[hydrogenatom]

Ok so I just received my Dell Mini 9 to replace my regular laptop that crapped out on me the other day and is now being sent in for repair. But I love my Mini so much I'm not sure I'll be using my regular laptop much once it comes back...

That being said, what do you think I should buy first? A regular sized monitor? A portable hard drive (keep in mind my SSD is only 8GB with a little less than 2GB available and I don't plan on buying a larger one too soon)? More memory (refurb came with 1GB, although I'm waiting for the results of the hyperX test I read about on here before I jump on a 2gig stick)? OSX? What?

I'm trying to stay on a mini budget, so I'm looking for help in prioritizing this... I'm leaning towards the portable hard drive or the monitor...

[srroos]

On a budget, I'd buy a 16GB SDHC card and a 2GB stick or RAM. Coupled with a USB Flash drive for moving stuff around I think you'll be set!

An external hard drive could be useful if you've got tons of stuff, but I'd start with the SDHC card first.

[GearheadGeek]

I'm probably not the best to advise on the wisest choices for Mini9 accessories, since I've already ordered a larger SSD and I don't even have the Mini9 yet, but I think your leaning toward the external hard drive is a good one in general. It's useful for backup/storage for ANY computer. We have 2 in the house, one holds backups of my partner's tabletPC... mission-critical because he's a med student and about half his class has had to have their tabletPC repaired or replaced. The other is a cobbled-together one I made with a 300G drive and a cheap enclosure that I just run to backup our "server" (my desktop where all our MP3s and photos live.) Costco had a great deal on a 320G USB-powered portable Western Digital... that's here waiting to serve the Mini9.

I'll probably get an SDHC card before the Mini9 arrives or soon after... I made the mistake of ordering new during last week's sale instead of just sniping off the outlet, so I saved money but gave up time. I have plenty of time to order and receive the SDHC at least!

[hydrogenatom]

Originally Posted by srroos

On a budget, I'd buy a 16GB SDHC card and a 2GB stick or RAM. Coupled with a USB Flash drive for moving stuff around I think you'll be set!

An external hard drive could be useful if you've got tons of stuff, but I'd start with the SDHC card first.

That sounds like a great idea actually. I completely forgot about the SDHC thing. I'm not used to using SD slots at all as storage space has never been an issue on my other machines. Plus I already have a 4GB usb drive. I think I'll jump for a monitor, an SDHC card, and pick up a bigger stick of RAM once the verdict on hyperX comes in...