[Ben]

Just ordered a Dell Inspiron Mini on Vodafone, on their 3GB/£12.76 12 month contract with an up-front cost of £250. Don't lecture me on the not-so-stunning VFM, there - I think the subsidy technically works out at about £50.

You can pick up the netbook free on longer contracts.

Anyway, it should arrive tomorrow so I'll let you know what I think!

[miffed]

Blimey ! this demonstrates how hard up we are for Gadgets ATM , I am currently pondering the exact same thing !!
Not sure though ,as I already have two netbooks , a UMPC and an OQO 01+

-Not sure I can justify it to myself TBH

Enjoy yours anyway !

[Ben]

LoL! Thanks. The idea is that this one lives in the car. Hmm, I wonder if I can get some sort of adapter to charge it on the road...

Btw, just noticed The Register have a competition to win one! Nice and simple, and you don't need to give them the serial number of your soul to enter: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/11/26/compo_26_nov_08_vodafone_mini_9/

[Hands0n]

LoL! Thanks. The idea is that this one lives in the car. Hmm, I wonder if I can get some sort of adapter to charge it on the road...


You sure can, they're easy enough to come by. All you need is one with the correct voltage and Robert is your Father's Brother.

For instance:-
http://www.gpsforless.co.uk/product_details.php?id=15055

http://www.ultimate-netbook.co.uk/Dell/Dell-Inspiron-Mini-9/Dell-Inspiron-Mini-9-Batteries-Chargers.htm

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Universal-50W-Laptop-Car-charger/dp/B00159OWK4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1227731424&sr=8-1

Or if you have money to burn http://www.shopzilla.co.uk/8B--Laptop_Accessories_-_cat_id--13908__keyword--inspiron%20car%20charger__nwylf--__sort--5

[Ben]

Great links! Ty!

[Hands0n]

You're very welcome.

And for those reading this who don't have a Dell Inspiron - all of those Car Chargers have variable voltage switches to allow them to switch from 15 to 20 volts, they have a stack of adapter heads and so will be compatible probably any laptop in existence!

I'll be ordering one for my Advent 4213 :)

[Ben]

It's here! And it's pretty nice for the money.

Windows XP setup is taking forever, though. Slooooow *yawn*.

There are CD's in the box, lol. Do DELL/MS have some sort of remote CD access system like OS X, then? :S

Edit: Argh, invasion of the DELL preinstalled crap!

[Ben]

Windows XP SP3 doesn't ship with IE7? That's just mind-boggling. Anyway, installing the usual raft of updates from Microsoft now download speeds so far peaking at a cracking 2.2mbps with some good upload bursts too.

There wasn't too much junk installed, it's looking much better now. C: has 3.31GB of free space, though fortunately I don't need it, and there's a memory expansion slot too. It's SSD, with no moving parts - not even a fan. Nice!

I'm liking that the charger is like a mobile phone one - there's no 'brick'.

It's all running pretty fast now for the basics. I was trying to get the Voda connection and VPN to just connect automatically whenever the thing is switched on, but it's not having any of that. The Voda software prompts when a connection is available, though, and can also manage the VPN.

So, yeah, when I think how cheap this thing was it really is quite an incredible package. I hate Windows XP with a passion, though. It's rubbish compared to OS X. Got to put an SSH client on now.