Review Dell Inspiron Mini 9

Last year, the world of budget notebooks was turned on its head with the introduction of the ASUS Eee PC: A 2-pound laptop with a 7-inch screen and a starting price below $300. Prior to 2008, "budget notebooks" were bulky, overweight 15-inch laptops while "ultra-portable" notebooks commanded a premium price well above $1,000. In no time at all terms like "budget ultra-portable," "subnotebook," and "netbook" became part of the techno-geek vocabulary. Every notebook manufacturer on the planet (even some that you might not know) scrambled to create their own "netbooks" ... and Dell has finally joined the party.

The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is an 8.9" netbook with a $349 (Linux) or $399 (Windows XP) starting price and some impressive features. Dell was kind enough to supply us with a pre-production copy of the Inspiron Mini 9 so that we can conduct in-depth testing and let you know if this netbook really is "your new best friend" ... or just the weird kid you try to avoid on the bus.

Our pre-production Inspiron Mini 9 features the following specifications:

* 1.6GHz N270 Intel Atom Processor
* 1GB DDR2 533MHz (1 DIMM)
* Ubuntu 8.04 Linux with Custom Dell Interface (Includes Open Office)
* 8.9" 1024 x 600 WSVGA glossy LED backlit display
* 8GB miniPCI SSD card
* Intel GMA 950 Integrated Graphics
* 802.11b/g Wi-Fi
* 4-in-1 Media card reader
* 1.3 Megapixel webcam, Dell Video Chat application, Dell Support Center
* 4-Cell 32Wh Li-ion battery (14.8V)
* Size: 9.2" x 6.8" x 1.3" (including feet)
* Weight: 2lb 5.5oz (with 4-cell battery), 2lb 11.6oz (with battery and AC adapter)
* Price: $434 ($474 with Windows XP)

Build and Design

The design of the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is quite similar to other netbooks we've seen in recent months. The exterior is covered in glossy plastics with smooth lines, rounded edges, and a style that looks like it's trying to strike a balance between "fun" and "functional." The look is pretty basic, almost like a miniature version of the Inspiron 1525 notebook. Glossy plastic is found on the top of the screen cover as well as around the entire LCD and palm rests. Matte black plastic is used on the base of the netbook and on the keyboard. Overall, the look is quite nice, but the glossy LCD lid is a magnet for fingerprints and makes the new netbook look a little tarnished after just a few minutes of use.

The build quality of the Mini 9 is amazingly solid for a subnotebook of this size and weight. The construction is mostly plastic but all of the plastics feel strong enough to handle being tossed around inside a bookbag. Even the glossy plastic surfaces seem to resist minor surface scratches. However, the most impressive build quality element in our pre-production unit was that the inside of the chassis is reinforced with magnesium alloy in at least one location (behind the keyboard and in front of the battery). This helps the Mini 9 withstand much more abuse than a typical all-plastic netbook.

In terms of upgradeability, the Mini 9 is much easier to upgrade than most netbooks currently on the market. Many of the netbooks we've seen to date require complex disassembly in order for you to get to the storage drive, system RAM, or wireless cards. Even worse, some other netbooks have slots for upgrades but no connections on the motherboard so it is impossible to upgrade them. This is not the case with the Mini 9.

Dell engineers were wise enough to place all key upgradeable components in one area directly beneath a simple access panel that you can remove with a regular Phillips screwdriver after removing two screws. The Mini 9 uses standard notebook DDR2 RAM (800MHz underclocked to 533MHz), standard wireless mini cards, and a mini PCIe SSD card.

Operating System and Software

As mentioned, Dell offers the Mini 9 with either Windows XP or a customized Ubuntu Linux operating system. Our pre-production unit came equipped with Ubuntu, and the Dell-developed custom interface is point-and-click easy and acts similar to Windows ... only easier (if you don't try to install new applications).

The Mini 9 comes preloaded with dozens of useful applications for everything from work and email to listening to music and watching movies. Unlike the many free applications that come preinstalled on Windows-based computers, almost none of the applications on the Ubuntu operating system should be considered "bloatware." In fact, almost every application on this netbook is both useful and easy to use.

Click on the "Web" icon and you can select from one of multiple bookmarks or just open the Firefox web browser. Click on the "Productivity" icon and you'll have instant access to the Open Office application (compatible with Microsoft Office) or Adobe Reader for PDFs. Click on any standard movie file and the video plays in either the Media Player application or inside Firefox ... you don't need to spend hours searching for video plugins and codecs, the movies just play. Don't waste time downloading iTunes. Just plug in your iPod and the Music Manager detects the music player and begins importing the songs. It's all part of the beauty and simplicity of Linux. Things just work.

On the other hand, if you ever find that you need an application that isn't already installed in Linux then you need to be familiar with the console and typing strange lines of code like "sudo dash" and "apt-get." In other words, it's not as simple as just downloading a Windows program installation file from a website and clicking "install."

If you're concerned about Linux, don't worry. Dell is also offering the Mini 9 with Windows XP, so the Microsoft faithful can breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Keyboard and Touchpad

Most low-priced, full-size notebooks currently on the market feature poorly built keyboards that show significant flex/bounce when typing pressure is applied. Thankfully, most netbooks have remarkably firm keyboards due to the fact that the chassis is so small there isn't much empty space inside the notebook for the keyboard to flex or bounce.

The keyboard on the Mini 9 is less cramped than what we've seen on the 7-inch and 8.9-inch ASUS Eee PCs, but the Dell keyboard is still very compact. Even though I've gotten used to typing on netbook keyboards, the first few hours I spent typing on the Mini 9 were quite frustrating as the small footprint and tiny keys require you to use a "hunt and peck" style of typing rather than traditional touch typing methods. This means that passwords get mangled, emails look like gibberish, and playing games that require keyboard commands becomes quite aggravating.

Of course, once I got used to typing on the tiny keyboard the keys felt just fine ... but this keyboard isn't designed to be used as a primary/main computer. For users who would buy this notebook as their "main computer" in their home or office, a full-size keyboard and external mouse are recommended.

The only "major" complaint I have about the keyboard on the Mini 9 is that the function keys are all located in the middle of the keyboard rather than the top row. Also, there is no F11 or F12 key ... which is bad for people who use F11 to maximize their web browser window or use F12 as a programmed shortcut key. Please, Dell, give us F11 and F12 on the next generation of this netbook!

The touchpad design is surprisingly nice for a budget netbook. The surface isn't exactly "large" but it is larger than what we see on most netbooks. The touchpad in our pre-production unit was a Synaptics touchpad with excellent sensitivity, responsiveness, and smooth tracking. The touchpad buttons are located in the correct position and have nice, deep, well-cushioned presses with no annoying "click" when pressed.

Display

The glossy LED backlit display on the Mini 9 is nice and vibrant with rich colors and good contrast. The white levels are very clear, leaning towards the slightly warm/orange side. Colors look excellent with the glossy screen, but at the cost of increasing screen reflections and glare. The screen might be bright enough to view outside, but with all the bright reflective surfaces outside, the screen is nearly impossible to view comfortably. Indoors the reflections are not a problem at all.

Horizontal viewing angles are good, so you and a friend won't have trouble watching a movie on the 8.9-inch screen at the same time. Vertical viewing angles are acceptable, but colors do tend to wash out from above and become inverted when viewed from below.

Performance

Our regular selection of performance benchmarks can't be used with the pre-production Inspiron Mini 9 given the fact that it is a Linux-based notebook. We will be publishing a follow-up in the coming weeks with details of how Windows XP performs on the Mini 9, so please keep an eye open for that.

In the meantime, we can measure the time it take to perform a number of simple procedures in order to give you an idea of how the Mini 9 performs. Please keep in mind that the speeds listed below will vary depending on the number of applications you have open at any given time (multitasking always slows things down).

* Startup: ~20 seconds
* Opening and loading the NotebookReview.com website in Firefox: ~3 seconds
* Starting playback on a 700MB AVI video file: ~3 seconds
* Starting the Open Office application: ~5 seconds
* Opening a 3.84MB PDF document: ~3 seconds
* Opening a 2.51MB PowerPoint presentation: ~10 seconds

For those interested in the speed of the 8GB SSD, hdparm benchmarks the SSD buffered read speed at 26.91MB/sec. For comparison, the 4GB SSD in the ASUS Eee PC 4G performs at 21.78 MB/sec. Meanwhile, a Lenovo ThinkPad T60 with a fast 7200rpm Seagate hard drive has a buffered read speed of 54.62 MB/sec and a Toshiba Tecra A9 with standard 5400rpm hard drive has a buffered read speed of 44.87 MB/sec.

While the Mini 9 won't win any awards for performance within applications, startup is quite fast and overall performance is fast enough to keep most users happy.

True 1080p HD video content might be out of the question based on the specs of the Mini 9, but the pre-production unit used in this review was able to handle up-scaled standard-definition video with stable frame rates and smooth sound.

Speakers and Audio

While we're on the topic of sound, the speakers on the Inspiron Mini 9 are reasonably impressive for a budget netbook. While the two tiny stereo speakers located beneath the screen can't compete with the audio quality found on larger multi-media notebooks, the speakers are perfectly capable of playing short video clips or system sounds. As long as you don't make the mistake of trying to listen to old-school hip hop on the built-in speakers you might never notice the lack of bass.

The only strong negative I have against the built-in speakers is the fact that the maximum volume level doesn't get as loud as I like without distortion creeping into the sound.

The headphone jack on the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 works well with the three different brands of earphones I used during the test. No static or other noise was noticed through the jack besides imperfections in the audio source itself.

Heat and Noise

As we continue to see in our labs, nearly all of the Intel Atom-based netbooks produce a reasonable amount of heat while running. The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is no exception to this rule. Under normal conditions such as surfing the web, typing a document, or downloading email attachments, exterior temperatures remained at acceptable levels. The hottest spot on this netbook was the area around the wireless card, so if you're on a flight or away from a WiFi connection it might be a good idea to turn off the wireless card to keep temperatures even lower. The external temperature readings below (listed in degrees Fahrenheit) were recorded while browsing the Web and watching an AVI movie file for approximately 30 minutes:

In terms of noise, our pre-production Mini 9 is quite remarkable in that it makes literally no noise. There are no cooling fans or spinning hard drives to bother you (or the people seated next to you) while you work. Of course, the fact that the Mini 9 lacks a cooling fan is likely why the temperatures on this netbook are slightly higher than what we've seen on some other Atom-based netbooks. Still, the Mini 9 never becomes unacceptably warm, so we accept this minor heat increase in exchange for absolute silence.

Battery

Under normal use, backlight at 100 percent and using wireless for web browsing and watching several DivX movies at 75 percent volume, the Mini 9 managed to deliver three hours and 38 minutes of battery life. This is similar to what we've seen from Atom-based netbooks with 3-cell batteries, but we were hoping for more given the 4-cell battery in the Mini 9. Hopefully battery life will improve when we test Windows XP on this machine. Still, even with only 3+ hours of battery life, the Mini 9 provides a reasonable travel experience for a netbook priced below $400. Lowering the screen brightness and turning off the wireless card should provide enough battery life for prolonged use.
Conclusion

Dell wants you to believe the Inspiron Mini 9 is "your new best friend." Well, kiddies, the Mini 9 is a fantastic mobile companion that helps you stay connected and makes your life easier without breaking the bank. However, I can't shake the feeling that the Mini 9 is more like "the kid you're friendly with at the lunch table, but isn't your BFF."

Yes, the Mini 9 is a great netbook. Yes, it has a great price. Yes, it will probably sell very, very well for Dell. No, this won't change the world as you know it. The truth is that at least a dozen other manufacturers have released or announced similar netbooks before the new Inspiron Mini 9 arrived. Dell had all the time in the world to develop something that slaughters the competition in a way that only Dell can. Unfortunately, while the Mini 9 is great, it still suffers from a few of the same problems we've seen in other netbooks (heat, annoying glossy plastics, bad keyboard, and a small battery that could have been bigger without sacrificing much size or weight).

Ultimately, the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is a fabulous netbook that is sure to end up on many Christmas lists this year ... but it's only "your new best friend" if you're willing to overlook a few flaws.

Pros

* Small and light
* Easy to use
* Very well built and durable
* Responsive Synaptics touchpad
* Easy to upgrade RAM, SSD, and wireless cards
* No noisy cooling fan
* Low price for an ultraportable
Cons

* Gets a little hot
* Glossy plastic lid is a magnet for fingerprints
* No F11 or F12 keys, other function keys in strange location
* 4-cell battery is nice, 6-cell battery would be better

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Review MSI Wind U100

The MSI Wind U100 is a new subnotebook in a field originally started by the Asus Eee PC. It has one significant advantage that makes it stand out in an increasingly crowded market: it is priced well under the equivalent Eee PC.

Now having a better price doesn't always mean you are going to win in any given market, but MSI really outdid itself and created a great mini notebook. Read on to see just how much Asus should fear the Wind.

Build and Design

The MSI Wind really has a great look and feel to it. The soft rounded edges coupled with the glossy texture make it easy and comfortable to grip onto, while also giving the mini notebook a very professional look.

Another great aspect of the U100 is that nothing appears "look at me" flashy, making it very appealing to business professionals, as well as children and teenagers alike. No chrome is found anywhere, and all the labeling and branding is a light grey which really goes well with the pearl white finish.

Build quality is excellent, and reminds me very much of the HP Mini-Note. Fit and finish is top notch, with smooth and tight plastic seams, beveled edges, recessed hinges, and plenty of touches here and there that make you feel as if you are getting every penny's worth of notebook from MSI.

The quality of the plastics used is top notch too, and mostly thick enough to prevent flex even under a firm grip. The LCD cover and palmrest show no flex under heavy pressure, but the bottom panel is thin in a few spots and easy to bend. Not a deal breaker by any means, but I'm just saying it might not hold up well to being run over by a car.

Display

The Wind has a 10-inch, 1024-by-600-pixel display.

This is a LED backlit matte-textured LCD that is very bright and easy to read. It stacks up very well to others screens I have used, as colors are vibrant and contrast is excellent.

On the flip side, the screen does have the infamous sparkly texture to it, giving solid colors a dirty look, and on high-backlight settings you can see some backlight bleed and almost make out each individual LED. None of those drawbacks would be enough to make me not buy one, but it might be enough for someone to give it a second thought it they were more on the obsessive side of things.

Viewing angles are just how I like them, wide in both vertical and horizontal planes. I have always found it kinda funny that "cheap and affordable" subnotebooks can always manage to beat out multimedia powerhouses in this screen aspect. With some screens inverting colors or going distorted with minimal vertical movement, the U100's LCD keeps colors true until much steeper angles. I could say you could probably go 45-50 degrees above or below the screen before you might want to reconsider your seating position. Horizontal viewing angles were not as good as the vertical, with the screen appearing much darker in side viewing positions. The colors didn't exactly invert, but screen was dark enough to become unwatchable for secondary viewing buddies who you might be sharing a movie with.

Sunlight readability for those who might adventure into the wilderness on occasion is fairly good. At full brightness the screen should still be readable.

I did a comparison between the MSI Wind, Lenovo T60, and Dell D630 at maximum brightness, and the Wind is a good deal brighter than the other two notebooks (see here).

Keyboard and Touchpad

The Wind really shines with its keyboard, and taking up almost every inch of space side to side to have the largest possible keys on such a small device. The keyboard takes all but 2-3 mm of space going side to side, and is really great to type on even with large hands.

The only big flaw I can find with the keyboard is the super narrow ",", ".", and "/" keys which are 2/3 the width of standard letter keys. This threw me off at first trying to type in websites, and hitting the "/" key instead of a period. Once you got used to the layout it wasn't as much of a problem, but come on, why ruin such a good thing? The shift keys on both sides should have been reduced in size by half and still been perfectly fine, and you wouldn't have to have 2/3 size symbol keys.

The touchpad is slightly recessed from the palmrest by about 1mm, giving a defined lip around the entire perimeter. For small touchpads like this one, this can be very handy, letting you keep your finger inside the detection zone, and not always slipping out accidentally. The sensitivity is great, letting you slide your finger along without excessive pressure for perfect tracking. At times the preset vertical and horizontal scrollbars messed with that perfection, making the mouse veer far from the intended path, but with a few adjustments peace was restored.

The touchpad buttons consist of a single see-saw bar, ala early Eee PC, with shallow feedback and a semi-soft click. The clicking noise could probably best be described as a Microsoft Intellimouse clicking inside a sock.

Ports, Networking, Etc.

The MSI Wind U100 has a laundry list of features, including everything you would expect to find on a full-size notebook. Key features include 802.11b/g wireless, Bluetooth 2.0, with USB, VGA-Out, Ethernet, and audio making notable appearances.

There's even a 1.3 MPx Webcam and a 4-in-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/MSpro).

While FireWire would have been nice to see, it was understandable to be missing, with an already crowded port selection on each side.

Audio

Speaker quality on the Wind makes most full-size notebooks sound like full surround-sound systems. It works well enough if you have to watch a YouTube clip or listen to system sounds, but it doesn't have any purpose beyond that.

Buying Choices for the MSI Wind (black, Windows XP)
Amazon.com | $479.00
Volume levels can't get high enough, and you are missing all midrange without even a hint of bass. The headphone jack provides a great alternative though, and comes highly recommended.

Missing Features

After my hands-on time with the ASUS Eee PC 901 and the Hybrid Engine that allowed you to overclock the Intel Atom processor for a boost in power, I really wanted to see what the MSI Turbo feature could do. Those who managed to get pre-release models of the MSI Wind saw gains using it, but as luck would have it MSI pulled this feature out before it started shipping to consumers.

The FN+F10 overclocking feature is no more, and replaced with a simple "ECO feature" that switches between battery saver mode at 800 MHz and normal mode which dynamically switches between 800 MHz and 1600 MHz depending on processor load.

Performance

System performance -- with great help of Intel Atom processor -- was stellar. Boot times into Windows XP were on par with many full-size notebooks, and casual use programs opened up without any lag.

The subnotebook experience is basically identical to what you would find on a regular notebook, minus the gaming or fast photo editing. Programs like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Pidgin, Word, and Excel all open up just as fast and work just as well as you would expect on a modern computer.

Items that fall into a more intensive category like Gimp, Half-Life 2, or 720p video content don't work as well. Gimp worked great for basic photo editing, but some tasks took much longer than they did on my Core 2 Duo system. Half-Life 2 and the HD video content played between 1-5 FPS and were quite horrific. The Wind just doesn't have the horsepower for really intensive activities.

The normal benchmarks I use for notebooks were thrown out of the window for the MSI Wind because of various problems associated with the platform, so I chose to use a few creative alternatives. Futuremark 3DMark03 made a short comeback, as well as FPS tests inside the original Half-Life.

Since Half-Life was released in a time when system requirements were laughable by today's standards, it ended up working great on the Atom-based Wind. A frame rate of 59-61 frames per second (FPS) were common in most situations with the system setup in "normal" mode, and 25-30 FPS in "eco" mode.

High Definition video playback is not really possible on the Intel Atom processor besides select movies. Most sources have bitrates that are too much for the processor to handle when decoding, and I barely broke over 6-8 FPS throughout my video collection. Regular 480P video played just fine, so all hope was not lost. It will probably take a significant speed bump or new video chipset before these subnotebooks can handle HD content without stuttering.

While the Wind doesn't have the low latency SSD advantage of the Eee PC, it does come out on top with higher overall transfer speeds with the spinning drive. U100 users also have an advantage with nearly quadruple the storage space, and an easy and cheap upgrade path if they so chose.

What Heat and Noise?

For a user who has put up with super hot keyboards and bottoms of subnotebooks for far too long under the excuse of "it's small and space cramped," the MSI Wind was a huge surprise. After sitting on for a couple of hours in normal mode while plugged in, the bottom of the notebook was 90-94 degrees Fahrenheit, and the keyboard was below that.

Compared to the Eee PC 900 which broke 100 degrees on the bottom and 105F on the keyboard, this is a huge advantage. For someone like a writer who might spend hours on a keyboard typing away on the road, not having your fingertips sweat like crazy is a incredible feature.

Fan noise is completely silent at best and minimal at worst... and seemingly always running in the background. This is probably one of the big reasons the MSI Wind runs at reasonable temperatures, as it always has some air flowing through to carry away excess heat.

Battery Life

Currently only the 3-cell battery version of the MSI Wind is shipping, and I would barely call the Wind travel friendly because of it. At lowest screen brightness and the processor locked in ECO mode, the Wind almost broke 3 hours with wireless enabled but no activity taking place.

When I turned the backlight brightness up to reasonable levels -- which range between 60-70% and leave the processor in the normal mode -- battery life plummeted to 2 hours and 6 minutes under "normal" conditions. This includes heavy web browsing, installing a small application, and viewing images off of a memory card. For something a business user might want to take with him or her on the road, this is unacceptable, even compared with gaming notebooks.

When the 6-cell battery starts shipping as a standard item, my harsh opinion will change as you might be able to break 4-5 hours depending on usage, since the battery is twice the size. This is basically the only option for road warriors, besides packing an AC adapter and extension cord at all times to gain outlet access.

Ease of Upgrades

Currently any upgrade beyond swapping the battery for one with a larger capacity will void your warranty.

For those who accept that risk, popping open the bottom half of the MSI isn't that hard at all. Remove all the exposed screws on the bottom (including the one under the warranty void sticker), and use a fingernail around the perimeter to release the plastic clips.

I found it easier to unlatch the rear portion first, lift up the left side, and wiggling the right side free. To clear the VGA port on the right side you need to slide the bottom half in that direction, instead of lifting directly up.

Once the plastic shell is removed you have full access to any component that could be swapped out. This includes the wireless card, 2.5-inch SATA hard drive, and adding additional RAM to the open DDR2 slot. The included 1 GB of RAM is soldered onto the motherboard, so you are stuck with that for the life of the subnotebook, but the free RAM slot does make some expansion possible.

Specifications

* 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor
* 10" WSVGA (1024 x 600) LCD
* Windows XP Home Operating System
* Intel GMA 950 Integrated Graphics
* 1 GB 667 MHz DDR2 Memory
* 80 GB 2.5" SATA Hard Drive
* Wireless: 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.0
* 3-Cell 11.1v 2200 mAh Battery
* Size: 10.2" x 7" x 1.3"
* Weight: 2 lbs 8.6 oz

Conclusion

The MSI Wind U100 is one of the best subnotebooks I have seen come out of the mini notebook storm that has hit us the past few months. It offers a 10" widescreen, 2.5-inch SATA hard drive, Intel Atom processor, and Wi-Fi with Bluetooth for well under what some of the other mainstream competition charge.

All all of this seems to come with a small caveat right now: horrible battery life. MSI is only selling the 3-cell version of the Wind, which averages just a hair over 2 hours of mobile use. This is unacceptable for a travel companion device. Good news is sometime in the future: a configuration will be sold with an extended battery, and early adopters should wait for it.

For the $500 price you really can't ask for much more. The screen is great, the keyboard is great, build quality is top notch, and above all the thing doesn't light your pants on fire... at least not due to heat.

Pros

* No heat to ignite pants or palms
* Super bright LED backlit screen
* Near perfect keyboard
* Storage device offers an easy route of upgrade

Cons

* Battery life is abysmal with the 3-cell
* Limited supply at release, hard to acquire

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The New Acer Aspire One

The new Acer Aspire One is now thinner and lighter than any previous Acer netbook. Acer managed to eliminate a sizeable amount of plastic within their best-selling netbook design to allow for these qualities, while still maintaining their reasonable price point.

Netbook design is not really one of Acer’s strengths. Although the plastic-topped Aspire One does not win any beauty pageants, there are many qualities that make up for the netbook’s lack of style. The Aspire One beats most comparable netbooks with its mere 0.8-inch thickness. This makes it thinner than the Samsung N120, the ASUS EeePC 1000HE, the ASUS EeePC 1008HA (Seashell), and the HP Mini 1000. The new Acer netbook is now also lighter. With the three-cell battery, it only weighs 2.4 pounds.

Considering other aspects, the Aspire One retains the standard 10-inch screen, 1,024 x 600 resolution, and customary keyboard. The 89 percent keyboard is certainly a feature that Acer needs to attend to. Acer was able to include mutitouch capabilities into the Aspire One, but with the limited space you have to work with performing such actions can be difficult at times.

The Aspire One features three USB ports, VGA-out, an Ethernet port, a 1.3-megapixel webcam, 802.11 g WiFi, and a 4-in-1 card reader. It also has a 160GB hard drive, which is the same or better than all other netbooks currently on the market. The Aspire One contains a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 1 GB of memory, and Intel integrated graphics.

Even with the new updates found in the Acer Aspire One, Acer has managed to retain its affordable price. The Aspire One is the most reasonably priced netbook to be found at about $300, which is the reason why the previous Acer model was the best-selling netbook available. The Aspire One is lighter, thinner, and cheaper than most other netbooks out there. If you’re looking for an inexpensive netbook, this is definitely one to check out.

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Where will I be tomorrow?

Where will I be tomorrow?
This last semester of OMET has me really thinking with all of the reading, discussions, and influence of friends and professors, where do I want to go with my career?
I know that I feel a special pull to remain at the school I teach at now. I can’t imagine leaving to go anywhere else because I really do love my job. I still love being in the classroom, teaching students, lighting the fire within, and creating a new way of learning for them and with them.
I wonder though, if by staying in the classroom am I limiting myself? Am I limiting the possibilities that could exist for me and my future? I think there is a lot of validity to my being a classroom teacher with speaking about my changes I have implemented in my classroom. But I wonder if that too is a cop-out? Am I sacred to try something new? Am I scared of change and where it might take me? Couldn’t there be a hybrid out there of classroom teacher/staff development instructor/ speaker, etc…?
I know one thing, I am surrounded by people who can help me talk through these changes and where I am to go? Graduating from OMET and all the hard work and learning that has taken place has made me more open to changes. Heck, it has me eve n thinking about going for my doctorate something I never considered before.
Something else I can see me doing is teaching courses in OMET. I would love a chance to try teaching people who were in my position.
The possibilities seem endless right now…

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Where I am today

Where I am today...
Today, I thought about the fact I haven’t blogged for class for a while. Part of it is challenging because with my AR work done, and the school year at AHS over, I feel like there is not much to right about. I am leaving tomorrow to go to LA to present my work on creating more successful learners. I feel proud about what I have accomplished this year and am thankful for the never ending guidance of Margaret and my LC. I truly feel blessed to have had such a community of learners guiding me through this past year. What a challenge, change, and blessing.
I have practiced my speech about 8 or so times; it has been helpful to help me deal with some of the raw emotion in discussing a topic I put so much heart into. The first few times I read my speech, I couldn’t get through some of my personal changes or quotations from my students because it touched something deep inside of me. I was too close. I liked the emotion, but didn’t like feeling as though I was going to cry during an important presentation.
Having gone over and over it again, the challenge for me now is to maintain that control, but allow the personality of the speech to shine through. I want my passion for my subject to be known to all and for them to recognize the difference.
I wonder what kind of questions I will be dealing with after my presentation. Having been selected to go first, that is a worry that I have because I can’t anticipate questions having witnessed other groups. I might have to ask my LC for some help with this.
I shipped all my stuff to the hotel last week to await my arrival tomorrow. On Wednesday we have time to put our boards together and I am anxious to see what everyone’s creations will be.
For now, it is just time to practice the speech a couple of more times, then put it away, and let whatever happens happen.

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MSI X-Slim X320 13-inch Notebook

The MSI X-Slim X320 is the worlds thinnest and lightest 13-inch notebook on the market right now. The X320 should not be mistaken for a low quality netbook. The latest X320 model comes with a 250GB Hard Drive and 2GB DDR2 RAM. Some low notes though is it comes with a Intel Atom 1.6GHz Processor that will be sure to bottle neck the notebooks performance. It also only comes with a 4 cell battery, but with such a barebones laptop you could probably expect the battery to be more than suitable.

The real selling point for the MSI X-Slim X320 is its size, weight and low cost. The laptop is 6mm at its thinnest and 20mm at its thickest. Also with the low weight of 2.8 pounds you should never have to worry about the hassle of carrying around your laptop. The price really makes it a great buy. Coming in at only $599 right now on sites like newegg.com you can expect this to be a hot seller.

The 13″ 16:9 glare type display has a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels and uses LED backlight.

The MSI X320 also comes with a 1.3MP web camera, speakers, wifi, Bluetooth, an ethernet port, thre USB ports, card reader, and a VGA port. One feature that is a real disappointment is the MSI X320 lacks an optical drive to read cd’s and dvd’s. This is no doubt due to its extremely thin design, but it seems like an almost necessity to have in a laptop for watching movies, installing programs, and ripping music. Overall a great ultra thin and light notebook that lacks some features, but makes up for it with the price point of only $599.

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