Inspiron Mini 9 vs AAO

Discussion in 'Other Laptop Models' started by Jawn, Sep 7, 2008.

  1. Jawn

    Jawn

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    New member here. Had an eee 701, installed XP on it, gave it to my daughter who is in school. keyboard too small for me.

    I've wanted to replace the eee with a netbook with better performance and keyboard. The AAO looks very good to me. I had been waiting for the Dell to come out--the leaked info re price and their desire to have an "instant on" all day battery netbook was really intriguing, especially at the $299 rumored price.

    I'm going to discuss my understanding of the pros and cons of the Dell vs the AAO for my needs. I'd welcome your comments/criticisms of my views. :D

    The Dell does look pretty good to me. I suspect from what I've read that it would be a lot easier to upgrade than the AAO (memory being just one example).

    However, pretty much all I need is Firefox-- I live in GoogleWorld, using gMail, gCalendar, gDocs, gReader plus Remember the Milk for tasks. So, Linux is fine, and Linpus is fine vs Ubuntu netbook version in the Dell. Since I don't need XP or a big drive, an SSD is fine with me.

    A significant benefit of the AAO for me, over the Dell, is boot time. Based on what I've read, the AAO will boot about twice as fast as the Dell (20 sec vs 40 sec). And for me, the Linpus on SSD is fine. The Dell's battery life, though, is enough better than the AAO from what I've read that that could make a difference for me. Hmm--just realized that if the Dell's suspend function is markedly better than the AAO (ie, sleeps and wakes faster/more reliably--and uses little battery) that could make a difference--boot time would be less relevant. (Sleep with the eee was terrible, used about 10% of the battery per hour.)

    Bottom line for me is, if I could get the AAO in Sapphire Blue, Linpus version, with the six hour battery now, I'd get it. If the low-end Dell would boot as fast as the AAO, or suspend better than the AAO, I'd probably get that, the 4 cell battery of the Dell being enough better than the 3 cell battery of the AAO to meet my needs.

    Your thoughts, please? Thanks, John
     
    Jawn, Sep 7, 2008
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  2. Jawn

    annafil

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    Well the Dell prices are out, and the Linux Dell with a 4 cell battery (slightly more than the AAO battery) is going for $349 with the exact same specs as the AAO which is going for $329 or $399 with more ram, xp and a 6 cell battery.
     
    annafil, Sep 7, 2008
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  3. Jawn

    Jawn

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    I put together a comparison of the pros and cons of the Mini 9 and the AAO in a Google spreadsheet, http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pmFi6rR4TiJPUvfynez-pfg.

    Note that this is just re the points I'm most interested in (a Linux-based, silent, SSD netbook), and are not particularly helpful for people who want a hard drive and/or XP.
     
    Jawn, Sep 7, 2008
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  4. Jawn

    vanitymustdie

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    nice job with the comparison!
     
    vanitymustdie, Sep 7, 2008
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  5. Jawn

    scottro

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    Very nice comparison, thank you.
    I think it's going to be helpful to a lot of people.
     
    scottro, Sep 7, 2008
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  6. Jawn

    jackmoney

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    actually, according to review by (? laptopmag or engadget) somebody, dell ubuntu actually boots up in 20 seconds, and has a custom netbook remix edition.
     
    jackmoney, Sep 8, 2008
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  7. Jawn

    jackmoney

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    actually, i just checked laptopmag's article and they say 35 seconds....not sure where I read 20 seconds...must be in a dream somewhere. I wonder if anybody would actually know how to bring it down...i know on the ubuntu netbook remix site, they their goal boot up time is 5-10 seconds. if we get the dell now, will we be able to "upgrade" to the new netbook remix?

    instant on is a bid deal to me..
     
    jackmoney, Sep 8, 2008
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  8. Jawn

    jackmoney

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    jackmoney, Sep 8, 2008
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  9. Jawn

    Jawn

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    That's too bad. I read some pre-release info about the Dell somewhere in which they said they wanted to do "instant on" and an all day battery. Maybe that will be in a subsequent version of their netbook.
     
    Jawn, Sep 8, 2008
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  10. Jawn

    gregj777

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    The Mini was featured on QCV this evening at $550!!! I looked it up, and give me a break. It has built in bluetooth, but only a 16GB HD. The AAO is almost 10 times that size (the 160GB verson IS 10x that size, mine is 120GB). I just use a Belkin Bluetooth USB adapter and all is well. I could not believe the price they are asking when I got my XP AAO for $349.
     
    gregj777, Sep 11, 2008
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