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Dell Mini 9
I'm thinking about buying myself a new laptop soon.
Since I find myself not really playing games anymore and using my computer for "work" only I've been looking at cheap "low end" laptops. Another thing I considered was portability. Since I often do presentations for classes.
Thus the Dell Mini 9 as a cheap and relatively fast net-book caught my eye. When working at home I'd just hook the Dell up to my 20" wide-screen and use an external keyboard and mouse, since I imagine working for a longer period of time on such a small laptop can be quite painful. Otherwise the long battery life and small weight make it viable to actually take it with me on the train or during classes.
I was just curious to ask if any of you here got themselves a Dell Mini 9 and if yes, what your thoughts are.
Since I find myself not really playing games anymore and using my computer for "work" only I've been looking at cheap "low end" laptops. Another thing I considered was portability. Since I often do presentations for classes.
Thus the Dell Mini 9 as a cheap and relatively fast net-book caught my eye. When working at home I'd just hook the Dell up to my 20" wide-screen and use an external keyboard and mouse, since I imagine working for a longer period of time on such a small laptop can be quite painful. Otherwise the long battery life and small weight make it viable to actually take it with me on the train or during classes.
I was just curious to ask if any of you here got themselves a Dell Mini 9 and if yes, what your thoughts are.
Comments
If you are looking at a netbook, I suggest you shop around. Look at all the netbooks from all the brands. Samsung, HP, Dell, MSI, Acer, Asus, just about everybody's got a few models available these days. The MSI Wind is actually getting popular these days because with relatively little work, you can put a hacked Mac OSX on there.
It's relatively hard to shop for a Netbook though. When you're buying a real computer, you're actually going to get something good. All netbooks are no good, that's the point of them. It's easy to pick out the shiniest gold, but hard to pick the least smelly crap.
I can say this about the Dell, though. I've seen it in pictures, and it at least looks more durable than some of the other netbooks I've seen. I'd have to see it in person to know for sure.
The only thing a netbook seems to do better is weigh less. I've never understood why people are so hung up on laptop weight. Sure, you don't want a heavy behemoth, but are people so weak that an extra couple of pounds is insufferable to carry around? And I'd much rather carry around a couple extra pounds than stare at an insanely small screen. You'll be staring at the screen much more often than you will be carrying it.
I suppose a netbook makes sense if you truly need something that's small and light. I would definitely recommend one to an astronaut. Other than that, I don't get it.
The only valid point you make I can see is the screen size. As I wrote before, at home I'd hook the netbook up to an external screen and when I'm out the small screen size is sufficient for what I plan on doing.
Come live in the city. Put those pounds on your lap on two train rides. Then carry it down streets, on subways, in starbuckses. I hope your battery doesn't run out before the end of the day!
Extra power is nice, but if you don't need it, you don't need it! It's silly to get an extra powerful computer just like it's silly to get a Ferrari to drive kids to school. We have reached a point where the applications that most people use 99% of the time, e-mail, im, web browser, have very low system requirements. Thus, 99% of people will have a better user experience if they sacrifice horsepower in favor of other features like portability and battery life.
Personally, because I have money, I go the ultra-portable route. I get horsepower, battery life, and portability, at the expense of lots of money. If I couldn't afford it, a netbook I would go.
Since I live in a city and don't drive a car weight is my biggest issue.
Linux improves things, and not all screens are 7". Nonetheless, the keyboard issues would make me insane.
I love the concept, but I'm waiting for cheap and light laptops with a 13" screen. That's a good compromise for me. And I suspect that they're coming soon enough. I do, however, see how a netbook would be enticing as a second computer.
The Ferrari comparison is just silly. Nobody can use a Ferrari in the manner intended without breaking the law. Laptops can be used to their fullest extent. Even if you don't need it now, there will be a day when you will wish you had the extra horsepower.
I like this netbook. The keyboard is 92% the size of a standard keyboard. It's $414 with a 60gb hard drive. It's about $50 less with 8gb flash memory. They are offering a free upgrade to 1gb of RAM right now. It also comes with an optional 10.2" screen. I'm not sure how much difference that makes compared to the 8.9" screen. I'd want to see it in person before deciding if it's worth an extra $50.
Buying a computer sucks. I hate to compromise with a large purchase like this - but that's what you inevitably wind up doing. There is always something on the horizon that you want. Right now, if I were to buy a netbook, I'd want to wait for an LED screen. But when those are cheap, there will be something else coming along that I'll want.
Damn you Geek Nights for making me consider one of these infernal machines!
I think I'll pass on the integrated WWAN for $199. Ouch!
The more I think about these things, the more I'm intrigued. I have always hated "desktop replacement" notebooks. I like my desktop computer, thank you very much. The problem is that I can't justify owning both a laptop and a desktop. (Sorry, Thaed - I'm not into owning extra computers!) I have a 4 minute commute, and have access to a laptop when I travel for work.
A netbook would allow me to maintain a nice desktop computer, but also own a basic machine to access the internet on those rare occasions that I do want portability.
A friend recommended the Samsung NC10 as the best netbook. The only advantage it has over the HP Mini 1000 is a much better battery, bigger hard drive (no SSD!) and slightly better ports. Doesn't seem worth the extra $75 or so. I'm a little unique in that I don't really need a lot of battery power. It's very rare that I'm not near an outlet.
I'm considering the MSI Wind or HP-1000 at the moment but by the time I can afford them, something else will probably be here.
The short version is that I didn't like it. The vertical resolution was just too darned small. Combine this with a small touchpad, and surfing the web became annoying. If it had a built in scroll wheel I might have been interested.
I looked at used laptops on Ebay. The prices are absurd.
I think I'm going to buy something decent. I'll want to use it for a while, so I might as well invest in some good equipment.
Back to the drawing board...
I am the netbook man, my netbooks are delicious.
For urban dwellers that are constantly on the move, I've warmed up to the idea of a netbook. I didn't realize how easy they are to carry around until I saw one in person. The difference isn't trivial.
Now I'm struggling to figure out what the difference is between a $500-$700 laptop and a $1000-$1500 laptop for someone who isn't into gaming and doesn't need the smallest of everything.
What I'd really like to do is to figure out a way to get rid of cable TV, and stream shows from my computer to my television. Since I don't watch much TV, this would make a lot of sense.
Set-top boxes are insanely expensive for what they are. (The Slingcatcher is something like $299.) And most of them have limited functionality. I think I may want to get a laptop that can be hooked into the TV directly without much trouble.
If anyone knows of a good solution for video, I'd love to know.