Well, I have had my Dell Mini 9 for a day now, and I have to say…I think this is what love feels like.
When I got to the office yesterday morning, my boss met me almost at the door with my Dell box in hand. FedEx had apparently just delivered it, and he knew how excited I was to be getting my Mini at long last. I did take some unboxing pictures, even though I was super impatient to crack open the box and reveal the Mini in all its glory.
I was super impressed by the size–one of the reasons I was semi-reluctant to upgrade from the Eee PC was because I considered it to be the perfect size for a netbook. The Dell Mini 9 is scarcely larger than the Eee PC–not even a whole inch bigger on either height or width, and it is a bit slimmer overall. My husband even thinks it feels lighter than the Eee PC, though I think it is a tad bit heavier.
The form factor is also really nice. As much as I loved the Eee PC, it did feel like a toy to me at times. I know part of that was the fact that I got it in Barbie pink, but it also had a boxiness that made it feel a bit cheaper, even though I thought the construction of it was more than solid. The Dell Mini 9 is very sleek, with rounded corners and a more streamlined profile than the Eee PC. I have to say, it feels a bit more grown-up and like a “real” computer to me. The glossy white finish is a bit of a fingerprint magnet, but I don’t mind it that much–I am used to it with the iPhone!
The Dell’s screen is absolutely GORGEOUS. My biggest fault with the Eee PC was the screen. It was small…really small. I also hated the coating on the screen–it made things look dull even at the brightest setting and reminded me of my very first laptop, an ancient Toshiba with only 525MB of RAM. The Dell’s backlit LED screen is glossy, sharp, and bright. I was absolutely floored when I turned it on for the first time.
The keyboard on the Mini is a LOT better than the one on my Eee PC 701. It is still small, but I can touch type on it very accurately, without developing a cramp in my hands! The keys have good tactile feedback, which is always a plus for me, and it is very responsive. Sometimes it felt like I had to hit a key really hard on the Eee PC keyboard to get it to register, but that is not an issue with the Dell keyboard at all. However, my one complaint is actually with the keyboard layout–the ; and ‘ and – keys are in weird places, which flubs my touch typing a bit. I am getting used to it, and I think I am going to remap the keys for ; and ‘ so that they fit my typing style a bit more.
The battery life on the Dell is very good as well. I used it only on AC power for the first 12+ hours per the Dell manual. Today, I have been using it for almost 3 hours sans the power cable and I still have about 45 minutes left on the battery.
Performance is very snappy–I can tell a huge difference between the 1.6 Ghz Atom processor and the clunky Celeron in the Eee PC. For someone who does basic tasks the Eee PC is great, but I consider myself to be a power user and the extra oomph in the processor is a welcome change. I put 2GB of RAM in before I ever even turned it on, so I don’t know how it performs with the stock 512MB, but everything is always better with more RAM! 
Finally, my very favorite thing about the Dell is that it runs Mac OS X like a dream. I purchased the Dell Mini 9 both because it had been reviewed as a great netbook and because it was proven to run the Mac operating system perfectly. With the help of a few utilities, I was able to install the OS on the Dell with surprisingly little trouble and have a great, value-priced MacBook Mini. It is truly astonishing to me how well OS X runs on the Dell. After the install, everything just WORKED, like it was a real Mac. I have been in heaven getting all my favorite software installed and configured. It is going to be nice to not have to sacrifice my favorite programs and utilities in the name of portability. But, more on the Dell and OS X later–I will be writing at least two posts about it for Gear Diary!
All told, I couldn’t be happier that I traded in my Eee PC 701 for this beautiful little machine.
Glad to hear you like the Mini 9, and we appreciate the feedback on the keyboard layout. Did you get a chance to check out the Mini 10?
I did check out the Mini 10, but it was a little bit too big for my tastes. The 10 inch netbooks are still netbooks, but they toe the line on size for me. Maybe it is because I had the Eee PC first, but I really like something that I can throw in my purse!