Hands On: Dell Mini 9

*** This topic has nothing to do with virtualization ***

Like most of you I travel quite a bit. When I am at the airport or on the plane I have to have something to do. Its just how I work. So lately I have been looking for an affordable UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) for around $500 that I could upgrade to 2GB of RAM. So I was looking at a used Samsung Q1 Ultra (used of course). Then Dell came out with this Dell Mini 9. Which is a 9" screen laptop (no tablet - which is what I was looking for.)

However when I went to order one the price was right but the equipment was all wrong. Max RAM you could buy was 1GB, Max solid state disk was 16GB but it does have an embedded webcam, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, video out, 3 USB ports, 4 hour max battery single SD slot and you could only get XP Home or Ubuntu on it. No offense but I would like to be able to pronounce the name of my OS if its on my system. So when I had this all configured I was so close yet so far. But I decided to risk it anyways in hope that I could upgrade the components when it gets here.

Well I am happy to say - Yes you can!

• I upgraded 1GB of RAM to 2GB. (I think I may just try 4GB just for kicks)
• I created a USB drive that I could install Vista enterprise from and I did. I am happy to report all drivers worked although not all of them off Dells site.
• I am going to order a 32GB SSD drive (not here yet but will update when I get it)

So with MS Office 2007 Enterprise (No Access, Pub, InfoPath or extras), Vista Enterprise SP1, and all the other misc software (Antivirus etc)I need I have just under 3GB of space left on a 16GB SSD. I don't have much room left for files, movies, music etc. However that's what the 16GB SD card is for. I think I am going to try and strip out some Vista stuff just to see how small I can get it.

 I am surprised to say that this system rocks. I think I can do without a tablet now. The keyboard design is the most intelligent I have seen. All the function keys are the blue Fn keys and the keyboard is pretty close to real life. The first test will be the flight home this week. Ill update more as I use the device.

**** Update as of 10/20/2008 ****

Some of the questions Ive received have been about which RAM to get - 2GB DDR2-800 PC2-6400 200 PIN SODIMM was what I purchased that worked fine.

Also as for the SSD Drive upgrade there is a 32GB that will be available soon, however it was on the expensive side.

Lastly I have sold my Dell Mini 9. While yes it was a great little device. I had an epiphany on the flight back last week. While the device is great, it still falls very short of my needs. I need a device that has the same form factor battery life and functionality. I need a few more things though. It needs to be a tablet. I was hoping to replace my Ebook reader device and its the one thing I cannot do with a netbook. I would have also like to have one more SD slot on the device as well. get rid of a USB if you have to but to add more storage without anything protruding from the netbook would be sweet. So for now I will go back to waiting and I guess carry my Zune as my music, video, and game device and Ill probably get the new Sony Reader so I dont have to carry all my books with me....*sigh*