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Dell Mini 9 Netbook Lands At Casa Guru

// January 22nd, 2009 // No Comments » // cool, technology

My friends like to make fun of me, asking frequently, ‘How many computers do you need? I thought you were a cell phone guy?’ It’s true, I am a cell phone guy, but at the moment, there are 6 computers in Casa Guru, 5 of which are laptops. The media center doesn’t really count, it’s just an old eMachines tower with a new 500GB hard drive that sits in the livingroom, storing all of our video and photos. Nothing to see there.

Three of the remaining 4 laptops are Dells, which wasn’t really planned. Mrs. Guru has an old Inspiron something-or-other that I’ve been trying to let her let me replace, but no avail. My work machine is a Dell XPS M1330, and I have an old Gateway MX6956 that’s still rocking. The 2 netbooks are the Fujitsu P1610 and the new arrival – a Dell Mini 9.

As you can see, the Dell and the Fujitsu are roughly the same size, both having an 8.9″ display. However, they’re vastly different machines. The P1610 is a tablet-pc, with a swiveling touchscreen display, PC Card slot, and a few other niceties. It’s also rather ugly, and very industrial-looking. The Dell, on the other hand, is very….cute, with consumer-friendly design cues, but in a regular laptop form factor and a minimum level of extras.

Within a few minutes, both machines will be running Windows 7, though the Dell is slated to get hackintosh’d this weekend, hopefully. My initial reaction is that the Dell’s keyboard is going to take *alot* of getting used to. As you can see in the photos, the P1610′s keyboard stretches from edge-to-edge, with no room on either side, and includes a 6th row of F-keys, which are actually incredibly necessary on a computer with such a small display. You’ll also notice that while the Dell’s main keys are full sized, the flanking keys on either side of the keyboard have been shrunk, and some of them even rearranged. This is going to irritate the junk out of me, for sure.

Dell Mini 9 Keyboard

P1610 Keyboard

However, I like that the Dell has a regular touchpad, vs. the ‘nub’ on the P1610. A major downpoint, for me, on the Dell is the 16GB SSD inside, vs the 60GB HDD on the P1610. Sure, SSD means far better battery life, quieter operation, and all that, but hey, space is space. I’m considering upgrading to a 64GB aftermarket SSD, but haven’t decided yet.

The other main draw of the Dell Mini 9 is the vibrant community of folks who like to tinker. MyDellMini.com has a great and active Forum, with separate subforums on Windows 7 (which is 98% installed, as I’m typing this), OSX (which will hopefully be this weekend), and even hardware modifications, if that’s your bag. I like having support.

Below are more comparison pics of the Fujitsu P1610 beside the Dell Mini 9. I’ll definitely be posting more thoughts on it, including documenting the hackintosh procedure for you.

Rise Of The Netbook

// January 9th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // cool, Mobile

When netbooks first started coming out, I thought they were pretty dumb. I mean, who would want to spend $500 on an underpowered, little bitty laptop, when you can get a decently-powered regular laptop with a bigger monitor for roughly the same price?

I would, that’s who. Granted, I don’t necessarily have a ‘netbook’ (the Fujitsu P1610 retails for a bit more than $500), but I got a phenomenal deal on it. For most consumers, like my wife, my parents, and some of my friends, as long as their computer runs Firefox (or, shudder, Internet Explorer), and maybe iTunes, they’re good to go. That’s where netbooks are strong. They’re small, which means they’re great for folks who don’t really have a computer desk, but rather use their laptop on the couch, in bed, or on the back patio. They’re also extremely lightweight, which makes them great for travelling.

The biggest opportunity with netbooks, though, is that they’re cheap. Starting at $350 and going up from there, you can pick up a netbook for cheaper than even a cell phone in some cases. While all netbooks currently feature built-in WiFi, alot have Bluetooth or a USB port, which makes them great for tethering to a cell phone for connectivity. A new craze that will no doubt pick up speed in 2009 is bundling netbooks with a 3G modem, either built-in or USB, and selling these cheap laptops with a 2-year contract.

AT&T is already doing this, both with the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 and the Acer Aspire One. Both netbooks are $100 with a 2-year AT&T contract, which is pretty good. Unfortunately, AT&T is sticking with its $60/mo LaptopConnect plan, which is going to price these things out of most consumers’ hands. Still, the potential is there, and if AT&T can drop that monthly rate plan down to $30 with some intelligent WiFi-roaming software, netbooks could be a big business opportunity.

Another cool thing with the netbooks comes from the developer community, specifically if you’re not a huge fan of Windows. Currently, both the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 and the MSI Wind are rated as the easiest to put OSX on – that’s right, Apple won’t deliver on a netbook, but it’s now possible – and increasingly easy – to put OSX on whatever laptop you want. With a $350 Dell Inspiron Mini 9 and OSX, you could potentially have a killer-cheap way to introduce someone – or yourself – to Apple’s experience.

I’ve typed this entire post on my netbook, laying on my couch, listning to music. It’s pretty phenomenal to see something so cheap changing the face of computing. Are you already looking at a netbook? There’s tons of things to consider, including screen size (most are either 8.9″ or 10″), hard drive size (anywhere from 6GB to 160GB), and what operating system you intend to use.

Currently on my P1610, I’m dual-booting Windows XP TabletPC edition and the new Windows 7 beta (Windows 7 boots and runs faster).

Stuff I Choose Not To Live Without

// January 6th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // technology

Zach @ The Outsidr posted his list of products that he simply can’t live without earlier, and as any blogger with nothing to talk about is prone to do, I’m going to carry on his ‘meme’ with my own list. Yes, of course we *could* live without these things, if absolutely necessary, so I’ve renamed my list, ‘Stuff I Choose Not To Live Without.’

First up, frankly, is my phone. Specifically, the Nokia N95-3. Sure, I’ve also got the E71-2, N79 NAM, 5800 XpressMusic, N82, and LG KT610 on my desk right now, but none can really truly replace my tried-and-true pocket companion. The Nokia N95-3 gives me a great camera (both photos and videos), full email access, internet, Jaiku, and of course, phone calls/SMS. It’s like having my laptop in my pocket, and I *could* post to my various blogs from it. I refuse to go anywhere without it.

Next up, obviously, is my Dell XPS M1330. I’m an online journalist/blogger, so obviously my laptop is vital to my livlihood. The XPS M1330 is by no means a top-of-the-line machine, but it’s small(ish), light, and packs plenty of kick to write posts, edit photos and videos, and anything else I need to do.

Last.FM is the first service on this list. While I maintain a rather large collection of MP3s, Last.FM gives me a fresh set of tunes, instantly tailored specifically to ME. I can type in ‘Productivity’ and get great working music, or ‘Relaxing’ and get music to calm me down. I use Mobbler on my N95-3, too, so I can enjoy Last.FM on the go.

Partially to appease James Whatley, I have to add Spinvox to this list. Spinvox takes the voicemails that my family and others leave me, converts them to text, and delivers it as an SMS. I’m bad about screening phone calls, so this lets me instantly and visually determine if I need to call you back today or next week. It’s completely brilliant, and something that gets used nearly every day.

Firefox is another non-hardware item that I simply could not live without. 95% of my workload is done in Firefox, and the other 5% could be, probably, if I wanted. It’s my window to the world, and like my Dell XPS M1330, it’s crucial to my livlihood.

I’ve talked about them before, but my Bose earphones are another thing that I would go nuts without. Oftentimes, I have trouble concentrating on the task at hand, but if I toss these in with Last.FM set to ‘techno’, I can push the rest of the world out of my view and simply focus on writing. They’re wonderful.

That’s it. 6 things that I absolutely choose not to live without. Of course, I have a ton of other fun toys that I would *prefer* not to live without, such as my external monitor, Fujitsu P1610, Nokia N800, and others, but the fact is that they are not absolutely vital in my day-to-date live. What about you?

Traveling With 2 Laptops

// December 14th, 2008 // 6 Comments » // Mobile

After my experience of trying to cover an event with only the Fujitsu P1610 2 weeks ago, I’m off on another trip, this one only to Florida, and am actually bringing both the P1610 and my Dell XPS M1330. The Dell is fully powered, able to edit video, run Photoshop, and a host of other things that I need to do. The P1610, however, will be excellent in the sessions, allowing me to write directly on the screen. I’m anxious to see how the combination works out.

Other tools that I’m bringing along include the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet, the 5800 XpressMusic, my trusty N95-3, and the N85-1, as well as the E71-2, though honestly I don’t anticipate using that one much. I’m attending my first developer’s camp, sponsored by Orange, so this will certainly be a learning experience, from every angle.

Fujitsu P1610 – Great For Travel, But Not For Work

// December 7th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Mobile

I just got back from Nokia World 2008, which was held in Barcelona, Spain. As you know, I also recently got my Fujitsu P1610, and was keen on seeing how well the P1610 would hold up to an event such as Nokia World, as my only machine. The smaller size, I figured, would be a boon, helping me cover things much easier, and to that end, it was.

Having taken a 15.4, 13.3, and now an 8.9″ laptop through security in an airport, I can say, without a doubt, that I would *much* prefer to travel with the latter. It’s a cinch to get in and out of a laptop bag, and I rather enjoyed the interested looks that it got from the TSA guys. Also, using such a small laptop in the waiting area and onboard the plane was a much better experience than with the larger laptops.

Unfortunately, that’s where the honeymoon ended. Monday night, I was handed a USB key with tons of press photos and pdfs and whatnot, and also had a few videos that I needed to upload pronto, for the next morning. Unfortunately, the photos and videos were huge files, and with the slightly underpowered P1610, I was unable to usably run Photoshop or any video editing software. I’ve noticed that if I have IM and Firefox open, with more than 4 tabs, the P1610 slows down considerably, making multitasking a daunting experience.

This proved true thoughout the rest of the trip, as I generated more and more video content, and was unable to edit any of it until I came home to my Dell XPS M1330. I also ran into an annoying issue with Civilization3 on the P1610, where it jacks with the display.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love the little guy, and will continue to explore different use-case scenarios. Unfortunately, this trip was made rather difficult by the underpowered processor.