Tribute to the Dell Mini 9
Rumors have been abuzz and Engadget has just confirmed that the popular Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is indeed being phased out as early as today. The netbook is no longer available on Dell’s US and Euro online stores. According to a leaked Dell roadmap, the Mini 12 will be the next to come under the Axe.
Trip Down Memory Lane
The Mini 9 first started selling a mere 9 months ago in September 2008. Weighing in at 2.28 pounds and measuring up to 1.22 inches thick, she was a real beauty. As with the rest of the Dell products, the Mini 9 was very easily customizable and the base netbook was at times available for as little as $199.
The Mini 9 was perfect for netbook users worldwide, and even won the Engadget 2008 award for Best Notebook. She was a favorite amongst techies and was often updated to Hackintosh.
The Mini 9 also had her share of spotlight in Hollywood and made headlines when Dell presented celebrity blogger Perez Hilton a Pink mini at the South by South West festival in Austin 2009.
The Mini Family
Following the arrival of the Mini 9, Dell started shipping out the Mini 12 in December 2008 for $549 and the Mini 10 in February 2009 at $399. The Minis were a bit more expensive than other netbooks, but they were also more attractive.
With the Mini 9 gone, fans are looking to the Mini 10 to fill in the gap. The Mini 10 is still selling strong, and the Mini 10v comes with the Intel GMA 950 card making it a suitable substitute for Hackintosh.
The Mini 12 won’t be faring as well. Software giant Microsoft’s decision to restrict the Windows 7 Starter pack to netbooks under 10.2” will greatly affect the 12” netbook. Dell will have to pay a higher price to install Windows 7 on the Mini 12, making the netbook far too expensive for the market.
Turns out Windows 7 restrictions really do have a big impact on the netbook market.
Manufacturer Dell has also been touting its Vostra A90 netbook –a rebranded Mini 9 – in Japan lately for an absurd $972 (via Engadget). Speculators are scoffing at this move, and highly doubt the Vostra A90 will be able to match up to its predecessor.
(Via APCMag)
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Filed under: Dell Mini
Love it. Installed all apps and it’s working perfectly. Went with the 2GB upgrade. Too bad it is not eligible for the Windows 7 upgrade. (asus website did not validate serial #). Came shipped with XP home which does not qualify. Great Netbook though.