Do you believe that you’ll have to give up tons of functionality to gain the portability of a netbook? Think again. Just check out the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 and become a believer. It got plenty of power and capacity in a very tiny package.

Dell Inspiron Mini 9

At a featherweight 2 1/4 lbs you won’t get tired carrying this minibook around, no matter where you go. Not to forget that with dimensions like 9″ wide x 6.8″ deep x 1.3″ high, you can just tuck it in a pouch in your case and get on your way. Since the Dell Mini 9 has 802.11g Wi-Fi built-in you can connect to the Internet anywhere you can find a hotspot.

Enough Power

Don’t worry about not having enough power to run applications either. The Dell features Intel’s 1.6GHz Atom processor. While that sounds modest compared to today’s CPUs on high-end laptops, it’s pretty equal to the top of the line model only a few years back.

More than enough Storage Space

There’s ample storage for documents onboard, too. While extremely modest by comparison to the 320GB monsters that became standard nowadays, the 8GB solid-state storage built-in is plenty enough for most people on the go. Remember that 1 GB gives you enough capacity to store up to a thousand spreadsheets of 1 MB. If you want you can also go for the upgrade to a 16GB SSD drive. Up to 32GB SSD if you run Ubuntu Linux.

If you’re afraid that you might reach the limit you can always turn to the SD slot to help out. With some high capacity SD cards offering 16GB or more at very low prices, you won’t run out of space any time soon. Don’t forget with Dell’s Box.Net online file storage feature, you can upload your documents to relive local storage constraints and make a safety back-up.

RAM Capacity

While the Mini 9’s 1GB memory capacity is small compared to the 4GB or more that laptops offer nowadays, even that is plenty enough to run all your applications. Compare that, for example, to what you would have gotten on a desktop PC only a few years ago.

You can run the pre-installed Ubuntu Linux (a stellar operating system) and the entire Open Office application suite with no problem. The CPU is powerful enough to run Writer (like MS Word), Calc (the Excel counterpart), and all the other application that are available for free. If you prefer to stick with MS Windows, you can do that, too. Windows XP runs just fine and you can download and install Microsoft Office over the web.

Extra Slots and Goodies

There are plenty of extra slots and features on the Dell Mini 9. Three USB 2.0 ports, a VGA out port to connect a large monitor (the Mini has a nearly 10 inch screen already), and an Ethernet jack for wired Internet connectivity is standard. It also can be configured for Bluetooth and a 1.3 megapixel Webcam. A 3-in-1 media card reader is built-in as well.

Final Considerations

Don’t make the mistake to expect the speed, capacity, or configurability of the Dell Mini 9 to match the company’s high-end Inspiron full-sized notebooks. But for a netbook that offers much more portability at a way lower price, you won’t feel you’ve sacrificed functionality, either. It’s a solid performer in a remarkable package offering Dell’s well-deserved reputation for reliability.

Check out the review of the new and improved mini laptop from Dell: the Dell Inspiron Mini 12 !