Dead Again - Dell Mini 9 as low as $200! (+tax+ship) Dell Outlet

[SearchMaster]

Originally posted by: zoiks
What's the max you can increase the memory to?

2GB

 

[I4AT]

Nvm, there was a new coupon issued yesterday that already expired, and E-Junkie just hiked their prices.

 

[msi1337]

e-junkies 20% outlet coupon is now $4.99

 

[Dynamyck]

Originally posted by: msi1337
e-junkies 20% outlet coupon is now $4.99

1st time to e-junkie and can't seem to find any dell outlet coupons .. site is a bit confusing, any ideas?

TIA

*edit* Nevermind, I found it.

 

[KoolAidKid]

Got one for $225 shipped. Thanks for the heads up OP!

 

[zoiks]

Will this ssd fit the mini 9?

http://shop2.frys.com/product/...sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

If so then this looks like a good deal.

Edit - Doesn't look like it. Bah.

 

[I4AT]

Try this coupon if you plan on ordering soon:
SF5H45KJGRZFTB

This one was posted a few days ago on SD, but then it expired (I'm guessing reached its usage limit) and now it appears to be working again. Or it at least shows up in the cart. If you get an error when trying to submit your order that most likely means the coupon is still dead.

I ended up buying a $5 coupon from E-Junkie to order mine, but it was a 32gb unit which doesn't pop up very often, so I doubt I could have waited.

 

[Cstefan]

This coupon works as of 1-14

 

[AnandBrowser]

That code worked for me. Just got myself a second Mini (to run OS X on) for a whopping $202.18 (that includes tax and shipping)! I upgraded the RAM and SSD from my original one, so those will go into this one. Nice cheap little toy!

I highly suggest one of these for running Win7 on (that's what my first one is doing). As long as you get a 16GB drive or larger, it runs it great!

 

[Computergasm]

Coupon worked: $271.20 for 16gb, 1 meg mem, Bluetooth, and webcam. I think it's red.

 

[frostedflakes]

Nice deal! Looks like they have the exact same laptop I ordered last week for $229 (I paid $269). Oh well.

 

[bucwylde23]

What kind of battery life do these things get? Also, how much free space is available with the OS installed?
I"m very interested in a netbook just trying to decide if this one is what I'm looking for...

 

[AnandBrowser]

Originally posted by: frostedflakes
Nice deal! Looks like they have the exact same laptop I ordered last week for $229 (I paid $269). Oh well.

Are you sure it's configured the same way (bluetooth, same webcam, etc)? It looks like the price on a fully-loaded one (minus WAN) has only dropped 20 bucks in the month since I ordered my first one. Loaded used to be $359, now it's $339 (though finding one with bluetooth is getting harder).

 

[mshan]

I got an 8 GB one with XP installed, and after just installing AVG Free Edition, computer said capacity was 7.07 GB with 1.09 GB free.

I couldn't even complete Windows update without getting low disk space message.

I started deleting stuff such as Dell webcam avatar creator and then all Dell Support stuff (this step seemed to speed up initial boot), I was able to load a fair number of programs and have several hundred MB of storage left.

I am going to do a clean install of Windows and hopefully that will open up more space, and hopefully speed up load times even more (can I use my own copy of XP Home with COA on bottom of Mini 9, or do I have to use the Dell Restore CD?)

 

[AnandBrowser]

Originally posted by: chrisg22
What kind of battery life do these things get? Also, how much free space is available with the OS installed?
I"m very interested in a netbook just trying to decide if this one is what I'm looking for...

You generally get between 3-4 hours depending on what you're doing. There's some guy on eBay selling a bigger battery that gets about 7 or 8 hours, but the thing is pretty big.

As for space, I'd say the minimum usable size drive to start with is 16GB. The OS will generally take up about 7 or 8 GB depending on whether you have a paging file and hibernation file. People have reported trimming a base install down to 1-2GB using nLite, though. Remember that you can also throw an SDHC card into the slot to give yourself another drive to store your files on (a 16GB one can be easily found for 20-30 bucks--but it will be a lot slower than the built-in SSD).

The biggest complaint that most people seem to have with the Mini 9 is the keyboard layout (they've jumbled a number of the keys around). But I've found that I got used to it pretty quickly. There's also an "International English" keyboard that you can try to order as a replacement part that uses a more standard key layout.

The best place to read up on these suckers is the forums over at mydellmini.com.

 

[AnandBrowser]

Originally posted by: mshan
I am going to do a clean install of Windows and hopefully that will open up more space, and hopefully speed up load times even more (can I use my own copy of XP Home with COA on bottom of Mini 9, or do I have to use the Dell Restore CD?)

The disk that comes with the Mini is a plain vanilla XP Home install that won't ask for a key or activation (I think it uses the BIOS to verify authenticity). The big pain in doing this is reinstalling all the drivers. Honestly, it's probably easier to just download all the files from the Dell site than it is to run the install utility on the driver CD.

EDIT: Or better yet, install the Windows 7 Beta (but remember that it'll die in August). You only need to install the card reader drivers and the Dell Wireless Switcher app after it does it's thing with Windows Update.

 

[mshan]

Is using an OEM copy of XP Home SP2 that I already own with COA on bottom of Mini 9 going to work (I take I have to click activate copy online like regular OEM XP), or should I or do I have to use Dell provided restore cd?

 

[AnandBrowser]

I'd assume you'd need the key with your other OEM disc, but maybe not. The key on the bottom should work for that, though.

EDIT: Also, like I mentioned before, the disc that comes with the mini is a bare-bones XP install. It's not a "restore" disc. It doesn't install all the extra crap. The only reason I could see for wanting to use your OEM disc is that it's SP2 instead of SP3.

 

[mshan]

Thanks for the info; I thought it was a complete disk image of factory install.

Found this at website you mentioned above: http://mydellmini.com/forum/in...r-information-t57.html

Thanks!

edit: How clean and efficient is the Dell factory install? (one commentator in thread above said page file is consuming 1.5 GB, so that's probably why I have so little free space vs. what I've seen with my own builds).

 

[AnandBrowser]

Originally posted by: mshan
How clean and efficient is the Dell factory install? (one commentator in thread above said page file is consuming 1.5 GB, so that's probably why I have so little free space vs. what I've seen with my own builds).

It's a Dell. It's loaded with crap. But uninstalling all that crap does clean it up pretty well. With an 8GB drive, though, I'd definitely do some of the tweaks they have posted on the forum (change/remove page file, disable hibernate, maybe do an nLite install). If you're running Office on it, definitely only install the apps/packages that you will actually need/use. When you're dealing with limited space, you really do need to pay attention to what you install and what options you use.

 

[SandEagle]

Is the 'Previously Ordered New' in better condition than the 'Certified Reburbished'? Did I get ripped off? I got the following:

- Previously Ordered New
- 16GB SSD
- 1 GB mem
- integrated 1.3 MP Webcam
- 802.11 wireless, no broadband mobile
- Windows XP

Came out to $332 (includes tax and shipping).

 

[mshan]

Looks like System Restore is not enabled at default by Dell (chose smallest size at 200 MB).

System Hibernate was enabled and was using up 1 GB of SDD space; disabled that and now I have almost 1.5 GB free space.

 

[hmsrolst]

I disabled the swap file and have had no performance issues, either with 1GB or 2GB of RAM. Of course, it might depend on what you do, but I assume no one is using this for heavyweight work.

 

[MIDealGuy]

Try this coupon if you plan on ordering soon:
SF5H45KJGRZFTB

dead as a doornail. figures. i wanted to order one too, and now that they have refurbs in stock, i can't find a coupon..

 

[mikester0421]

I'm ready to bite. The ejunkie coupon apparently expired yesterday. Anyone got a code I can use?