The long rumored, long awaited "Eee PC Killer" from Dell, now called
the Dell Inspiron Mini 9, is now shipping! The Windows XP version, available
now, costs $399. The Ubuntu Linux version, available in "a few weeks," will cost
just $349! These prices are actually much lower than ASUS's for comparable
systems. As leaked earlier, inside is an Intel Atom Diamondville processor and
it has a 1024x600 LED-backlit screen with 4, 8 and 16GB SSD options (plus you
get 2GB free online storage at Box.Net) and about three hours of battery life.
Only the Windows XP version is available now for $399, in black or white-the
$349 Ubuntu flavor, along with the rest of the six-color rainbow are a few weeks
away. FYI, you can pick one up for $99 if you buy another Dell AND it has 3G
hidden inside.
The first review can be found on
Arstechnica:
I will admit, before the Inspiron Mini I didn't really show much affection
towards netbooks. I understood their appeal and their purpose, in my mind the
current netbook revolution is simply taking the ultra portable Sony Picturebooks
of the early 2000s and making them affordable, which is great, but I never
really fell in love with the design of the Eee PC or its competitors. The
Dell Inspiron Mini 9 changed that for me; it modernized the netbook and at $349
I no longer felt like I had to justify why I was spending so much on slow
hardware. And I can't stress enough how pretty this thing is, especially for
something that costs less than $400. We always give credit to Apple for good
industrial design and while I wouldn't put the Inspiron Mini on the same level
as the ID of the MacBook Air, I'm quite impressed.
ASUS got the equation nearly perfect with the Eee PC, but I believe that the
Eee and the Mini are really good for two different types of users. The Eee
is more of the tinkerer's netbook, it's got a bit more storage, 802.11n and
comes more feature filled out of the box. Dell's Mini ships at a lower price
and with a correspondingly reduced configuration, but it targets the heart of
what I believe the netbook user is: someone looking for a simple, relatively
comfortable way of getting online and doing basic computing tasks. MSI aimed
much higher with the Wind, with larger hard drives and attempting to beat ASUS
based on specs alone but I'd argue that with a netbook it's not the specs that
will crown a winner, it's the efficiency of the package.
At $349 I'd like to see the Mini ship with 1GB of RAM standard and with at least
the 0.3 megapixel camera, as it stands my desired configuration ends up being
$384. Of course I'd want it to be cheaper, the $299 price point being the
magical target, but there is something to be said for Dell's current promotion.
Buy a Studio 15, M1530 or M1330 and Dell will sell you the Mini for $99,
treating it as an upgrade to a notebook rather than a standalone device. While
the promotion is short lived, I do think it's one that makes enough sense to
bring back as often as possible.