update situation, and what kind of ram you purchased if it works. :)

  56. MonkBus says:
    24/09/2008 at 01:44 pm

    I got my UK mini 9 working at 1920×1080 on my HDTV and browsing was fine at that resolution. Youtube was unsurprisingly choppy at that res.

  57. Jazz1 says:
    27/09/2008 at 02:01 am

    Will any USB optical drive work with the Mini 9, or is there something special about the Dell? I’ve got a LaCie external around here somewhere.

  58. C. Class says:
    27/09/2008 at 10:06 am

    I wonder why they left out the F keys, there would have been plenty of room for them

  59. Laptops says:
    06/10/2008 at 08:38 pm

    I hope you enjoy your new Dell Mini 9!

    http://www.dell.com

  60. Det says:
    15/10/2008 at 01:19 pm

    Menoats:
    “I am stumped why they included CDs though if it does not have a CD-drive.”

    First reaction: Guy, it is a NETBOOK !! Surely no CD drive! Even my Palm PDA has CDs although no drive! They are for maintenance per another PC.

    Second reaction: Well, thinking about it, would be much more reasonable to put the stuff on a SD then … So it must be a pricing issue.

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