Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Dell seems to be continually offering new options on their Inspiron Mini 9 and the latest is sure to make plenty of people happy—an option for built in 3G.  The 3G option is unfortunately just for new orders and is only available on Windows XP based Mini 9s.  As for pricing, it will set you back $125 for the upgrade, which also requires you to sign up for AT&T’s DataConnect service.  The service is priced at $60 per month and requires a two-year agreement.  Of course, on the positive side, by signing that agreement you will be able to get $120 back in the form of a mail-in-rebate.  It is nice to see 3G begin to makes its way into netbooks here in the US, however at $60 a month I would prefer to have a tethering plan on my phone or just have a USB 3G solution, at least that way I would not be limited to just using the access on one notebook.

Product [Dell]

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Dell has continued to improve upon the Inspiron Mini 9 with new colors along with new features.  We saw those new colors hit the US market just a few days back, and now Dell has followed up with an even more welcomed addition—an optional 32GB SSD. 

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This is for the folks who had their hearts set on grabbing an Inspiron Mini 9 or Mini 12 netbook from Dell, but were not really feeling the black or white options.  Rest easy, because Dell has announced some new design options as well as the pink and red colors for both the Mini 9 and Mini 12. 

The new colors are officially being called “Cherry Red” and “Pretty Pink” and sadly they are both coming with a $25 premium.  Hopefully, Dell will have a change of heart on that added cost.  If you remember back, the Apline White originally had that same premium, but it was quickly removed.

As for the artwork options, there are five designs available, all of which are from artist Tristan Eaton.  As for that extra cost involved with the artwork, these designs add an additional $50 to the purchase price.  Keep reading to check out some images of the five available artwork designs…

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Remember that red colored Inspiron Mini 9 that Michael Dell was spotted carrying around during the All Things Digital conference this past May?  Well, it appears that some customers will soon be able to grab an Inspiron Mini 9 of their own in red, and also pink.  Dell has just released both new models, but sadly, as of now, they are available only in Japan. 

Additionally, and perhaps a little more exciting than the new colors, is the option of a larger SSD.  Customers in Japan can also now choose to get the “platinum package” which includes a 32GB SSD.  The Mini 9 with the larger SSD is retailing for ¥54,980 or about $565 US and also includes the standard 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM and Windows XP.

Hopefully, we will see the new colors make their way over outside of the Japanese market, or at the very least that larger storage option.

Via [PC Watch]

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Dell has officially made their latest Inspiron Mini available in the US.  Customers can now visit Dell and purchase the Inspiron Mini 12, but sadly the configurations seem a little limited and may not be ideal for everyone. 

Dell is offering the Inspiron Mini 12 in three configurations, which begin at $549 and go up as high as $649.  The main drawbacks are that (at least for now) the maximum amount of RAM that you can add is 1GB, and the only option for an operating system is Vista Home Basic.  Personally, I would like to have seen some more RAM as 2GB is becoming more and more of a standard nowadays, but more important is that the only OS available is Vista Home Basic and that is sure to turn some sales away from all those Vista haters.

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Yet another case of the few ruining it for the many.  Due to “at least 40” reports of laptop batteries overheating and causing fires as well as potential property damage, Sony is recalling 35,000 Lithium Ion batteries in the US and another 65,000 in other countries.  In a stroke of genius, none of these batteries were actually put in Sony laptops.  Instead, most of them (32,000) are in HP Pavilion dv model and Compaq laptops, and to a lesser extent Toshiba Satellite and Tecra laptops (3,000) and only 150 Dell Latitude and Inspiron laptops.  The batteries were made way back in October 2004 to June 2005.

More after the break.

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So, Dell comes out with a new netbook.  At first, the Mini 12 was just a rumor, but it is all official.  It comes complete with a 12-inch display (up from their earlier Mini 9 model), although it is pretty much geared for the same crowd.  According to Dell, it is super for “teens, tweens, travelers and ‘Tweeters’ to surf the Web, chat with friends, blog, stream content, upload photos or enjoy online videos, music and games.” 

Keep reading to find out when you’ll be able to get one and what this thing is running.

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Back when Dell originally announced the Inspiron Mini 9, one of the complaints that we saw come up often was that the Alpine White coloring came with a $25 price premium.  Well, in a little bit of good news, Dell has quietly lowered the price premium and it is now the same “Included in Price” as the obsidian black. Let’s just hope that anyone who may have already ordered an Alpine White Inspiron Mini 9 will receive some compensation if they have already been charged.

Product [Dell]

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Quickly following the announcement of the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 earlier this month, Vodafone made their own announcement about the upcoming availability of a subsidized model that was expected to be available “in late September.“

At the time the details were light, and pricing was still unknown. The latest addition to this story comes as a little bit of good news and some bad news. First with the good news, Vodafone users will be able to get the Mini 9 for free with a two-year agreement at £25 (around $45 US) a month. So far it sounds good, but this is where the bad news comes in: the data plan only offers 1GB of transfer per month.

Sure, most users tend to use quite a bit less than what they actually believe they are using, however 1GB is really low. Personally, I would rather opt to pay for the Mini 9 and just have a data plan on the side as opposed to the bundle. Sure, it may be a little more expensive that way, but at least I would not be limited to just 1GB of transfer.

Via [Reg Hardware]

• Dell Inspiron Mini 9—now with optional 3G
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• Micro Center’s Black Friday 2008 weekend sales

Thanks to the magic of the Internet, we can pretty much guarantee that just about every big tech product that is released will be showcased online in the form of multiple unboxings. Overall, these can be a way to make you slightly jealous if you really want a product and cannot afford one. However, they are also a great way to see “real world” comparisons and give you a better idea of what exactly you are purchasing.

So without any further build up, the latest item to begin unboxing ceremonies is the Dell Inspiron Mini 9. Just like any good unboxing video, this offers a few comparisons showing off the Mini 9’s true size. Overall, things seem to be looking good with some quick first impressions that it is a “solid, well-made, light netbook with a very good, albeit glossy, screen.“

In the meantime enjoy the video…

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