Dell Inspiron Mini 9

Whatever you think about Dell, one thing’s for sure – it’s the first laptop manufacturer to realise that an ‘internet anywhere’ netbook isn’t much use without internet access. Wi-Fi is all well and good, but step out of network range with your little, low-cost laptop and it’s close to becoming dead weight.

So, while other manufacturers umm and ah about onboard mobile broadband support, the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is the first netbook to actually have it, albeit as an option available only from Vodafone.

With some manufacturers nudging their netbooks into laptop territory with swelling specifications (and prices), it’s encouraging to see that Dell hasn’t forgotten the point of this particular category of portables. At just over a kilo, the Inspiron Mini 9 is very light and it’s barely bigger than the Asus Eee PC 901. These diminutive dimensions don’t result in quite the usability nightmare you might think, but that’s not to say the Inspiron Mini 9 isn’t without compromise.

As you would hope for a Dell product, the Inspiron Mini 9 feels very well-made and it’s certainly one of the better-looking netbooks. There’s no latch to keep the lid closed, but the stiff hinges do a good enough job, although they’re not quite stiff enough to stop the screen from wobbling – a potential annoyance if you’re using the Inspiron Mini 9 on a train, for example.

Other netbook manufacturers have moved up to 10in screens, but Dell has stuck with an 8.9in display for the Inspiron Mini 9. Actually, there really isn’t room for anything larger in the lid, but the screen still has the same 1024 x 600 resolution found on other netbooks. If anything, the greater pixel density makes it a bit sharper than the competition too, but the glossy coating is bound to deter some buyers, notwithstanding its more vibrant image.

The keyboard is a bit of an oddity. The keys are rather larger than you might expect given the amount of available space. There isn’t much travel and the unusual shape of the keys – taller than they’re taller than they are wide – takes a bit of getting used to, but it’s an improvement over the tiny keys of the similarly sized Eee PC 900/901. It’s a pity Dell didn’t extend the keyboard to the edges of the case though, since this would have added an extra 20mm or so to the keyboard’s width.

Look closely at the keyboard though, and you’ll realise that something more serious is amiss – it doesn’t have any Function keys. In order to make best use of the available space (which isn’t as much as it looks – the keyboard sits directly below the battery), Dell has removed the row of Function keys and relegated them to the middle ASD row, accessible with the Fn key. This explains why the keys are taller than they are wide and we actually think it’s a fair compromise – or at least we would if Dell hadn’t forgotten to include the F11 and F12 keys. This is easily remedied with an application like AutoHotkey, but it’s a silly omission.

The Inspiron Mini 9 is available from Dell in two configurations, with the only difference being the size of the SSD – opt for the slightly cheaper Ubuntu Linux model and you get an 8Gb drive, while Windows XP gets 16Gb. The specifications are otherwise identical and, unsurprisingly, the same as that of other Intel Atom-powered netbooks.

Dell itself isn’t offering the Inspiron Mini 9 with onboard 3G – that’s an option only available as part of a mobile broadband package from Vodafone (Dell’s models lack a SIM card slot). However, Vodafone only offers the 8Gb SSD option and then only with Windows XP.

Windows XP is a bit of a squeeze on an 8Gb drive, and so this model has drive compression enabled to make best use of the available space. This has a big impact on performance and the Inspiron Mini 9 was by far the slowest netbook we’ve tested. Disabling drive compression ups performance a little, but the netbook is still a laggard.

Thankfully, battery life is much less of an issue, with the 4-cell battery powering the Inspiron Mini 9 for three and a half hours in light use mode, and just over two and a half in heavy use (screen mid-brightness, Wi-Fi off in both cases).

The Inspiron Mini 9 with Linux and 8Gb SSD costs £269 inc VAT from Dell, the 16Gb/Windows XP model costs £299. If you want the onboard HSDPA option (and don’t mind suffering the 8Gb SSD), then the netbook is available on Vodafone’s consumer and business tariffs.

Vodafone’s cheapest consumer tariff costs £25 a month and there’s a monthly download limit of 1Gb. The minimum contract is two years and while the Inspiron Mini 9 is free, you will obviously pay £600 over the contract term. If that sounds like too much to pay, then Vodafone’s business tariffs may suit. Commit to a two-year contract and the cheapest tariff is £15 a month with a 3Gb data cap, though you’ll need to pay £250 up-front for the netbook.

We’ve worked out the total cost of each Vodafone mobile broadband package in the table below. As you can see, the £15 per month/12-month business tariff works out the cheapest, as long as you’re happy with a 3Gb/month data cap (or paying a crippling £15 for each gigabyte you go over this).

If you don’t mind losing a row of function keys, then the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is a tempting proposition if you’re looking for a netbook that’s both small and light, and has a better keyboard than the Asus Eee PC 901 (but nowhere near the battery life). If you want the onboard HSDPA, then Vodafone’s offering is less compelling, thanks solely to that 8Gb SSD, but it’s the only option at the moment if you don’t want to use a USB mobile broadband dongle.