Dell drops Mini 9 range

Author: Gareth Halfacree
Published: 2nd June 2009
Comments (13) Stumble
Dell drops Mini 9 range

Dell's popular Mini 9 range just got rarer: the company has officially ceased selling the 8.9" models in favour of the 10" Mini 10 and 10v.

The days of netbooks being svelte, ultra-portable fashion accessories may be numbered with the news that Dell is to ditch the popular 8.9” Mini 9 range to focus on larger models.

As reported over on CNet, the mass-market box shifter has removed the Mini 9 from its UK website – pointed interested parties in the 10” Mini 10 and Mini 10v ranges instead.

This move to concentrate on a larger form factor as standard – rather than as an additional offering – is echoed across the pond, with Engadget reporting that a Dell customer service representative has confirmed the Mini 9 range as “end of life.”

The move comes as the boundaries between netbooks and notebooks blur: with screen sizes getting ever larger – and some netbooks even going so far as to have integral optical drives – the main reason for their popularity appears to have been forgotten: they're incredibly portable devices for use on-the-go.

Whether this move towards 10” displays – and beyond – represents a maturation of the netbook market or a dilution of its core ideals remains to be seen. One thing is for certain: Dell is putting its money on size selling.

What's the ideal netbook screen size in your opinion? Is there an upper limit, beyond which you'd recommend just shelling out for a real laptop? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
Quote mHod 2nd June 2009, 14:20
Lucky i got my order in for this on friday :)

I was tempted by the 10 inch model, but the screen was a lower res, and it was bigger. Didn't see much point, maybe when i'm 80 and my eyesight is shot i might need a bigger screen!
Quote Narishma 2nd June 2009, 14:52
My ideal size for a netbook would be something like 12" or 13" with a 1280x800 resolution. I have a 10" one and sometimes I wish it was a bit larger, especially when programming or on some websites where you have to scroll horizontally.

As far as I'm concerned, if it's less than $500 and less than 15" it's a netbook.
Quote Bursar 2nd June 2009, 15:01
A guy at work tried to order a mini-9 and it took a couple of months of broken promises and failed deliveries before he could get anything done. In the end, Dell told him that they couldn't cancel his order or refund him until the laptop had been delivered. Once he had it, he could return. Ofcourse the problem was getting it in the first place!

Had he walked into PC World, he could have picked one off the shelf.
Quote Cupboard 2nd June 2009, 16:52
For a netbook, 9 inches seems ideal to me. Shame they are getting rid of it.
Quote docodine 2nd June 2009, 18:20
Quote:
Originally Posted by Narishma
As far as I'm concerned, if it's less than $500 and less than 15" it's a netbook.

<$350 and 10" is what a netbook is in my book. They're getting rarer by the day...
Quote pendragon 2nd June 2009, 18:22
that's a shame.. oh well, 10" is probably the perfect netbook size.. anything larger is not a netbook

Ars sums their use up nicely What netbooks are for
Quote perplekks45 2nd June 2009, 20:31
Yep, larger than 10" != netbook.

MS and Intel set a standard and I think they're right even it seems to be forced upon the market. Oh, and the Dell is not a real loss, is it?
Quote Dreaming 2nd June 2009, 22:07
so what is 10" - 12" then? I would say 13" is definitely laptop, but there is a grey area of overlap between the two.
Quote perplekks45 3rd June 2009, 01:12
Sub-notebook. For years <13" was sub-notebook or ultra-portable. Now we have netbooks from 7" all the way to 12"...
Quote AlexB 3rd June 2009, 10:06
Shame, the little dells looked quite nice. I bought an Acer Aspire One (9") for less money, with a better spec. Love it. Netbooks are < 10" !
Quote proxymoron 3rd June 2009, 11:39
Love my Mini 9, just wish it ran at 1024 x 768 for out of the box compatibility with older stuff rather than 1024 x 600, but it's a minor gripe.
Quote SubtleOne 12th June 2009, 08:06
They didn't really drop it. They just renamed the Mini 9 to the Vostro A90.
Quote perplekks45 13th June 2009, 01:31
Vostro was business only last time I checked. Did they change that then?
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