inspiron mini 9

Brian Tong is here today, but even so, we STILL hate on the new Safari beta and even Snow Leopard...just a little bit. Plus, Tom drops by with his Kindle 2, Microsoft decides its laid-off employees can keep their money, and Vudu is selling HD movies. You know, if you want them.

Also, Steve Jobs is 54 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_jobs

Tim O’Reilly on why the Kindle should open up or die http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/22/kindle-oreilly-ebooks-technology-breakthroughs_oreilly.html

Microsoft backtracks on severance issue http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10170025-56.html… Read more

The recently released Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is getting a face lift. Depending on your taste, that is. What I'm trying to say is that if you like hot pink, you're in for a treat.

On Thursday, Dell launched new colors and graphics designs for the Mini 9. OK, not just hot pink, but you'll have your choice of cherry red as well. If, however, you'd actually like to leave the house with your computer, Dell is also offering Mini 9s with art by "designer toy" designer Tristan Eaton.

I must say, a couple … Read more

We first got a glimpse of Dell's 12-inch take on the Netbook behind closed doors a few months ago. After that, it kind of vanished from our radar screens, only to pop up Sunday, in an announcement that the system is making its debut in Japan.

It's an interesting hybrid of the ultraportable and Netbook formats, combining a 12-inch laptop chassis with the basic heart of a Netbook, namely the Intel Atom CPU. Most Netbooks have a 9- or 10-inch display, so the jump to 12 inches makes for a very different experience. Less portable, to be sure, … Read more

We've known for some time that Dell was working on a Netbook-style laptop--the same kind of small, low-power, inexpensive system made popular by Asus and the Eee PC line. And even though there are not many surprises in the just-announced Inspiron Mini 9(previous leaks revealed the system's design and features), it's still exciting to see a major player back the Netbook concept in a big way.

Component-wise, the Mini 9 is similar to other recent Netbooks, such as the Eee PC 901 and the Acer Aspire One, and includes Intel's Atom CPU. But in typical Dell fashion, there are more customization options than we've seen in a Netbook before.

Our test unit arrived with 1GB of RAM, a 16GB solid-state hard drive, and Windows XP. That config costs $514 and comes very close to hitting the benchmarks we set out in our "Building the Perfect Netbook" feature, which asked for similar components, but maybe a slightly bigger SSD hard drive and an impulse-purchase $499 price tag. … Read more