While Laptop Magazine was busy reviewing the Linux version of the Dell Inspiron Mini 9, PC World got to spend some time with a Windows XP model. While the 8GB SSD wasn’t large enough to hold the magazine’s benchmarking tools, the review states that the machine was able to boot Windows in 30 seconds, load Microsoft Works in 8 seconds, and copy 77MB of data in about 7 seconds.
The battery also lasted about 3 and a half hours, which is about twenty minutes longer than the Linux model got in Laptop Magazine’s tests. It’s not clear if the difference is solely due to the operating systems or if the two magazines stressed the battery in different ways.
The thing that pushed me over the edge on purchasing this laptop was the fact that it was configurable. I got the Ubuntu version, and configured the hardware to match the windows version, with 1GB of ram, 8Gb of hard drive, and the webcam. The point is, other makers tried to make me choose between the better operating system, and the better hardware. Dell let me have both, so my money goes to them.