Still remember Dell’s first netbook which Dell officially retired sometime in June 2009?  Well, if you’re on e of those who got disappointed when this happened, probably because you were eyeing the said netbook, well here’s your chance to finally get it. Dell is offering the Inspiron Mini 9 again, but only for four days.

Here’s what the Inspiron Mini 9 has to say about its limited time comeback. (I would have to admit that this is one cute way of writing an announcement):

A few months ago Anne C. was kind enough publish a post about my retirement. It was an bittersweet moment for me – being the “eldest” of the Dell Inspiron Mini portfolio, but my siblings the Mini 10 and the Mini 10v have been introduced, and frankly are capable of offering anything I can, plus more. Imagine my surprise when I got the call to return for a limited engagement. I checked my 401(k) and saw that it really wasn’t at the point I needed it to be to support a comfortable retirement, so I have agreed to return.

I am back, for a limited time, and for now can be found as part of a few key limited time promotional deals on dell.com. Both Ubuntu (starting at $199) and XP versions are available, as are a few color options (Obsidian Black and Alpine White are standard, Jade Green and Promise Pink add $40). Not to sound immodest, but I do want to acknowledge and thank my fan club members who expanded my pre-retirement horizons with various mods and hacks. I hope to renew our acquaintance, even if for a short time and continue our adventures. I do want to assure that this will be my last appearance – I disdain those “final sales” campaigns that seem to go on perpetually. Next time I retire, it will be for good.

So, tell me folks, can you resist such kind of publicity stunt?

If you’re really interested in getting the Inspiron Mini 9, you better head over to this site.

Via Gadgetell

Time surely flies so fast especially if netbook makers keep showering us with new models  faster than their previous netbook models could outdate itself.  Do you still remember the first time Dell’s first netbook entry, the Mini 9 was first spotted in the arms of Dell’s CEO during the All Things Digital Conference? That surely was not so long ago, right? And that soon, Dell is officially retiring its first netbook – the Dell Inspiron Mini 9.

So for those still eyeing the Inspiron Mini 9 for their netbook purchase, you better start looking for alternatives. I’m sure you’d find something better including the just announced  Dell Mini 10v which will only set you back for $299 with a bigger display.

Or, if you really want to get the Inspiron Mini 9, you might try your luck with the Dell Vostro A90 which as we reported is a rebranded Inspiron Mini 9.

Remember the $200 Eee PC 900 offered by Woot recently? Well, that gig which run for one day was beaten by Dell itself by one dollar as the company is offering the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 for $199. And like the Woot deal, the said promo will run only today. So that means you still got several hours more to order a Dell Inspiron Mini 9 unit for yourself.

You can check out the Dell site here. or you may review the specs of the Dell Inspiron Mini first, which are as follows:

• Intel 1.6GHz Atom processor
• 8.9-inch screen
• Four-cell battery
• Ubuntu Linux version 8.04.1
• 512MB RAM at 533MHz
• 8GB SSD

If you think those specs are not enough for your needs, you may opt to add a Windows XP or 1GB of RAM for additional $100 to its cost.

via

One Rob Galbraith, referred to as a “veteran photographer and detail-obsessed camera reviewer” by Wired, has proclaimed that the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 was pitted against the 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro in terms of color accuracy, and won. He tested the Dell Inspiron Mini 9, MacBook Pro, Lenovo W700 and an IBM ThinkPad T60 laptop to see which was the best option for a pro mobile photographer. At the end of it all, the Lenovo with an optional built-in color calibrator was declared the winner in color accuracy, while the ThinkPad come out as the the one which offers the best viewing angles. What surprising is how something that’s supposed to be cheap with use of low-quality hardware gets to best a $2000 piece of equipment that’s “engineered to standards that don’t even exist yet.” Another reason to love your darling old netbook.

Rob Galbraith via Wired

Before you get to excited about this new promotion from Dell, read on first since you probably know by now that Dell won’t just give away their Inspiron Mini 9 at such a low price.

Well, here’s the deal. The $99 price comes after a mail-in-rebate amounting to $350. But to get the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 for $99, you have to sign-up to AT&T’s Laptop Connect agreement which would require to pay a $60 monthly subscription fee plus other additional charges. There you go, there’s the catch.

Now this might seem to be a good offer, especially if you don’t have a decent Internet service at home yet and you go online most of the time and you are willing to pay around $1,440 of two-years internet connection. But if you already have a reliable ISP which puts you online at home, then it would be more practical to skip this promo and wait for the Inspiron Mini 10 instead if you want to own a Dell netbook.

If you don’t mind paying extra $60 a month and still would like to take this offer, well hurry up as the promo runs only until January 31, 2009.

Those who are buying the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 might want to check out whether they are buying the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 with the correct battery pack. The Dell order page indicates  4-cell 32wHR battery pack for the said netbook but words on the street indicated that some of these netbooks are actually shipping with only the 24WHR battery pack.

If we are to consider press releases and advanced information about the Inspiron Mini 9 and the Dell order page as the basis in determining what the Dell Inspiron Mini 9’s battery pack should be, then there’s no doubt the they should have the 4-cell battery.

And as Brad of Liliputing noted, advanced units of the said netbook sent to journalists for review came with the 32WHR, so it is but proper that Dell released the same for the final commercial product.

Or we might as well wait for Dell to come out with an official announcement regarding this issue before buying the Inspiron Mini 9. Just to make sure that we are getting value for our hard-earned bucks.