Anyone used Dell's Inspiron Mini 9 for light CAD stuff?

[Joerg]

From reviews it looks like the Mini 9 should be able to do minor CAD on
the road, writing modules specs or reports, etc. Battery life still
isn't stellar but better than laptops. Main reason I ask is the (to me)
unusual screen format of 1024*600. Not sure if the typical CAD programs
can handle that without disappearing and thus inaccessible task bars.
I've had that happen in Ubuntu when running 800*600, until I got it to
full screen.

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-inspiron-9?cs=19&s=dhs&ref=homepg

Anyone care to share their experience?

The main things I do on the road are the usual: Pull datasheets and
order numbers off Digikey, email, booking a flight on the web, some PDF
viewing, schematic viewing and (minor) editing which most likely will
become KiCad, and lots of Gerber file viewing. I'd use the one with XP
on there.

This could be a sweet little tool, much easier to schlepp along that the
usual machine.

 

[Joerg]

I can't comment on the usability of that Dell, but you might be interested to
know that next Friday ("Black Friday") the lowest-end model (512MB/4GB/Ubuntu)
will be on sale for $299 rather than $349:
http://bfads.net/Dell-Inspiron-Mini...rocessor-Linux-512MB-RAM-4GB-SSD-at-Dell-Home .
Granted, you'd have to add more memory, come up with a legitimate copy of
Windows XP, etc. starting there, but it might still be a better deal overall
if you have a bit of time available.

Nah, by the time you've added the missing 512MB of RAM and bought a 16GB
flash plus an XP licence you'd be up to the $450 or so that they want
for the upper end model. Probably even higher.

 

[Le Chaud Lapin]

Link for the HP 2133, $299:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00170KD0Y

I read on CNET that the sweet spot for Netbook screen size is 10
inches. [Writer was female. ]

I like Dell products, but a month ago a friend of mine wanted
something that was "lighter than laptop". We went to BestBuy and found
this deal:

10/100 Ethernet, 802.11 b/g, 1GB RAM, 120GB HD, Windows XP Home,
1024x600, Microsoft Works, $379.00US.

http://tinyurl.com/6jqzpt

She loves it. Keyboard size is just right for her fingers. I had to
talk myself out of getting 5 to help with my research.

-Le Chaud Lapin-

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

From reviews it looks like the Mini 9 should be able to do minor CAD on
the road, writing modules specs or reports, etc. Battery life still
isn't stellar but better than laptops. Main reason I ask is the (to me)
unusual screen format of 1024*600. Not sure if the typical CAD programs
can handle that without disappearing and thus inaccessible task bars.
I've had that happen in Ubuntu when running 800*600, until I got it to
full screen.

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-inspiron-9?cs=19&s=dhs&ref=homepg

Anyone care to share their experience?

The main things I do on the road are the usual: Pull datasheets and
order numbers off Digikey, email, booking a flight on the web, some PDF
viewing, schematic viewing and (minor) editing which most likely will
become KiCad, and lots of Gerber file viewing. I'd use the one with XP
on there.

This could be a sweet little tool, much easier to schlepp along that the
usual machine.

I cancelled an order for that one when Dell could not deliver in time,
so my comments are based on the similar MSI Wind, but the specs are
not that different.

I have had no problems doing "light" CAD and Gerber viewing under XP,
and the usual communication tasks with the 1024x600 screen. It's not
bad. Perhaps surprisingly, you can plug it into a 1920x1200 monitor
and it drives it to full resolution (though it's a bit pokey). I use a
Logitech Bluetooth laser mouse (disposable AA cells so no worries
about charging it) for all but the simplest tasks. There's the odd web
page that requires you to scroll horizontally, but it's not that bad
(and a tilt-wheel mouse helps with that).

The three cell battery the Wind comes with is great for light weight,
but the life is pretty short. I have ordered a 9 cell 3rd party
battery which should extend the life to pretty much "whole day"
computing, and which adds about 1 pound to the weight. I also ordered
a somewhat smaller travel charger (it's already way better than the
bulky Dell lapop units) with integral foreign plug adapters that
doesn't suffer from having those annoying lumps in the cord (the
ferrite common mode filters) nor that bulky line cord. ;-)

Bottom line is that a 10" 1024 x 600 LED-backlit screen is pretty
nice, as is the Intel Atom, and under XP with 1G of RAM and a decent
HDD you can get a lot done with a machine that weighs not much over a
kg.

Oh, and I tested an inexpensive USB-serial cable with a couple of
older (2002 ca.) x51 emulator and programmer modules, and it worked
flawlessly. Most more modern stuff comes with a USB port anyway. The
Bluetooth mouse is nice because it frees up a USB port so you can have
an external keyboard and still have a couple ports free.

For more intensive stuff, I really like displays like the WUXGA
display on the notebook I'm typing this on at the moment... and a
decent processor.. but that weighs a fair bit more (and costs more).

 

[Le Chaud Lapin]

Link for the HP 2133, $299:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00170KD0Y

I read on CNET that the sweet spot for Netbook screen size is 10
inches.  [Writer was female. ]

I like Dell products, but a month ago a friend of mine wanted
something that was "lighter than laptop". We went to BestBuy and found
this deal:

10/100 Ethernet, 802.11 b/g, 1GB RAM, 120GB HD, Windows XP Home,
1024x600, Microsoft Works, $379.00US.

http://tinyurl.com/6jqzpt

She loves it. Keyboard size is just right for her fingers. I had to
talk myself out of getting 5 to help with my research.

Uh...the link above keeps linking to a computer not made by Asus, and
we bought an Asus, and I cannot get links from BestBuy to behave -
keep getting redirected from Asus to link above. OTOH, link above is
even better deal than we got. [Link above includes Bluetooth,
expandable to 2GB RAM, Gigabit Ethernet.]

There are several other deals near that link. Looks like best are made
by MSI Wind.

-Le Chaud Lapin-

 

[Joerg]

Link for the HP 2133, $299: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00170KD0Y

Thanks. But it's older technology. With "modern" (a.k.a. bloated)
software 512MB RAM and 4GB flash it'll be hard to reach a reasonable CAD
productivity. I've also heard that the VIA uP is more power-hungry than
the Atom and from the description the battery runtime is about as paltry
as on my big laptop. This machine is supposed to replace that for
shorter trips to clients, trips where I don't need to do heavy-duty CAD.

 

[Joerg]

I cancelled an order for that one when Dell could not deliver in time,
so my comments are based on the similar MSI Wind, but the specs are
not that different.

I've read about that, too. Hopefully they have fixed that. Shipping
delays do happen on brand new stuff. Dell has a reputation for not
shipping until they are really sure the product quality is up to par.

I have had no problems doing "light" CAD and Gerber viewing under XP,
and the usual communication tasks with the 1024x600 screen. It's not
bad. Perhaps surprisingly, you can plug it into a 1920x1200 monitor
and it drives it to full resolution (though it's a bit pokey). I use a
Logitech Bluetooth laser mouse (disposable AA cells so no worries
about charging it) for all but the simplest tasks. There's the odd web
page that requires you to scroll horizontally, but it's not that bad
(and a tilt-wheel mouse helps with that).

This is encouraging. AFAIK the Mini 9 doesn't have Bluetooth (maybe they
do as an option, don't know yet) but that's ok, I don't mind hauling a
little USB mouse. It's got three ports.

The three cell battery the Wind comes with is great for light weight,
but the life is pretty short. I have ordered a 9 cell 3rd party
battery which should extend the life to pretty much "whole day"
computing, and which adds about 1 pound to the weight. I also ordered
a somewhat smaller travel charger (it's already way better than the
bulky Dell lapop units) with integral foreign plug adapters that
doesn't suffer from having those annoying lumps in the cord (the
ferrite common mode filters) nor that bulky line cord. ;-)

Dell has a 4-cell. I guess when a larger battery comes out it'll be
pricey but maybe an external battery can be connected for even more
runtime. As usual, no specs on the power connector. For example whether
an external 12V would work or not. On some laptops that does work, it
just won't charge the internal battery unless you offer a higher voltage.

Bottom line is that a 10" 1024 x 600 LED-backlit screen is pretty
nice, as is the Intel Atom, and under XP with 1G of RAM and a decent
HDD you can get a lot done with a machine that weighs not much over a
kg.

Oh, and I tested an inexpensive USB-serial cable with a couple of
older (2002 ca.) x51 emulator and programmer modules, and it worked
flawlessly. Most more modern stuff comes with a USB port anyway. The
Bluetooth mouse is nice because it frees up a USB port so you can have
an external keyboard and still have a couple ports free.

For more intensive stuff, I really like displays like the WUXGA
display on the notebook I'm typing this on at the moment... and a
decent processor.. but that weighs a fair bit more (and costs more).

On larger assignments I'll just take my trusty DuraBook. It's around two
years old now but still state-of-the-art IMHO. Does heavy CAD, SPICE and
so on with ease.

Thanks for you summary. That really helps.

 

[hrh1818]

Link for the HP 2133, $299:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00170KD0Y

I read on CNET that the sweet spot for Netbook screen size is 10
inches.  [Writer was female. ]

I like Dell products, but a month ago a friend of mine wanted
something that was "lighter than laptop". We went to BestBuy and found
this deal:

10/100 Ethernet, 802.11 b/g, 1GB RAM, 120GB HD, Windows XP Home,
1024x600, Microsoft Works, $379.00US.

http://tinyurl.com/6jqzpt

She loves it. Keyboard size is just right for her fingers. I had to
talk myself out of getting 5 to help with my research.

-Le Chaud Lapin-

http://tinyurl.com/5ukfun has the MSI Wind notebook for $350 for a 3
battery cell version and $430 for a 6 battery cell version.

Howard

 

[hrh1818]

On Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:25:03 -0800, Joerg



I have had no problems doing "light" CAD and Gerber viewing under XP,
and the usual communication tasks with the 1024x600 screen. It's not
bad. Perhaps surprisingly, you can plug it into a 1920x1200 monitor
and it drives it to full resolution (though it's a bit pokey). I use a
Logitech Bluetooth laser mouse (disposable AA cells so no worries
about charging it) for all but the simplest tasks. There's the odd web
page that requires you to scroll horizontally, but it's not that bad
(and a tilt-wheel mouse helps with that).

The three cell battery the Wind comes with is great for light weight,
but the life is pretty short. I have ordered a 9 cell 3rd party
battery which should extend the life to pretty much "whole day"
computing, and which adds about 1 pound to the weight. I also ordered
a somewhat smaller travel charger (it's already way better than the
bulky Dell lapop units) with integral foreign plug adapters that
doesn't suffer from having those annoying lumps in the cord (the
ferrite common mode filters) nor that bulky line cord. ;-)

Who is the manufacturer of your travel charger?

Howard

 

[Le Chaud Lapin]

http://tinyurl.com/5ukfunhas the MSI Wind notebook for $350 for a 3
battery cell version and $430 for a 6 battery cell version.

Howard-

I rarely get excited by consumer electronics...but there is something
about these Netbooks that make them very hard to ignore. How many
times have each of us beheld some kind of proprietary gadget costing >
$1000US and thought, "What a rip off!...It's nothing more than CPU,
some RAM, display, and interfaces..."

Normal laptops have been too big to lug around. But these Netbooks...

For cost of my last Tek toy oscilloscope, I could have had several of
these Netbooks plus USB module to achieve essentially same funtion.

I think we should prepare for a tidal wave of these devices, with
external mice, of course. They provide so much for so little.

-Le Chaud Lapin-

 

[Le Chaud Lapin]

Uh...the link above keeps linking to a computer not made by Asus, and
we bought an Asus, and I cannot get links from BestBuy to behave -
keep getting redirected from Asus to link above. OTOH, link above is
even better deal than we got. [Link above includes Bluetooth,
expandable to 2GB RAM, Gigabit Ethernet.]

Scratch Gigabit Ethernet. I just went to MSI's website, and it seems
that the model, U100-016US, only goes up to 100mb/s.

http://www.msimobile.com/DetailPage.aspx?model=U100-016US

Best Buy says it goes up to 1Gb/s:

http://tinyurl.com/6jqzpt

-Le Chaud Lapin-

 

[Le Chaud Lapin]

Uh...the link above keeps linking to a computer not made by Asus, and
we bought an Asus, and I cannot get links from BestBuy to behave -
keep getting redirected from Asus to link above. OTOH, link above is
even better deal than we got. [Link above includes Bluetooth,
expandable to 2GB RAM, Gigabit Ethernet.]

Scratch Gigabit Ethernet. I just went to MSI's website, and it seems
that the model, U100-016US, only goes up to 100mb/s.

http://www.msimobile.com/DetailPage.aspx?model=U100-016US

Best Buy says it goes up to 1Gb/s:

http://tinyurl.com/6jqzpt

Ok, the Best Buy rep actually called Microstar International, and said
that Microstar themselves said that Microstars website is incorrect,
that the model number U100-016US is, indeed, 1Gb/s Ethernet, even
though Microstars website says it is 100mb/s.

Weird.

I have a hypothesis why this would be done: when you offer a 120GB
Windows XP 1Gbs Wi-Fi/Bluetooth-enabled mini-notebook for $400, it
starts to raise eyebrows of corporate customers. Very quickly we
start getting into "Hmmmmmm...territory.." and "Hmmmm...." is not a
word that companies like Microsoft and Dell want to hear regarding
Netbooks.

So you say 100mb/s, since Gigabit Ethernet is one of the few metrics
by which "home" computers are distinguished from "business" computers,
though we know that the distinction is laughably arbitrary and
concocted primarily as a non-sensical basis for price stratification.

-Le Chaud Lapin-

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

Who is the manufacturer of your travel charger?

Howard

Claimed to be the seller who is Lee262online (in Hong Kong). We'll see
how good it is.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

Uh...the link above keeps linking to a computer not made by Asus, and
we bought an Asus, and I cannot get links from BestBuy to behave -
keep getting redirected from Asus to link above. OTOH, link above is
even better deal than we got. [Link above includes Bluetooth,
expandable to 2GB RAM, Gigabit Ethernet.]

Scratch Gigabit Ethernet. I just went to MSI's website, and it seems
that the model, U100-016US, only goes up to 100mb/s.

http://www.msimobile.com/DetailPage.aspx?model=U100-016US

Best Buy says it goes up to 1Gb/s:

http://tinyurl.com/6jqzpt

Ok, the Best Buy rep actually called Microstar International, and said
that Microstar themselves said that Microstars website is incorrect,
that the model number U100-016US is, indeed, 1Gb/s Ethernet, even
though Microstars website says it is 100mb/s.

Weird.

I have a hypothesis why this would be done: when you offer a 120GB
Windows XP 1Gbs Wi-Fi/Bluetooth-enabled mini-notebook for $400, it
starts to raise eyebrows of corporate customers. Very quickly we
start getting into "Hmmmmmm...territory.." and "Hmmmm...." is not a
word that companies like Microsoft and Dell want to hear regarding
Netbooks.

So you say 100mb/s, since Gigabit Ethernet is one of the few metrics
by which "home" computers are distinguished from "business" computers,
though we know that the distinction is laughably arbitrary and
concocted primarily as a non-sensical basis for price stratification.

-Le Chaud Lapin-

My one (U100 marked "Model: MS-N011") is definitely 10/100 only. The
driver is for a Realtek RTL8102E.

http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/...id=1&PNid=14&PFid=7&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=191

Later units might be different-- they are changing a bunch of things,
such as the touchpad supplier.

Someone has done an BOM analysis of this unit:
<http://www.citosoft.com/MSINB/BOM-U100(MS-N011).pdf>

If you look at the forums, there are people dropping 500G drives into
these things! ($110/free shipping) You *can* take it all with you.

I'm not sure I'd go with even a 32G SDD at this point-- the capacity
is still pretty low, and things like MS Office take up quite a bit of
space. I was prepared to do so, and worked out the sizes as being
reasonable, but things always ending up using more space than you'd
expect unless you get ruthless with leaving stuff out.

Nice that MSI supplies an XP recovery disk etc. with the thing (though
there's no optical drive built in).

I have been told that Intel has deliberately crippled the Atom so that
it can't support HDMI output, which would support the market division
thinking you are talking about.




Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

 

[hrh1818]

 From reviews it looks like the Mini 9 should be able to do minor CAD on
the road, writing modules specs or reports, etc. Battery life still
isn't stellar but better than laptops. Main reason I ask is the (to me)
unusual screen format of 1024*600. Not sure if the typical CAD programs
can handle that without disappearing and thus inaccessible task bars.
I've had that happen in Ubuntu when running 800*600, until I got it to
full screen.

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-inspi...

Anyone care to share their experience?

The main things I do on the road are the usual: Pull datasheets and
order numbers off Digikey, email, booking a flight on the web, some PDF
viewing, schematic viewing and (minor) editing which most likely will
become KiCad, and lots of Gerber file viewing. I'd use the one with XP
on there.

This could be a sweet little tool, much easier to schlepp along that the
usual machine.

Just to add to the confusion another highly rated 10 inch notebook is
the Samsung NC10. Pros are a long battery life, strong wiFi reception
and a keyboard that is 93% of a regular keyboard size. Cons are a
short track pad and a tiny speaker. Here is one review.
http://www.digitgeek.com/samsung-nc10-review/
Here are some reviews at Newegg. http://tinyurl.com/58wx2c
Here are some reviews at Amazon http://tinyurl.com/65ov2n
The Samsung NC10 has only been available in the US for less than a
month.

Howard

 

[Joerg]

Just to add to the confusion another highly rated 10 inch notebook is
the Samsung NC10. Pros are a long battery life, strong wiFi reception
and a keyboard that is 93% of a regular keyboard size. Cons are a
short track pad and a tiny speaker. Here is one review.
http://www.digitgeek.com/samsung-nc10-review/
Here are some reviews at Newegg. http://tinyurl.com/58wx2c
Here are some reviews at Amazon http://tinyurl.com/65ov2n
The Samsung NC10 has only been available in the US for less than a
month.

Thanks, Howard! This one seems to beat most others on battery runtime.
That is what ultimately matters the most.

 

[Joerg]

Just to add to the confusion another highly rated 10 inch notebook is
the Samsung NC10. Pros are a long battery life, strong wiFi reception
and a keyboard that is 93% of a regular keyboard size. Cons are a
short track pad and a tiny speaker. Here is one review.
http://www.digitgeek.com/samsung-nc10-review/
Here are some reviews at Newegg. http://tinyurl.com/58wx2c
Here are some reviews at Amazon http://tinyurl.com/65ov2n
The Samsung NC10 has only been available in the US for less than a
month.

Just ordered the Samsung NC10. Can't beat its battery life and that is
the #1 criterion for me. Thanks, Howard.