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Dell Begins Selling Inspiron Mini 9

Posted by timothy on from the lightbulbs-in-round-rock dept.

mocoloco writes "A week after the rumored date, Dell has begun selling their entry into the netbook/subnotebook/UMPC market, the Inspiron Mini 9. The base system for $349 includes Ubuntu 8.04 "with custom Dell interface", 512MB RAM, and a 4GB SSD. There are options with XP, one that includes an 8GB drive and a $40 instant savings, another with a 16GB drive and 1GB RAM that has a $55 instant savings. Curiously the Ubuntu systems are a pre-order at this point, to be shipped within 15 days. Also, no Red option yet."

15 of 320 comments (clear)

  1. Not in Canada by VEGETA_GT · · Score: 5, Informative

    Like normal its not on the Canadian site. Usually launches in the Us of product is on the same day in Canada but Dell dose not give us Canadians as many options for pc/laptops as they do to the US. HP also has a limited website for product configuration/product compared to the US. Considering how closely tied we are and how most company release Canada/us same time this would be in Canada to.

    1. Re:Not in Canada by KillerBob · · Score: 5, Informative

      Like normal its not on the Canadian site. Usually launches in the Us of product is on the same day in Canada but Dell dose not give us Canadians as many options for pc/laptops as they do to the US. HP also has a limited website for product configuration/product compared to the US. Considering how closely tied we are and how most company release Canada/us same time this would be in Canada to.

      Historically, the reason that Dell hasn't released products in Canada at the same time as the US is because they need to sell it in French as well as English. That means they have to translate the manuals, and that they need to provide French-language technical support. Doing otherwise would open themselves to a lawsuit for discrimination. They don't have French tech. support for *any* of their Linux offerings, which is what explains this one. That's what prevented the Insprion N-series Linux-based systems, as well as the XPS One from being released in Canada.

      --
      If you believe everything you read, you'd better not read. - Japanese proverb
    2. Re:Not in Canada by vux984 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Good point. I probably wouldn't have thought of that even. It's just another reason why having mandatory second languages hurts companies and the consumer.

      Lots of companies dealing in Canada don't have french support. Even many Canadian companies don't. Head over to to the West Coast (French is primarily spoken in Quebec eastwards, and dwindles the farther west you go.) By the time you reach Vancouver the odds of a small business having any one that speaks french above a pre-school level is pretty low.

      Sure their products still have bilingual labels and instruction booklets and they'll happily ship them to Quebec, but that's about the extent of it, and its not expensive to have a translator write those for you. Point is, lots of Canadian websites and companies are english only.

      Dell does have to provide french language manuals and labelling with their products which is a minor burden, but they do not have to provide french language support.

      They offer french support not for regulatory reasons, but for competitive reasons, to appeal to french speaking Canadian, and also to make them eligible to sell to large Canadian enterprises and government entities that require bilingual support for practical reasons -- they want to buy computers from a company that provides support in the same languages that their employees speak.

      Because Dell chooses to offer support in French, its in the interest of customer support simplicity to offer it consistently across all their products, not just some of them.

  2. The value of Windows by jmorris42 · · Score: 5, Informative

    I just love it! Go price out the same specs with Linux or Windows. The Windows machines are cheaper! Gotta love this, Linux is now more valuable than Windows!

    Yes I know what is actually happening, Dell is keeping Microsoft happy. But lets all spin this as Windows is now the option nobody wants and see what happens. :)

    --
    Democrat delenda est
    1. Re:The value of Windows by Shados · · Score: 5, Informative

      They are. Having dealt with some OEM contracts, XP can end up as low as 5$ per license. Then add what companies pay Dell to install crapware, and you end up with negative cost (until people start developing crapware for Linux anyway)

  3. Re:Discounts make the Windows=Linux in cost by Thelasko · · Score: 4, Informative

    The discounts on the two windows based versions equal out the cost of configuring the Linux version exactly the same. The resolution of the screen is 1024x600 making it slightly better than some competitors.

    I don't know how you configured yours, but if you specify everything:
    1GB DDR2 at 533MHz
    16GB Solid State Drive
    Built-in Bluetooth 2.1 capability
    Integrated 1.3M Pixel Webcam

    Windows=$479
    Ubuntu=$494

    --
    One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
  4. Re:Linux + Bigger HDD? by nicolas.kassis · · Score: 4, Informative

    You can upgrade everything on the linux option. Just select and configure.

  5. Re:Custom Dell Interface? by mocoloco · · Score: 4, Informative

    I would guess it's a further customized version of Ubuntu netbook remix, which does use Gnome underneath everything.

  6. Available in the UK by Dan100 · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's on dell.co.uk. Only one model listed, the XP SP3 1 Gb ram 16 Gb SSD version, for £299 ($530 equivalent).

  7. Review with video (Linux version)... by feranick · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/dell-inspiron-mini-9-linux.aspx

  8. Shipping Date - GRRRRR by superid · · Score: 3, Informative

    I just ordered mine a few minutes ago and got my order confirmation. The anticipated shipping date is October 10Th !!!!!

  9. Look at the keyboard before you buy! by TheGreatGraySkwid · · Score: 4, Informative

    I was actually considering one of these until I took a close look at the keyboard.

    They moved the quote key.

    Look at it! The '/" key has been relocated from right next to your pinky to somewhere weird! How the fuck am I supposed to touch type with that monstrosity? WTF!

    Anyway, buyer beware.

    --
    The Humblest Mollusk on the Net
  10. Re:I rather have an eee by Zymergy · · Score: 4, Informative

    It is under the same bottom hatch as the RAM and HDD on the bottom of the Eee PC 1000H.
    It had an AzureWave AW-NE766 Mini-PCIe card factory installed so just I removed the standard white and black antenna connectors and swapped cards with my Intel 4965AGN card. (because the Intel card has more features and is well-documented.) I just had no third antenna to connect to the center "gray" antenna connection on the Intel card, but it works fine.)
    Here is an article of an EeePC 1000H it with the back cover off, etc... http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1474/2/asus_eee_pc_1000h_under_the_covers/index.html

  11. Re:LED Display? by MoonBuggy · · Score: 3, Informative

    Just means that the LCD is backlit by LEDs rather than a cold cathode. It's a good thing, as I understand it - lower power, for one thing, but not any actual new display tech where the LEDs form the pixels as in OLED displays.

  12. Re:I rather have an eee by growse · · Score: 3, Informative

    Just bought the 4965AGN. Found a big thread on the 901 (that I have) for replacing the wifi, everyone there is nuts about the Atheros chipset. The 4965 can do injection with aircrack so is good for warwalking :)

    --
    There is nothing interesting going on at my blog