Dell Inspiron Mini 9 Review

If you follow me on Twitter, I posted a tweet that I got a Dell Inspiron Mini 9 via refurbished deals through Dell first brought to my attention by CrunchGear. It was a no brainer! For less than $260, I got myself a 9 inch beautiful piece of machinery just like the Acer One that we reviewed earlier and the MSI Wind that Dave reviewed. Only Dell has stepped up with some beefier specs. Hit the bump for more details.

Dell Mini 9

What came in the box:
1 Refurbished Dell Inspiron Mini 9 with Windows XP Home
1 Power cord
3 Install CDs and manuals

That’s it!

After opening it up, the first big notice is the lack of function keys or “F” keys (F1-F12). Instead, Dell decided to use their own function key “Fn” and a letter (ASDF… …JKL;) to represent the actual function keys on a normal keyboard. I like my function keys a lot and this will be some getting used to. But again, the biggest downside to any netbook is the keyboard and its smaller size. Dell has done a good job with the keyboard removing the “F” keys making the actual buttons bigger. What’s also bigger is the touchpad and the mouse buttons. Very nice!

Mini 9 keyboard and touchpad

Other than that, the netbook is what you would expect. It is zippy when surfing the web, fast boot up speeds and can handle light word processing. The biggest problem I have is the cover of the Mini 9. It is glossy and picks up fingerprints very easily. You will need an external DVD-burner if you would like to install other programs off of CDs, but you can pick one up easily at Newegg. I also use my VX nano to move around easier.

But I had mentioned refurbished earlier… and to be honest, there are some things you would not want to buy refurbished like a new LCD/plasma TV, or a surround sound system or regular hard drives. But for a netbook with a solid state hard drive less than $300, I think I could live with a refurbished. Dell still offers a 1 year warranty and you do have the option of getting an extended warranty. Dell even goes as far as to put a sticker on the bottom of the netbook stating:

REFURBISHED: This product may contain a combination of new, refurbished or previously used parts. Each product is tested to make sure it meets original factory specifications and workmanship standards. Using refurbished parts can help in protecting the environment.

Bottom of Mini 9 with Refurb sticker

Here are some more detailed specs (prices will vary depending on specs):
Black
1.6GHz Intel Atom processor
1GB RAM (which will be upgraded to 2GB)
16GB SSD (solid state hard drive which has no moving parts)
4cell battery which will last 3-4hrs with lowest brightness on the screen (and even then, it is still bright)
About 37oz or 2.3125 pounds
8.9 inch screen with a resolution of 1024×600