Some might call them a fad but it is almost impossible to ignore the new influx of mini notebooks also known as netbooks.  I believe it was ASUS who started the craze with their EeePC designed for browsing the Internet and dealing with emails while remaining compact and affordable.  Since the EeePC every man and his dog seems to be jumping on this portable bandwagon.  With netbook releases from MSI and Acer, Dell finally pulled their finger out and knocked up one of their own.  The Inspiron Mini 9 was released last Friday in the UK and I snapped one up straight away.  It arrived today and here are my first impressions.

Dell Inspiron Mini 9 Spec:

> 1.6GHz Atom CPU (with what looks like HyperThreading)
> 1GB RAM
> 16GB SSD Storage
> 8.9" Screen
> 802.11b/g WIFI
> Bluetooth
> 3 USB, 1 VGA, 3-in-1 Media Reader, Sim Card Slot, 10/100 Ethernet.
> 1.3MP Integrated Webcam

Firstly I'd just like to say how pleased I have been with the service I have received from Dell while purchasing this product.  It took less than a week to get here which is pretty impressive considering they custom build all their machines and that when I ordered it the website said it could take up to fifteen days.  I was able to track the process of the order at every step of the way and even received a phone call yesterday telling me that the computer would arrive tomorrow between the hours of 8 and 1.  Pretty good I think.

After eagerly unboxing the netbook what struck me the most was how good looking the it is.  It's asthetics are very pleasing, with a glossy black lid and it's silver base trim.  This is a breath of fresh air from some of the other ugly netbooks.  However the next thing I noticed was not so pleasing.  It appears that the joint that attaches the screen to the base has a very limited angle of movement.  This means that the screen doesn't tilt as far as some might like.  This could limit the user's sitting angle.  I'm not sure if this is an oversight by Dell but it's a little annoying to say the least.

One thing I also noticed when I openned the box was the weight of the Mini.  Coming in at just over a kilo it's certainly no feather-weight considering it's size.  But with the weight comes an overwhelming feeling of solidity and robustness, making it seem like it could take a few hits.  The weight is mostly down to the 4 cell battery.

The keyboard has been streamlined, integrating the function keys into the middle row of keys.  It feels pleasant to touch but will take some getting use to if you're accustomed to a full size keyboard.  The touchpad has good responsiveness but disappointingly lacks the 2-finger scroll functionality I was hoping for, instead utilizing the right hand size of the pad to scroll.

The Mini comes with Windows XP only (at the time of writing).  The initial XP startup was slow.  It trotted along asking a question every couple of minutes.  As I deal with a lot of laptops as part of my job I know that machines that come from companies such as Dell come loaded with copious amounts of trial and free software which undeniably slows down your brand new toy.  So the first thing I did once the Mini booted into Windows was go through and have a look at what they had installed to slow it down.  To my suprise there wasn't actually that much.  Although it did come with McAfee Security Center which I swiftly removed and replaced with AVG Free.  It also came with some Webcam software from Dell that seemed to eat memory even when idle.  That came off too.

My reason for purchasing a netbook was so that I could have a computer that I could take anywhere.  I understand that a system of this specification isn't designed to operate complex CPU intensive software, and anyone thinking about purchasing a netbook should keep this in mind.  Overall performance in Windows varies.  Browsing the net seems to be quick using either Firefox, Chrome or IE, however there does seem to be some slight stuttering when watching flash movies but this could a plugin related issue that needs investigating.  Watching movies through WMP is fantastic.  The screen is awesome and with a decent set of headphones plugged into the Mini the sound is suprisingly decent.

So first impressions?  I'm very pleased with the Mini so far, though it has been less than 24 hours.  I chose to wait for the Mini rather than purcasing a different netbook because I wanted a netbook with a decent build quality.  I wasn't impressed by the EeePC or MSI Wind much and figured good things come to those who wait.  I'm not disappointed.  I plan to carry the Mini in my bag and combine it with a mobile broadband package of some kind to keep me online wherever I go.  I also plan to tinker with the system a little starting with dual-booting it with Ubuntu 8.04.  It's a Dell so it should have good Ubuntu support some way down the line.  I shall report back about how this goes.

The Pros: Good looking.  Excellent screen.  Good build quality.  3 USB ports.  Bluetooth and WIFI.  Seemingly good performance when doing simple tasks.  Excellent webcam.

The Cons: Heavy for size.  Basic touchpad.  No hard drive light (very annoying).  Crappy memory intensive webcam software.

The Dell Mini Inspiron cost £299 and was purchased from dell.co.uk

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