Dell Inspiron Mini 9 Netbook Subnotebook Laptop PC

9/29/08 - Dell is a fairly late entry into the netbook market, but the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 has some very strong qualities to it. For one, it is the first netbook to go completely fanless meaning that it has silent operation. It also features a user accessible panel at the bottom making it easy for both Dell and consumers to easily upgrade or modify its features. Still, Dell could have improved the design some to really set it apart. The lack of function keys can be problematic as is the battery that while better than many 3-cells in competing units is still smaller than 6-cells offered by many others.

9/29/08 - Dell's Inspiron Mini 9 is a late entry into the netbook market, but it does bring some new items to the table that we haven't seen to date. Sure, it still uses the base Intel Atom N270 low power mobile processor that is found it just about every netbook model. It also features an 8.9-inch display with a 1024x600 resolution also common to many netbooks. So, what exactly is different about the Inspiron Mini 9?

Probably the most significant of the features is the customization available. Dell offers a wide variety of configuration options available for the Inspiron Mini 9. Users can select what size storage drive, memory, whether it has a webcam or not and even bluetooth. The better part is that most of these items can be easily reached by removing a single panel on the bottom on the unit. This allows users to easily swap in memory, storage and mini-PCI cards as they wish to get the exact system that they want even after their purchase.

Another great feature of the Inspiron Mini 9 is how quiet the unit is. This is achieved through the use of a large heatsink rather than using a cooling fan. This allows it to achieve a silent status that no other netbook has so far achieved. The downside to this is that the case of the Mini 9 does get hotter than many other competing netbooks on the market. While it is quite warm, it doesn't get too hot to be unusable in ones lap.

The Inspiron Mini 9 isn't without its flaws though. The biggest of these is the lack of a dedicated row of function keys. Users will need to use a combination of keys to simulate the function keys. This can be quite annoying as many of these are used for shortcuts in applications. There also is no way to simulate the F11 or F12 keys.

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