Dell Inspiron Mini 9 Review (Part 2)

The apostrophe key is clear down next to the arrow keys. I know I pointed this out before, but I’m still having to take my right hand off of the keyboard to peck at that damn button so I still complain a little.  Maybe it is time to eliminate contractions and possessive words from my dialoge…

Battery life–I’m getting about 4.25 hours, running screen 40% and other unnecessary tasks off. You will find that every Inspiron 910 comes with the same crapware regardless of configuration(in the current XP editions anyways). For instance, I opted out of bluetooth, yet a bluetooth process was alive and well when I started up for the first time. The fine folks at dell also do a good job of packing it up with a load of other crapware you couldn’t ever possibly need….

Still, I am happy with this experience as a whole. It feels solid in my hands, and the display offers a crisp image with no strain. I am dissapointed that my Med-Media EPCR suite won’t work because of screen resolution(the bottom of every page is chopped and there is no way to access it). I guess I’ll have to live with using the desktop for that!

I think some things that could make this better–a 6 cell battery. The 4 cell offered does not increase life over competitors 3 cell batteries. A touch pad disable button like my DV1000 had. I use a mouse a lot and hate to bump the touchpad when I’m typing. It can still be disabled but not nearly as easily as on the fly access from a hardware button. 

I’ve went over this purchase 6 million times since last friday. I am still convinced I spent my money wisely. It does everything(except EPCR’s) that I need. It is quick at the tasks it is designed for and is built well. Time will tell if the Dell Mine 9(Inspiron 910) will stand up to the test of Cheating Death.