Off The Walt

I’ve been excited for quite some time about getting a small computer (a.k.a. netbook), but was worried about my large hands on such a small keyboard. I read reviews on such machines as the Asus Eee , MSI Wind and more, but the problem with all these machines is they had moving parts in some fashion. The Dell Mini 9 is complete solid state. Solid state means there’s less that can break because nothing moves.

Here’s my configuration:
Black top (you can get white for +$25 USD)
16GB SSD (SSD means solid state drive, just think of a USB flash drive, except this is the hard drive)
1 gig RAM
Bluetooth module (only +$20 USD)
Windows XP Home SP3 for Low-Cost Computers
Custom Timbuk2 Bag (+30 USD)
Total cost including tax and shipping: Approximately $510

Unboxing:
I get a number of packages sent to the house from time to time as I review a lot of stuff, although I really haven’t posted any of it to my blog before, perhaps I will from this point on. When this box arrived on the doorstep a couple weeks ago, I thought it was a hard drive or some other accessory. It sat in the living room for a few hours because I wasn’t that excited, until I remembered how small this was supposed to be… so I opened it and was delightfully surprised! My mini had arrived! It was well packed and it seems Dell is moving toward a more green packaging and isn’t as wasteful with packaging material as it used to be. Good stuff, less to throw away/recycle.

Love at first touch:
It was heavier than I thought it would be, but I suppose that was the battery. I haven’t weighed it specifically, but it’s advertised at 2.3 pounds. I’m guessing we’re more looking at 5ish. My daughter , who is on the small end of the growth chart, said it was a perfect size for her… I couldn’t argue, it absolutely is. She asked when I was going to give it to her and genuinely thought it was hers… and thought it was a toy, because "real computers aren’t that small!" I didn’t tell her it’s a real machine because I’d never get it back!
My wife, after getting home, asked when I was buying one for her. Well, the anniversary is coming up. This is exactly what we need… another frickin’ laptop in the house! We’ve got in the neighborhood of a dozen already, some prop doors open, but we’ve got ‘em! This would make our fourth laptop… did I mention I’m likely to buy a Mac Mini for myself at Christmas? Yeah, we need that too… then again, if she gets her own mini, I’ll get the Mac, so I think she’s getting hers! Fortunately, my son just laughed at the size. Good, one less I have to worry about.

Powering it on:
The machine performs faster than I expected it to, I’m assuming because of the small motherboard and length of the bus to the SSD. A standard boot takes approximately 30 seconds to accept your commands in Windows… not too shabby. When it came, I had to apply 300+ megs of windows updates and remove the crapware. I normally just format the machine and install Windows fresh, but considering the lack of optical drive, I just had to deal.

Video:
I wasn’t expecting to play Crysis on this or anything, but the video is very lacking. It wants to display in 4:3 mode (think old school monitors) instead of 16:10 (a normal computer widescreen) and I have to leave the driver package install (which I had to do manually after getting the machine) in startup, eating resources, just so it’ll display widescreen. It’s a minor annoyance, but maybe they should have used a different integrated graphics card.
I will say it runs Starcraft quite nicely. I play it on battery with absolutely no problems. it never lags and the video looks crisp… enough. I know it’s a 10-year-old game, but it runs REALLY nicely.

Processing Power:
This is not a machine that’s gonna render 3D scenes with any sense of haste. I literally could not run Skype and simultaneously browse the web. I wasn’t expecting to do major things with the machine, but I at least expected to do this. I’ll just have to relegate it to Skype only during podcasting from now on.

Going to Timbuk2:
Timbuk2 bags are handmade here in the USA, San Francisco to be exact. The bag was very minimal and frankly left me wanting. The bag itself feels thick and padded. While I’m certainly not going to throw the filled bag at the wall, if the machine were to hit the ground while inside the bag, I’d feel better about it. The construction is great, but the little zippered pocket doesn’t do a great job of storing the power adapter and has no little loops for a pen or notepad or really anything else. I keep my cellphone and iPod with headphones in it when I take it anywhere because the battery life, so long as you keep the wifi and bluetooth turned off, is just fine for my purposes.

Power to the People!
I’m pretty darn impressed with the battery life. Only a 4 cell battery can keep this thing going for around 4 hours, 3 if you have wifi and bluetooth on. (Tip: unless you’re using your wireless bluetooth keyboard, turn the module off in the BIOS. You’ll save on battery life!) I generally keep the wifi off when I’m not using it (function 2 brings the menu up) and it really lasts.

Typing:
I was really worried that I’d have a problem typing on the mini, but I got used to it pretty quickly. I wrote a 1,500 word story on it in a decent amount of time and once you learn where the apostrophe key is, you’re doing ok. Yes, I do miss the full-sized keyboard, so that’s why I spent $20 on a cheap Logitech wireless keyboard/mouse combo for when I’m traveling.

Other thoughts:
The low-end model of the mini 9 comes with a lean version of Ubuntu. I didn’t get any kind of disc to install this version as I would have liked to experiment with it. I’m going to email Dell support for an ISO to download so I can play with it, but I suppose I can always throw a standard version on it if I really wanted to. If you don’t have a USB-Based optical (DVD or DC) drive, you may want to pick up the Dell offering for $80 as it’s not bad. You can find it for cheaper from other sellers, but if you’re already there, you may want to get something that matches the netbook’s aesthetics.

Final Words:
I’m very satisfied with this machine and am looking forward to the next version of the mini. I’ll only be wanting better graphics and more RAM, a larger disk would be nice, but I have a 16 gig SD card stuck in the reader as a D: drive, for a total of 32 gigs of space. If you’re looking for something to take the coffee shop or lounging around the house and don’t want to strain your arm or break the bank, the Dell Mini 9 is for you.

Update 2008-12-03
I generally recommend Dell computers to friends, family (my wife has a Dell tower) and clients, although I usually buy other brands myself so I learn specifics about the hardware and support methods to better support my clientelle.
As mentioned above, I did get a Mini 9 and a couple weeks ago, the SSD (solid state disk drive, basically a flash drive instead of a traditional spinning hard drive) failed and I sent the mini back.

I’m mainly writing this update to illustrate my mostly-positive support experience with Dell so that others may benefit from my experience.

Seeming at random, I would get errors that files couldn’t be written to the disk and more and more startup would give me bluescreens stating the disk couldn’t be read. I’d get these errors about 90% of the time on startup, so I tried to scandisk, but it wouldn’t run as read/writes were no possible for sustained periods of time. This was all I needed to KNOW the disk was bad.

I went to Dell’s support chat and met a person that did not belong in support. I introduced myself as having more than 20 years experience fixing computers and she ran me through all the newbie things to try, wasting my time. (Anyone that knows me understand this is worse than anything to me… you can’t buy more time and I always have something to do.) She wanted me to reinstall Windows on the machine again. Without even asking me if I had an external optical drive (you’d also call it a CD/DVD drive) she told me I’d need to purchase one and tried to close the case, not wanting to actually help me. I insisted several times to chat with a supervisor and she finally, after 30 minutes agreed to the thing I was asking since the beginning: send me a box so I can return the machine for a new SSD. This is where the bad experience ended.

11/13/2008 07:37:18PM	System: "Thanks for choosing chat for your technical support needs. A chat agent will be with you shortly. Just so you know, you can also visit our website at support.dell.com to get technical help."
11/13/2008 07:38:34PM	Session Transferred to Agent (NishantM_172798)
11/13/2008 07:38:40PM	Session Started with Agent (NishantM_172798)
11/13/2008 07:38:44PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "Thank you for contacting Dell Technical Support. My name is Nishant and my rep ID number is 172798. How may I assist you today?"
11/13/2008 07:39:05PM	Walt Snider: "I have a Mini 9 and I believe I have a bad SSD."
11/13/2008 07:39:36PM	Walt Snider: "I literally have experienced nothing but bluescreens for the past 2 days. At least 2 dozen."
11/13/2008 07:40:06PM	Walt Snider: "The message at present onscreen is "STOP: c0000218 Unknown Hard Error Unknown Hard Error"
11/13/2008 07:40:48PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "I understand your concern and I will personally attend to the issue. I assure you that I will do my best to provide you quality service. Please allow me 2 to 3 minutes to pull up your account information."
11/13/2008 07:42:43PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "Thank you for staying online. I appreciate your patience."
11/13/2008 07:42:44PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "As per the records , you have an Inspiron 910 with windows XP Home as an operating system on it. I would also like to inform you that the warranty on the system is valid till xx /xx /2009." [Edited for privacy]
11/13/2008 07:42:46PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "How long have you been facing this issue?"
11/13/2008 07:44:34PM	Walt Snider: "If you will look up, I mentioned I have been experiencing this for the past 2 days."
11/13/2008 07:44:43PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "Yes."
11/13/2008 07:45:24PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "Walt, I would like to inform you that in order to correct this issue, we need to reinstall the operating system."
11/13/2008 07:46:12PM	Walt Snider: "I believe this is the SSD."
11/13/2008 07:47:13PM	Walt Snider: "I was getting into XP intermittently a couple days ago amongst blue screens, but now I have nothing. Windows doesn’t work sometimes or not on boot, it either does or not."
11/13/2008 07:47:46PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "I would like to inform you that in order to reinstall the operating system, you need to separately buy the external CD drive for the system to reinstall the windows using windows XP disc."
11/13/2008 07:48:20PM	Walt Snider: "Why are you ignoring my claims of SSD issues?"
11/13/2008 07:49:32PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "Walt, I am not ignoring your claims of SSD. I understand your concern,however, in order to resolve this issue, we need to reinstall the operating system."
11/13/2008 07:50:00PM	Walt Snider: "How long have you been working on computers?" [Edit: Notice the time it takes to dodge my question.]
11/13/2008 07:51:46PM	Walt Snider: "NishantM_172798, it is a simple question."
11/13/2008 07:54:23PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "Walt, I understand your concern, however, I would like to inform you that even if it is an issue with the SSD hard drive , we need to send the system to the depot repair center for the replacement as per the warranty and also if you do not have the CD dri"
	ve for reinstalling the operating system, then also we need to send the system to the depot repair center.
11/13/2008 07:54:59PM	Walt Snider: "You are very good at not directly answering my questions."
11/13/2008 07:55:35PM	Walt Snider: "I have been a computer technician for 22 years and have more certifications than fingers. I send many, many people to Dell to buy machines."
11/13/2008 07:56:40PM	Walt Snider: "I have several USB & Firewire optical drives on my workbench, I have tried to install XP again, it won’t take because it has problems writing to the disk."
11/13/2008 07:57:07PM	Walt Snider: "Unless there’s a problem witht he FSB, I am assuming it’s the SSD."
11/13/2008 07:57:40PM	Walt Snider: "Either way, it’s hardware by my assessment."
11/13/2008 07:58:31PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "Walt, I appreciate your computer knowledge and skills, however, in order to get the hard drive replaced on the system, we need to send the system to the depot repair center ."
11/13/2008 07:58:48PM	Walt Snider: "Let’s get the ball rolling."
11/13/2008 07:59:30PM	Walt Snider: "You have my address on file, I presume (Main Street ) [Edited for privacy] , send the RMA box and I’ll place the system in it and take it to a drop off location."
11/13/2008 07:59:52PM	Walt Snider: "Would I keep the battery and power adapter to lessen the shipping weight?"
11/13/2008 08:00:12PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "Yes."
11/13/2008 08:00:25PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "Could you please provide me your current shipping address?"
11/13/2008 08:00:33PM	Walt Snider: "The same as is in my profile."
11/13/2008 08:01:24PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "I request you to reconfirm the address once again to make sure."
11/13/2008 08:03:11PM	Walt Snider: "Above you stated you were "pulling up my account information". I have lived in this house for X [Edited for privacy] years. The system arrived here. It stands to reason that if the system arrived here, the RMA box will as well. I have further stated, without being asked, that I am on Main Street [Edited for privacy] , . "
11/13/2008 08:03:38PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "Okay."
11/13/2008 08:03:43PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "May, I place this session on hold for 2-3 minutes while i go ahead and complete the documentation and provide you the reference numbers?"
11/13/2008 08:03:53PM	Walt Snider: "Yes."
11/13/2008 08:09:05PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "Thank you for staying online. I appreciate your patience."
11/13/2008 08:09:20PM	Walt Snider: "A great virtue."
11/13/2008 08:10:16PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "I have created the dispatch. Please make a note of your dispatch number. The dispatch number # is xxxxxxx [Edited for privacy] . You will be receiving an empty box within 2 business days which will be delivered for shipping the system."
11/13/2008 08:10:25PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "Estimated return time after shipping the system to depot 5-8 Business Days."
11/13/2008 08:10:44PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "In the depot, a team of technicians will work on your system and will replace the required parts to make sure that the system is working fine before sending it back to you."
11/13/2008 08:10:49PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "Is there anything else regarding your Dell system that you need help with?"
11/13/2008 08:11:01PM	Walt Snider: "That will be all."
11/13/2008 08:11:14PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "Are you satisfied with the level of service provided to you on this interaction? Is there anything feedback would you like to share with me about the service you have received today?"
11/13/2008 08:11:50PM	Walt Snider: "Not entirely. I feel you should pay attention to things that were already mentioned instead of asking questions that have already been answered."
11/13/2008 08:12:08PM	Walt Snider: "But the outcome is the one I desired, so I am not disappointed."
11/13/2008 08:13:32PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "I apologize for the inconvenience, however, I will definitely make sure this thing."
11/13/2008 08:13:39PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "Thank you for contacting dell technical support. We appreciate your business."
11/13/2008 08:13:50PM	Agent (NishantM_172798): "It was a wonderful experience chatting with you. You have been really cooperative. It is always a pleasure to serve a Dell Valuable Customer like you. You have been a wonder to have a word with. Please do take care of yourself, bye."
11/13/2008 08:13:56PM	Walt Snider: "Good night."
11/13/2008 08:14:57PM	Session Ended

I got the box in 36 hours, removed the battery (cuts down on shipping weight = Dell saves money) and sent it off. 2 days later (assume 1 for shipping, 1 more  for receiving and unboxing) I got a call stating they had my machine, determined the SSD was bad (gee, really?) and needed my BIOS password to test the new installation. Oops, I forgot to remove that. Once they had the info they apparently did their testing and I got an automated email with tracking info that night. 36 hours later, FedEx handed my mini. My machine was taken care of in less than a week. That’s pretty darn good! I’m quite impressed.

I’ve sent laptops, usual several different models, to manufacturers for hardware replacement. I’ve found Apple machines are the hardest to get repaired and take the longest to get back, sometimes upward of 2 months! Literally. Generally your median is 2-3 weeks for a return. Always remember to have a backup of your data because you have to assume all your data (documents, photos, programs and more) will be wiped clean when you send it back. For some manufacturers, this is a SOP!

Dell support, once I got past the ill-placed chat operator, really treated me right. I’m glad I reccommend Dell to all my clientelle and family.