The Dell Inspiron Mini 9: Sometimes Smaller is Better

Mini Laptops or ultra-portable notebooks as some call them are actually just exactly what laptops were meant to be; light small and an adequate substitute for our desktops when we are out.Mini laptops are the ideal tool for anyone who wants to take their work (or play) with them. I was a skeptic when the first mini laptop came on the market. Like many, I speculated that it would be nearly impossible to make a machine small enough to be useful on the road. Boy, was I wrong. The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 mini laptop is a petite, light little companion that you can customize to fit your needs. If you're looking for a fast little laptop, the Dell Mini 9 might be exactly what you're looking for.

The versatile Mini 9 comes with your option of operating systems and you might be inclined to go with Windows XP, but may I suggest you test run Linux before you make that decision? Despite the similarities, mini laptops are not little desktops. The technology that allows Dell and other companies to make these miniature marvels has not yet created an operating system that was specifically built for the mini laptop's capacity. To be sure, some tweaking of the existing operating systems have been performed to make them more mini-friendly, and at this time, there is a significant difference in performance between Windows and Linux on mini laptops.

Linux running on a Mini 9 is poetry in motion. Boots up fast and runs like a well oiled machine. That isn't new to Linux, which is a mere shadow of the resource hog that Windows tends to be, it's just new to most of us. Trust me, if you have the opportunity to work in a Linux environment on the Mini 9, it's worth it. The happy medium of choice for those who are ardent Windows users is XP. Vista does now exist for some select mini laptops but remains buggy and resource heavy, especially for the hard drive limitations of the minis. Besides, most every program you can run in Windows is pretty much available in Linux!

The Dell Mini 9 provides over four hours of battery without adding too much weight. The machine weighs just over 2lbs, which gives you adequate room in your laptop bag for an external hard drive for additional storage.The Mini 9 comes standard with fast RAM, a wireless card and a standard size keyboard. Other standard built-ins include three USB ports, audio-in jacks,SD card slot, and an ethernet connector. I'd suggest (again) that you purchase an external USB hard drive, as storage on mini laptops tends to be sparse in order to maintain compact size and weight.

Mini laptops have not evolved yet to completely replace our desktops, but the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is an adequate substitute when you want reliability, speed and overall performance in a compact little machine. Everyone from business owners to college students are finding out the charm of the mini laptop doesn't mean it can't do the work. Priced low enough to be owned by nearly anyone and even less expensive if you purchase a Dell Refurbished Mini, the Inspiron Mini 9 is a machine you will use for years before you move to your next mini!