I really am disappointed that the rainbow stickers don’t work, though…I was really looking forward to having a reminder of my vintage Apple roots.  The very first computer I used was an Apple ][, which was a part of my family from the time I was about 3 or 4 until we got an IBM PC when I was 15.  I may look into getting a custom skin or decal with the rainbow Apple down the road.

Thankfully, I was prepared for the possibility that the rainbow sticker wouldn’t work (I was mostly concerned about size) and also ordered two of the gorgeous chrome decals from DecalsPlanet.  I had seen pictures of both a black and a white mini with the chrome decal and it looked so cool I had to get some for myself.  Now my Mini and my iPhone are practically twins! I love how shiny the chrome sticker is, and it covers the Dell logo completely.  Transformation to MacBook Mini is complete!

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.

So it’s Dell Mini Eve and it feels like tomorrow is Christmas Day. Instead of hanging my stocking with care, I pored I over the user forums at My Dell Mini and created a boot disk to install OS X using my WD Passport drive. My new Built NY case is sitting at the office waiting, and hopefully I should receive my Apple decals in the next few days.

I love starting off a weekend with a brand new toy to play with! I am SO freaking excited. I just hope it arrives earlier in the day as opposed to later. Updates and an unboxing to come…

Here are my daily drivers:
- iPhone 3G
- iBook G4
- Seagate FreeAgent 500GB
- iPod nano 3G 8GB
- Canon SD750
- Eee PC 701
- Western Digital Passport 250GB

iPhone 3G: I absolutely love my 16GB white iPhone 3G.  My iPhone is my lifeline, my entertainment, and my productivity wrapped up into a sleek, small package.  It’s my most recent tech purchase and is already one of my absolute favorite pieces of gear.  I use my iPhone for email, light web surfing, reading my RSS feeds, jotting a quick idea into Evernote, keeping up with my busy calendar, communicating on Twitter, reading eBooks, listening to music, and of course making phone calls.  The 2.1 firmware upgrade has given me a great boost in battery life and I have never had a problem with 3G coverage and call clarity.  It’s the best phone I’ve ever owned.  I’ll talk about my favorite apps and iPhone features in another upcoming post.

iBook G4: I am still rocking my trusty and beloved iBook G4, which I purchased in March of 2006.  I’ve maxed out the RAM and it runs Leopard quite happily.  Right now, the iBook has a hinge issue which makes opening and closing the laptop very precarious, so it’s being utilized as a desktop rather than a laptop.  I have a 19″ HP LCD monitor and a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse hooked up to it, while it is stowed out of sight on the small set of drawers that slide under my desk.  I also have my all-in-one HP Printer, external DVD burner, and external hard drive hooked up to the iBook via a USB hub.  I am looking to eventually replace it on the desktop with an iMac, and I plan on getting a MacBook Pro hopefully sometime this winter, but the iBook is still a solid machine for my needs at home.  I use it for work (Microsoft Office and email), converting videos to watch on my iPhone, web surfing, writing, and some web design.

Seagate FreeAgent 500GB: This is a recent purchase that replaced a 250GB external drive that went out on me.  Because the iBook only has a 40GB hard drive, having an external drive is essential for me.  My husband and I have a large music collection that lives solely on the external drive, as does our iPhoto library.  I have the Seagate partitioned in half–one partition for Time Machine backups, and one partition for music, photos, movies and other things.  I am setting everything to back up to my Amazon S3 account so that if the external ever goes out again, it will not be an emergency!  One of the things I like about the Seagate is its power-saving function–when the laptop goes to sleep, so does the external drive.  That will really help lower wear and tear and increase the longevity of the drive.  It has excellent read/write speeds and looks kind of like a menacing orange Cylon.  Who doesn’t love having a Cylon on their desk?

iPod nano 3G 8GB: My “nano fatty” is one of my all-time favorite iPods.  After seeing the leaked specs, I was prepared not to like it when it was introduced last fall, but after seeing it in person, I fell in love.  It’s so small and sleek that sometimes I lose it in my bigger bags!  It has an incredibly long battery life, and the solid-state hard drive makes it perfect for working out with.  I’ve been using my iPhone a lot lately, but my iPod will not be tossed into some dusty drawer and not used any longer.  I keep it in my purse loaded up with music and audiobooks for my workout and my commute.  I like to keep different music on my iPhone and my nano so that I’m getting more leverage out of both devices.  It’s working great so far, I just need to build my music collection back up after a major hard drive crash!

Canon SD750: I really enjoy using this camera–it has a large, crisp LCD screen, uses SD cards, has a rechargable battery, and takes great photos!  My old camera, the Canon A510, was bulkier and difficult to fit in a smaller purse or a pocket.  The SD750 fits easily in my pocket or purse, which makes it handy for capturing moments on the go.  I’m still playing with the custom CHDK firmware that I loaded on it a while back, so watch the blog for an SD750 update!

Eee PC 701: “Netbooks” are becoming increasingly popular, with new ones popping up on the horizon every day or two.  I am happily rocking the one that started the craze, the Asus Eee PC 701.  I’ve got the 4GB version in Blush Pink, which makes it not only the smallest laptop I’ve ever owned, but also the cutest.  I have upgraded the RAM to 2GB, supplemented the 4GB SSD drive with an 8GB SD card, and added a Kensington USB Micro Bluetooth Adapter.  I am able to carry it almost anywhere in almost any bag I own because it’s so light and small.  I bought it with the intention of using it as a lightweight writing and blogging tool, but it’s so much more than that.  I have gone for days without using the iBook because I just don’t need to–I can do almost any computer task that I need to do on my little pink powerhouse.  I’m running Ubuntu Hardy Heron and it works fantastically well on the Eee PC.  I’ve become a big Linux fan because of this little laptop.

Western Digital Passport 250GB: Since the Eee PC only has 4GB (12GB if you count the SD card!) of storage on board, I thought it’d be nice to get a small external drive for bigger files and backup storage.  So, I picked up a 250GB Western Digital Passport drive (also in pink) that is not much bigger than a deck of cards.  It runs completely off USB power, eliminating the need for a separate power source, and it’s so quiet you can hardly hear it run.  My entire mobile computing setup weighs less than 3 pounds and fits in my purse–how cool is that?

A lot of people have a tech bag or two that they use to cart all their stuff around in, but I stick mainly to purses.  Just because I like electronics doesn’t mean I can’t carry them fashionably!  I favor Coach leather bags for my every day and professional use, but I do have a great Manhattan Portage bag that I use for travel, the gym, or places I just don’t want to carry a nice, expensive leather bag.  I have the Mini Map Bag in pink, which is essentially a vertical messenger.  It’s great for weekend jaunts to the lake or a trip to the coffee shop to write–it easily fits my Eee PC and accessories, plus my wallet, iPhone and other essentials.  It is also big enough to stash my current knitting project, a book, and my DS Lite.

What are your daily drivers and how do you carry them?  If you’re interested in being featured in My Daily Tech, send me an email at jessicafritsche at gmail dot com.