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Dell Begins Selling Inspiron Mini 9
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."
No kidding! Go fully-loaded with Linux and it costs $20 more! LOL. MS must be practically giving them XP.
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Yea, well couldn't you get the Windows one, refuse the EULA, and get $100 back? That sounds like the way to go to me. :)
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I saw on the specs that it has a vga port. Could these computer serve to dish out divx and hi-def video from a wireless server? Is the chip-set capable of tv out with a vga2svido adapter o connected straight to a vga port on the tv?
lets all spin this as Windows is now the option nobody wants and see what happens. :)
Nobody wants? Lots of people want Windows. Surprising though it may be, outside of technically aware circles, there are many computer owners who don't even know Linux exists. Then even if they find out, how many shops sell Linux software on their shelves? Again, there are still lots of people who like to buy their goods in high street stores.
I'd buy the Windows version, put the backup media aside, then install Linux, in full knowledge that if I decide to I can change to Windows with ease.
I wouldn't want a machine without an option to install Windows on it if I want to, and that means getting the licence when I buy the machine.
But then I must be a freak, because I like Linux and Windows XP. Ok, not Vista, I'm a freak, but I'm not crazy.
A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
Not sure how you got that. If you take the linux option and add the same 8GB larger "hard drive" then it is slightly cheaper than the second option that has Windows with the same specs. If you add the 16gb drive and 1GB memory to it, then it is the same price as the third option that has windows and the same specs.
Funny that the build your own doesn't allow you to select the OS. It would feel so good to select one of the Windows configurations and be able upgrade to Ubuntu. But with any luck once Ubuntu isn't a pre-order, you'll be able to.
Dell's entire product infrastructure was Windows-based until a year ago or so. An OEM license of XP Pro is going for $45 these days. Dell can't install crapware on the Linux machines. All that probably means their per-unit costs are higher for Ubuntu than for XP machines.
You can spin it however you want, but I doubt this is some evil Microsoft tricksie, and I very much doubt the $20 difference is swaying your potential Linux users from buying the machine in the first place.
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And it would make it less durable. SSDs are very drop-friendly. (My own SSD-powered Eee 701 has survived many, many drops.)
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It is more of a fact that they need to alter the production line and put a different OS on the system. Thus costing more as it is an exception to the process. When you are mass producing things every step of customization costs more. Having Linux or Windows option means most likely the drives default come with windows on them and then there is an extra step to reimage it with Linux. This doesn't have anything to do with Linux being better or worse then Windows, or even the cost of the licenses that dell needs to pay for it is about costs of mass production. Say each Windows License costs Dell $100.00, it is quite possible the extra step in production is costing dell $120 for an exception of a Linux image (Labor Costs+Benefits, QA, support, inventory....) It all adds up.
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...whereas the higher-end Minis come with XP.
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Hello...?? I dont want to press the "Function" button first to give me an F11 for maximum firefox screen size browsing ..... *cries*
I bought a Dell Inspiron 8000 in 2001. For $2200, it came with a 15" 1600x1200 screen, the first one in an under $5000 notebook. I knew I was buying a PC that would stay "current" for quite a while (despite its P3/1GHz and slowish CD-R). But if I want to jump to the next higher resolution now, 1920x1200 (1080p), I've still got to spend well over $2500.
After the past 7 years, in which notebooks, TVs, projectors, phones, iPods and everywhere else I look have made substantial LCDs a huge mass market, why aren't these things cheap yet?
I don't really need a palmtop PC to take everywhere. I'd rather keep my phone with me all the time, and use it as a remote and mic/earphone when I'm near a PC (maybe booting the PC off my own secured Desktop stored on the phone). If P4/2GHz/1GB/GPU notebooks with 1080p (1920x1200) screens 15" or bigger were $500 each, I'd buy a bunch of them to leave in my usual haunts, instead of schlepping them around.
How long must I wait?
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The Eee PC 1000H is a great system. I say GO GET ONE! If the Dell is better than the Eee 1000H, I have yet to read about it...
I get about 7-8 hours of *actual* battery life with my 1000H in the field with the optional Asus AL24-1000 8800mAh battery for Eee PC 1000H (yes, I ebayed it straight from Taiwan/China). NOTE: The 1000H comes default with the Asus 6600mAh AL23-901 battery (about 5-6 hours *actual* runtime).
I yanked the OEM 1GB SODIMM and replaced it with a PC-5300 2GB Corsair Value Ram SODIMM. (After updating to the latest Asus 1000H BIOS, it detects the full 2GB SODIMM, whereas before the BIOS update it only detected as 1GB, but still worked fine at 1GB...) It appears the Atom chipset memory limit at 1GB is artificially crippled initially.
Also yanked the OEM Wi-Fi card and installed a much better Intel 4965AGN Wi-Fi card.
I am about to replace the OEM Seagate 5,400RPM SATA 80GB HDD with a 64GB SATA SSD, but the run times named above were with the factory HDD and the Asus WinXP performance profiles set to "Auto". (Note that the Asus Eee 1000H has an 80 GB HDD with two 32GB partitions, the OS is ont he first one and the second one is not used. (but present as a D drive. Ans yes, you can install any notebook SATA drive, including the 320GB Seagate model, according to my buddy). Not sure why the 32GB WinXP partition, but it can be modified by pulling the drive and using Partition Magic (or whatever) to delete the other partition and change the size of the primary 32GB partition to fill the drive...
As I understand it, Microsoft has deliberately restricted the systems that can be licensed with OEM WinXP by mandating that devices having screens smaller than something like 10" or 11", and no more than 1GB of RAM, a HDD no larger than 80GB, and a processor slower than 1.8GHz. (Someone feel free to correct me on the exact WinXP OEM Netbook licensing hardware restrictions, but I have read about there somewhere recently...)
It is probable that the *nix versions of Dell's teeny PC can have larger/better hardware installed because *nix does not cripple the Atom-based PC's hardware restrictions.
The REAL QUESTION is, will Dell do what Asus did and allow their BIOS to allow 2GB of RAM and different NICs and BT modules and HDD. (But I rather doubt that Dell will release a 8800mAh battery for their Atom-based Netbook... I would like to publicly state to Microsoft that, "I think that a hardware *restriction* policy for OEM Netbook WinXP is just a bunch of CRAP!" Maybe Linux will eat their lunch because of it... Too bad I have to have windows for my work software...
I worked for a software localization company and we translated manuals for lots of companies. The deadlines on those projects were usually measured in months. You don't just have one person translate it it as they go and then have someone proof-read it and send it to print. There's a lot of mundane crap involved going back and forth between the client and translator.
Also, I've had the misfortune to work in tech support call centers as well and they're always looking for bi-lingual people, there's usually only a few among hundreds in on the floor at any given time. I assume there's just a lot less of them working in that field just as there are a lot less of them out there in society. Also, it may be a bit harder to find a bi-lingual person willing to work for peanuts if they have technical skills.
I think you're mistaken abut the 1GB memory and the BIOS update. To expedite boot-up, the eee skips alot of the hardware checks that precede the OS initialization. You can restore them in the BIOS setup.
My 2GB stick wasn't recognized as more than 1GB until I entered BIOS setup for the first time. I think that was the first opportunity the system got to say "Oh, look, new RAM."
I assume that flashing the BIOS also forces a hardware check on restart, which would explain why it suddenly started working for you.
Last time I was in India, I only met one guy who spoke French. So if it's a sad point, then I guess cost minimizing schemes are sad by default. (Incidentally, this one guy had studied French only to increase his competence at the call center where he worked. But as I said, he was the only one.)
Don't be crazy anymore!
It seems that mini-laptops such as these almost REQUIRE the user to carry extra/external storage media/um. If one is to put Mandriva or PCLinuxOS, or SUSE or Fedora, etc, on it, say, and add even just 1/2 of the available popular mag-distributed DVDs, one would be short on space in a short period of time after adding personal /home/user/user's-files.
Another thing: I am soooo sick and tired of those kiss-ass computer makers running adverts such as "[Dell/Toshiba/Fujitsu/Sony/HP/et al] recommends microsoft (operating system) (for all your computing needs)", as IF there is no Linux/FreeBSD/BSD available. IF windows WERE all there was, then there'd be no NEED for ms to payola these guys to even say such slogans/subliminal types of messages.
It would be nice if some of the US advertising laws would have to follow some European laws where product placement cannot disparage or misrepresent other competing products. Even better, it would be nice if some products (such as operating systems) were required to list at least 4 (or some number of) competitors or near-competitors. This way, mshaft would not keep getting the near-free ride they get.
If those adverts said, "microsoft recommends vindoze wista instead of (Ubuntu/Mandriva/PCLOS/Red Hat/SUSE/Fedora/et al) for all your computing needs (such as surfing wired or wirelessly, burning CDs/DVDs/watching DVDs, creating web sites, writing programs, composing music, managing servers, doing some CAD, hosting content, learning to type, studying astronomy, and a few dozen other things that ALL of these OS' can do equally as well as or better than our own wista).... See you sales person for a demo/floor comparison!", why, then Linux/Open Source would probably finally get some improved/increased professional polish, Linux-specific vendor drivers, more press, and increased loosening of ms' illegally-obtained near-death-grip control of the market.
Now, if only Linux land comes up with a true end-user WYSIWYG database/front end like Lotus Approach. If only i could legally get my hands on win XP pro to replace vista (the piece of crap it is, using 1.5 GB RAM and nothing to show for it relative to XP -- and to Linux as regards graphics bells and whistles), which is crippling two of my Lotus SmartSuite apps....yeh, IBM might have released patches, but STILL....
Finally, what'll REALLY be awesome for mini-/mid-full-size laptops/portables will be unpluggable/swappable video chip modules so that users can get more out of their graphics-related task software. Not necessarily to increase time between hardware upgrades, but to give more flexibility for situations when weaker video options limit us. For example, it would be nice to not have to buy external bulky video splitters. My backpack already is at 35 lbs, what with my 8.5 lb, 17-in display, dual-hard drive Gateway, my mouse, 3DConnexion, several books, about 2 inches of 8.5x11 papers, adapters, USB tip converters, index cards, and other miscellaneous stuff, with enough space to stuff in my lunch. Hell, even when I carried my 2001 Sony Vaio, in another, smaller back pack, with a portable Canon printer and wedge-like surge strip, one of my friends asked, "Man, what the *fuck* you got in there? You look like a BACKPACK bomber"...
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
People still buy software that's in a box that's on a shelf?
Not for long. Software is going wireless, or at least that's the future of people's expectations. Like the App Store.
And of course the Linux community should be ready the take the lead here, as that's the beauty of it. Don't we hop online to shop repositories? We been doing that
And most folks just want technology to work for them. There is zero loyalty. There is incredible inertia. First to convince people to trust their product wins. (extra points for maintaining it!)
Whatever, I can't wait to see how it all shakes out! Seriously...this sucks, more action, please...
For the record, today I installed the cheapest 64GB SATA SSD I easily could find on ebay (the Transcend MLC type 64GB SATA SSD) into the Eee PC 1000H.
Basically, I had to use the Asus restore DVD (Version 3.0) to boot/format/restore setup the blank SSD drive with a USB DVD-R Drive. (It was interesting that the Asus restore DVD boots to Norton Ghost v11.0 to restore the various partitions and drive images after which, WinXP Home came right up...)
If this is the REAL WORLD performance and speed to be expected from even the cheapest of Taiwanese SSD drives, *WOW!* is all I can say. Magnetic HDDs are about to 'booted' as the preferred boot OS drive type... I am impressed.
If I can tell the performance difference in such a slow CPU as the 1.6GHz Atom, I wonder just what a boot SSD will do for my gaming box?...
I am now interested in obtaining an MLC chip'd SSD to see the differences in real world use.
The Eee PC 1000H, boots faster, and is very very crisp and snappy with an SSD compared to the OEM Seagate 5400.3 80GB HDD.
(Now to measure the actual power consumption with the SSD...)