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Every once in a while,
something comes along that is truly new and different and
worth writing about. The Dell Mini 9 is one of the new
netbook computers. Here is my impression as I have my
first experience setting up a couple of these for a customer.
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May 10, 2009 - Written by Tom Travis
http://Computing-Management.com
We buy lots of Dell computers and set them up
for our customers. Usually these computers fall in the
category of Servers, Workstations, or Laptops. Dell gave
us a call with a great promotion on the
Dell Mini 9 Netbook Computer.
We sold three last week just because they are small, cute,
inexpensive, and people just had to have one.
What is a netbook computer you ask. You
may want to look up
Netbook in
Wickipedia where you will find a pretty good definition.
In simple terms, a netbook computer is something that looks
like a laptop computer, acts like a laptop computer, but at about a fourth the size and
weight. These netbook computers are small and cute but
are capable of serious computing. Like other pieces of
technology that have come along in the past, netbook computers
were originally thought to be used primarily for surfing the
web, email, and running web based applications. The idea
behind a netbook
is that not much gets stored locally except a basic operation
system and user configuration. Everything else happens
on-line through the Internet. I've seen other miniature
computers over the years, as well as palm sized and cell phone
devices but did not consider them to be anything near a
substitute for a real computer. I don't use on-line
applications much and plan to treat this netbook just like a
normal laptop.
There are several recent advances in
technology that have come together to make these newer netbook
computers like the Dell Mini 9 actually useful to a typical
computer user. The noteworthy technology advancements
include the following:
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Smaller, lighter, and more powerful batteries.
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A processor CPU such as the Intel Atom that
does not use much power.
-
Solid state drives that are fast enough and
have enough storage to be used as a traditional hard drive.
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Advancements in computer displays that make
things look good and do not use a lot of power.
-
Memory chips that are small in size but just
as capable as desktop memory.
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Over all smaller, lighter, and faster
circuitry that does not need much power.
What do you have to give up when using one of
these Dell Mini 9 netbook computers? The answer
is....not much that anyone would care about! There is no
floppy drive, CD or DVD drive, or any type of expansion slot.
These are things that are not all that necessary these days
and can easily be worked around.
I am impressed with the features that the Mini
9 does have that allow me to do the things I can do
with my regular laptop computer. These include:
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Three built in USB ports that you can plug
your favorite goodies into.
-
A 100 Mbs Ethernet port to plug into your
network.
-
Wireless networking.
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BlueTooth
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VGA port for external monitors.
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Microphone and headphone jack.
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Speakers
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WebCam
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8 GB Solid State drive which is big enough for
Windows XP and some basic applications.
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1 GB Memory - plenty enough for XP
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Built in SD-MS/Pro-MMC chip reader.
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And a really good monitor for it's small size.
I was asked to do our normal workstation setup
on this Dell Mini 9 and basically treat it like I would any
other laptop computer. The applications I installed
included the following which are available for free download
at http://snapfiles.com :
All the above programs were free downloads,
with the exception of Windows XP Home which came with the
computer. Please read our article on Setting Up a New
Workstation or Laptop Computer. Out of the Box",
The 8 GB drive had 4.49 GB used by by Windows which is to be
expected. After installing the above programs and
cleaning up the temp files, I was left with 2.35 remaining.
More about the hard drive later.
The main thing that makes this computer
different than all the others is the Solid State Drive or
SSD.
By solid state drive, I am basically talking about the 8 GB
memory chip, but it is different from an ordinary RAM memory
chip because it does not lose the information once the
computer is turned off. I've been playing with thumb
drives such as USB Memory Sticks, and SD chips, like you would
use in a digital camera for a few years now and these solid
state drives are not much different. The main difference
is in speed. The solid state drive is a little slower
but pretty much comparable to a typical laptop hard drive.
I would like to have a larger drive, maybe 16, 32, or 64 GB
but these will be more affordable in a year or so. I can
make this 8 GB drive work just fine. I would not
recommend the 4 GB version unless maybe you get the Dell Mini
9 loaded with the Ubuntu Linux operating system option.
The SSD is cool because of it's small size and absolutely no
moving parts. This makes it a lot more durable than a
traditional drive and actually will not wear out after a few
years. It is kind of like comparing the jump in
technology from a CD player to an Ipod for music playing.
These SSD drives are here to stay and are only going to get
less expensive and have more capacity. Already it is
possible to upgrade to a 16 GB drive for around $100 in parts.
If I wanted a second drive without spending a
lot of money, I
think I would simply pop a SD memory chip into the chip reader
and have some more storage to play with and maybe download
some movies and such. Actually, I was looking at the
BIOS and it will boot off the SD chip which would be perfect
for a copy of Ubuntu to play with. Of course, I could
always use a thumb drive in a USB port but the SD chip can
just stay there and not be sticking out like an appendage.
Now that I am finished with my setup, I have
in my hands a fully functional Windows computer that will do
pretty much anything I need to do. I think this Dell
Mini 9 is a little small for my personal preference. I
am a big guy with big hands. I tend to have trouble
adapting to the smaller keyboard. If I were to buy one,
I think I would go for the 10 or 12 inch version. While
the computer is small, it does work and it works well enough
that I wouldn't cry too much if someone swapped it out for my
laptop computer. Actually I see these netbook computers
filling a niche in the computer industry where portability is
of key value. Here are some of the uses I think this
computer would be good for:
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Power Point presentations with an overhead
projector.
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A portable computer for registering patients
in a doctor or dentist office.
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A computer that can be carried around by
students.
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Something that would fit nicely on an airplane
tray.
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Handy for a technician to carry around to
customer sites.
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Backpacking Trips!
One of the first things I notice about this
Dell Mini 9 is that it makes no noise. As a matter of
fact there is no fan. The CPU does generate some heat
but not anything like my laptop computer. The heat
generated is more comparable to the amount of heat given off
by a cell phone. The battery does last a good long time.
I've not had the chance to measure the time but I've gone
several hours already on my first charge. The only thing
I don't like is that
there is no hard drive light to tell me the computer is busy.
No drive light and no noise makes you wonder whether or not
the computer is busy or idle sometimes. Some things run
faster and some things slower than my laptop but overall it is
pretty comparable. I remember in the old days there was
a program called "iolight" that you could install and have a
blinking icon on the screen that acted just like a hard drive
light. I wonder if there is a similar program today.
An important thing with any computer is the
ability to upgrade it in the future. At first I though
that this would not be upgradeable but it was not long before
I opened up the cover on the bottom side and saw that the 1 GB
memory chip was in a single slot but I could be replace with a
2 GB or 4 GB if I thought it was necessary, which I don't.
I also saw that the SSD drive is easily accessible and can
also be replaced or upgraded if necessary. I am sure I
will be getting an adapter to migrate the operating system and
data from one of these SSD drives to another, much the same way
we do with traditional IDE or SATA hard drives.
It will be interesting to see how our
customers like and use these Dell Mini 9 computers. I
plan do do some more extensive testing over the weekend before
I have to give these two back to my customer. I think
that netbook computers are here to stay and the future and
they certainly put some of the more traditional notebook or
laptop computers in the obsolete category. I can't
believe I actually am playing with a computer that has no
moving parts besides the keyboard, mouse, and hinge.
I could not resist unplugging my desktop
computer and plugging my Dell monitor, USB mouse and keyboard,
as well as the USB hub built into my monitor. Guess
what, it all worked. Pretty cool
One last thought. Microsoft is wanting
to get rid of Windows XP for everything except.....netbook
computers. In the near future, probably once Windows 7
is rolled out, Microsoft is going to cut off the flow of
Windows XP and force everyone to use either Vista or Windows
7. I think this will boost the popularity of netbook
with XP on them. I also think that Ubuntu Linux will
also finally take off and be widely thought of as a viable
replacement for Windows. In any case, these Dell Mini 9
netbook computers will work well with either Windows XP or
Ubuntu Linux.
The category "netbook" does not do this Dell
Mini 9 justice. It works well on it's own and does not
depend on the internet to host it's applications. As far
as I am concerned, it is just as capable as it's big brother,
the laptop computer.
I have to say I'm impressed. I give the
Dell Mini 9 two thumbs up. I don't think it will be long
until I have to have one, maybe for an early Christmas present
to myself!
Technology has come a long way since I had my
first portable computer with a 9 inch screen. It was the
first IBM Portable PC which was about the size of a suitcase
and weighed around 30 pounds. I believe this was the
first computer I ever owned. The first hard driver I
ever installed was in that thing which was not supposed to be
possible according to IBM. I lugged that computer around
airports and impressed people everywhere. I think the
cost was about $6,000 for an equivalent to the IBM XP that I
could lug around. The 9 inch screen was amber and would
display 80 columns and 24 lines of text! I think it had
640K of memory and 20Mb hard drive as well as a 5.25
inch 360K floppy. It was a good machine right up to the
point I spilled a coke on the keyboard. We did write our
first human resource software on that thing which evolved into
a software package used by companies all over the US and
Canada and eventually sold or millions of dollars.
Imagine what it would have been like if I would have had a
Dell Mini 9 back in those days.
Computing
Management, Inc.
2346 S. Lynhurst
Drive, Suite C-101
Indianapolis, IN
46241
(317) 243-7888
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