Laptops Arena

From the launch of the first netbook, Asus Eee PC 701, Dell started to build a good competitor. However, Dell did not anticipate that Asus was preparing its own upgrades to Eee PC 701. The Dell Mini 9 netbook was released in a few weeks after the Asus Eee PC 901. Unfortunately, it lacked success at first, but became a disappointment, once the Eee PC 1000 H and the Eee PC S101 arrived on the market. However, this is not a bad netbook at all. It lacked marketing and a better positioning in Dell's portfolio.

This Mini 9 provides good features (comparable with an older laptop). Other huge advantages over the Asus models, is that even do it is late it brings small size, good readable display, huge hard drive, great performances when used with office applications, Wi-Fi and many others, while Asus had to continuously improve its line to deliver such features. At a glance you might even say that the entire wait paid off. The only main disadvantage brought by Dell Mini is the rather small keyboard. The netbook has a height of 1 to 1.22 inches and weighs about 1.035 kg (or about 2.28 lbs). These dimensions make it very small. Even so the Mini 9 sports a glossy 8.9 inches LCD display (with a diagonal of 22.6 cm) with a resolution of 1024 x 600 (133 dpi). Above the display you will also find a web camera, while below the screen Mini 9 includes two small speakers. Even if this display might seem too small, it is extremely readable and it will not create any problems when browsing the web, or editing Office documents. You might lose your patience if you work with spreadsheets documents. The Mini 9 is equipped with the Diamondville Intel Atom 1.6 GHz N270 processer with 533 MHz FSB and 512 kb cache.


This is an average feature for netbooks, since the Atom was created for small notebooks. Visually this netbook is attractive. It design was copied even by the new Booklet from Nokia. The lid is not quite glossy but it is certainly not matte like the back side. The design overall is quite resisting and is still attractive even now, one year later since the release on the market. A great feature is that the hardware design includes passive cooling making the Mini 9 fan-less and extremely quiet (you probably not even hear it). Also the exterior design helped Dell including a pretty consistent number of ports. On the left you can find the power input and about three USB 2.0 ports (over the average in this range of only two USB 2.0 ports). Also on the left, you can find the memory card reader (a feature that you will need in order to save some readable memory). This memory card reader is compatible with the following memory cards, SD memory card, SDHC memory card, MMC memory card, and also both Memory Stick Card and Memory Stick Pro card. At a second closer look you will discover the Ethernet port (10 / 100), the VGA out port (in order to connect the Mini 9 to an external display). In the connectivity department you will get beside the Ethernet port, the Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g support, Bluetooth 2.0. Mini 9 also has integrated HSDPA (with up to 7.2 MB per second).

The SIM card slot can be found under the battery. This location should not be a main disadvantage, because it was placed there in order to keep it safe. The overall look of the keyboard might let you think this netbook is an Inspiron 1525 with smaller dimensions. The keys feel solid, no flex when pressing them, offering a good feedback. The touch pad is precise and it is center placed under the keyboard. By doing so, Dell improved the usability of this model (when writing you will not accidentally touch the touch pad making your display scroll up or down). Dell also included the special keys like Tab, Caps Lock and others in a smaller design than the actual keyboard keys. Therefore, you should have everything in hand when writing or editing important Office documents.

In the memory department, Mini 9 is equipped with 1024 MB DDR2 SDRAM at 533 MHz (upgradable to 2048 MB DDR2 SDRAM at 533 MHz); with a 16 GB SSD hard drive. Dell used on the Mini 9 the Intel GMA 950 chipset and an integrated Mobile Intel 945 Express Chipset. The only operating system capable of running on the Mini 9 netbook is Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2. The Mini 9 has a four cell battery with 32 Watt per hour. This battery is sufficient in normal activities, like emailing, editing, internet browsing, or listening to music. It should last about three hours and 21 minutes.

Even if the Dell Mini 9 netbook was discontinued on May 29, 2009, you can still find it on stock at resellers with an extremely small price list. Therefore if you liked the Asus Eee PC 901, but you are looking for a change of scenery (or manufacturer) without draining you money supply you should look for Mini 9 bargains. If money is no concern for you in this uncertainly time, then you should also take a closer look to the pricy Dell Inspiron Mini 10 and Inspiron Mini 10v 9with asking price of a full feature laptop).