[justjoininthenrunnin]

Hi there,

I've been big time wrestling between the mini 9 and mini 10 for my laptop needs. The biggest factors pushing me in the direction of the mini 10 is the larger keyboard and slightly less toyish appearance of the thing.

However, the mini 9 has no fan and no moving hard drive. The mini 10 is fanless, I believe, but the hard drive has moving parts.

So, is the mini 10 silent or does it make any noise whatsoever? If so, what kind of sound is it that it makes?

Thanks so much if anyone can respond.

[AmericanGal]

I just got a Mini 10 to go with my Mini 9 and the only noise I hear is a quiet whirring of the hard drive. Other than that it is silent.

[justjoininthenrunnin]

Hi AmericanGal,

thank you for responding! If I may ask, which of the two do you prefer? Can you handle typing on the mini 9? Is the whirring also present in any way on the mini 9? Are the function keys still in the middle of the mini 9?

Thanks so much for your answer!

[AmericanGal]

To be honest, I really prefer the Mini 10 (I now own both Mini sizes). I like the keyboard better--it's larger so you don't feel so cramped typing on it. Plus the keys are all in the right places rather than in odd locations. The slightly larger screen is nice too. You don't have to scroll as much as with the Mini 9.

The function keys are in the middle of the keyboard on the Mini 9 (they share duties with letter keys). On the Mini 10 there is a row of small function keys at the top of the keyboard.

As I said in my post, the Mini 10 is very quiet. You can only hear the hard drive softly whirring away--there is an occasionally light mechanical "chuckle" kind of sound as the hard drive ramps up on boot up. Nothing loud or distracting though--just a quiet and normal laptop sound. The hard drive works faster than the SSD drive in the Mini 9 which is something I also like about the Mini 10.

The Mini 9 is virtually silent. Some people say they can hear a very quiet hiss from the speakers. I don't hear anything but perhaps some people have extra sensitive hearing.

Battery life is short on the Mini 10--only about 2 hours or so. The Mini 9 can go around 4 hours I think. I am willing to bet that Dell will be coming out with longer life batteries for the Mini 10 soon. It's not that big of a deal to me as I mostly use it on AC.

The ram is limited on the Mini 10--only 1 GB and it can't be upgraded. The new models coming out soon, however, will let you upgrade to at least 2 gb. They will also have more features such as a TV turner or GPS. I am planning on getting a "souped up" Mini 10 later in the summer.

Overall, I do like the Mini 9. It's very small size is perfect for anyone wanting to carry a laptop to a coffee shop, in your purse or pocket, or just to check email on the road. Since I am a teacher the ability to type easier was appealing to me which is why I bought the Mini 10. Also the larger hard drive size and screen size work better for me for both word processing and light photo editing. The Mini 9, while a great little laptop, was just a tad too small for what I needed.

I think that overall you need to identify what tasks you will be using with the Mini--that would help you determine which version might be the best for your needs.

[khakiman]

You don't have to scroll as much as with the Mini 9.

this is untrue, the mini 10 has less vertical pixels than the mini 9. i too plan to get the souped up mini 10 this summer! cant wait to tell you the truth.

[ryuko2002]

Originally Posted by khakiman

this is untrue, the mini 10 has less vertical pixels than the mini 9. i too plan to get the souped up mini 10 this summer! cant wait to tell you the truth.

Unless you order the HD screen...

[AmericanGal]

Correct..there are two resolutions available for the mini 10...

Also, even with the lesser resolution version there is a wider screen..thus less sideways scrolling...

[zrtom]

Originally Posted by AmericanGal

Battery life is short on the Mini 10--only about 2 hours or so. The Mini 9 can go around 4 hours I think. I am willing to bet that Dell will be coming out with longer life batteries for the Mini 10 soon. It's not that big of a deal to me as I mostly use it on AC.

I put an OCZ Vertex SSD in my Mini 10 and can get over 4 hours on that little battery (basically net surfing). AND, it is truly silent (except if you put your ear right on the keyboard you can hear some faint wispy electronic sounds-not from the SSD but from the CPU). My other post goes into more detail on my SSD trials (and tribulations).

[ryuko2002]

Originally Posted by AmericanGal

Correct..there are two resolutions available for the mini 10...

Also, even with the lesser resolution version there is a wider screen..thus less sideways scrolling...

The screen might be wider, but the resolution is still 1024 pixels so mini 9 and mini 10 display the same amount information (wide, mini 9 displays more lines of text). The different is that on the mini 10 everything looks bigger.

[rclee820]

I'm noticing this high pitched whining/whistling noise coming from near the left speaker. I've dissected my mini to find what I assume to be the problem (and no it's not the hard drive since I've switched it out), and it seems to be this little thing:



Anyone else experiencing this problem, or know what this is? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!