Review of Dell Inspiron Mini 9

Ever since Asus created netbooks, every company has been scrambling into the market with their own piece. The Inspiron Mini 9 netbook marks Dell’s entry to the world of netbooks. It sports an 8.9-inch screen and features Windows XP as its operating system. It has a 1.6-GHz Intel Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM, and a solid-state drive.

Specifications
Processor: 1.6GHz N270 Intel Atom Processor
RAM: 1GB DDR2 533MHz (1 DIMM)
Display: 8.9″ 1024 x 600 WSVGA glossy LED backlit display
Hard Drive: 8GB miniPCI SSD card
Graphics: Intel GMA 950 Integrated Graphics
Price: $474

Design
Our first impression was that it looks pretty much like the other recently released netbooks but since it’s Dell, you can expect it to have a classy touch. This one looks like a smaller and tinier version of the Inspiron 1525 laptop. It has a glossy plastic exterior with rounded edges. We don’t like its glossy LCD lid which by now has our fingerprints on it and in a way; it doesn’t look neat like that. Nevertheless, it has a strong build quality and is not heavy. Another thing that struck us was that this netbook can be easily upgraded thanks to Dell’s logical placement of the upgradeable components. It measures 9.2″ x 6.8″ x 1.3″ and weights 2lb 5.5oz.

Keyboard
The keyboard on the Inspiron Mini 9 disappoints with its packed-in keys. It was alright at first but after a couple of minutes of continuous typing, it started to feel uncomfortable. Though, we find that it’s slightly bigger than the keyboards on the 7-inch and 8.9-inch models of Asus Eee PC netbooks. Not recommended for those who want to use it on a daily basis typing up documents. Meanwhile, the touchpad is just nice for this kind of netbook. The buttons are rightly placed on the touchpad and we have no complains when using it.

System
With this netbook, Dell offered two operating system versions, either Windows XP or Linux. Our version runs Windows XP. Dell also includes a couple of useful software and there are also applications that came with its operating system, Windows XP. It’s really useful to the point that we have found a use for all the software Dell included. For example, movies are easily played and music can easily be listened. We plugged in our iPod and it was instantly recognize by the system. So there was no need to download any other additional software.
We are happy with the startup time which is 20 seconds and we don’t have to wait a long time for programs to open. The same goes for playing videos, open office application, opening PDF files and PowerPoint presentation.
Playing a 1080p video on the Inspiron Mini 9 might not be the perfect choice but other videos played well without any interruption.

Display
The Inspiron Mini 9 has a glossy LED backlit display and it produces nice colors with a good contrast. Though, when we took it outside, it’s hard to view anything as the screen itself is very bright. It features a resolution of 1024 x 600.

Ports
Ports on this netbooks are three USB ports, Ethernet/LAN, VGA, audio jacks and a multi-card reader.

Battery
The 4-cell battery lasts us for about three hours under normal use. For more time from the battery, consider setting a lower screen brightness and by switching off the wireless card.

Conclusion
For its price, we consider the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 a good catch. It is a netbook that is easy to carry along as a travel companion. There are many netbooks around like the Mini 9 but with this one, the battery could have been better, the screen could have been neatier and the keyboard could have been spacious.The downs of this netbook are pretty much like the other netbooks we have reviewed but it is a sell-out for those who are willing to overlook its flaws.