[minitom]

I agree from a going forward standpoint that spending money on the mini does not make a lot of sense. However, I still use mine a ton. Lubuntu 16.10 runs great. I like the fact that it has an actual keyboard and does not have a fan and is quiet at night.

[VinTek]

Thanks for the reply, Steve. I personally have a great fondness for the Mini 9 myself. It served me long and well as a lightweight traveling computer (I don't like answering e-mail on a tablet). At this point, I think the real strain on the Mini stems from how complex and resource-intensive the Web has become.

I'd still love to keep the Mini productive as long as it has any life in it, even I can't use it any longer for the purpose intended when I bought it. I'm experimenting with lightweight Linux distros to see what would work best, after which I'll install a bunch of educational software and give it to the kids next door to use as their first computer.

[stevebass]

If you need more storage and don't want to throw much money at an old netbook then maybe have a look at the Mini PCIe dual Micro SD adapters.

I have one in the WWAN slot (had to solder the mPCIe slot in myself) and it houses two spare 32gb cards, it is picked up in the boot menu too although I haven't managed to get Puppy on it yet, the Dell apparently sees the mPCIe adapter first and refuses to boot from a USB stick with it installed.

[VinTek]

Originally Posted by minitom

I agree from a going forward standpoint that spending money on the mini does not make a lot of sense. However, I still use mine a ton. Lubuntu 16.10 runs great. I like the fact that it has an actual keyboard and does not have a fan and is quiet at night.

Hi minitom,

I was actually using mine up until this year when I found that the latest LTS release of Ubuntu required 2GB of RAM (I only have 1GB installed in mine). I've got Lubuntu 16.04 on it now, and an configuring it to be a kids' machine, as I think it can no longer keep up with modern Web sites, even though I've tried lightweight browsers like Qupzilla and Midori to compensate. May I ask what the config of your Mini is? I suspect that you've got 2GB in yours. Also, what exactly are you using it for?

On a (slightly) different note, I'm running WattOS on a Latitude 2120 with an N550 chip. It's doing a lot better than the Mini is, although with the same resolution as Mini (1024x600), it has some display problems that the Mini has. It seems that most distros these days work best with a minimum resolution of 1024x768. Netbooks seem to be a niche part of the computing world that even lightweight Linux distros are no longer optimizing for.

[minitom]

mine has 2gb memory and a 32gb stec harddrive. very cheap to upgrade. i use qupzilla, but also use opera. i use it to read and research - no flash.

kodi does work good to watch video.

[darknessblade]

the maximum supported SSD size is about 128gb (256gb might work too)
New Super Talent SSDs target Eee PCs, Inspiron Mini - The Tech Report

you can buy a 32gb pci-e SSD for about 20-40$ on ebay. (i do not know how good the quality is)

the best thing you can do is also upgrading the ram to 2gb.

for windows i would suggest windows 7 starter 32bit.
since windows 7 HP 32bit is quite sluggish on the mini (even with a clean install)

install in this order:
linux (any is fine)
windows xp.
drivers for windows xp
windows 7 (upgrade disk)
windows 10 (windows 10 upgrade program)

you need to use this order in order to prevent any driver conflicts
the reason why you need to install linux first is to solve any corrupt parts on the SSD from a previous system. (this was in my case)

the mini 9 is quite easy to upgrade.

[holmes4]

I don't think there was ever a 256GB SSD for the Mini 9. That oversized 128GB model was the only one of that size, and it's no longer available. 64GB is the practical limit. Make sure that any SSD you buy says explicitly it is for the Mini 9, otherwise it will NOT work.

Windows 10 32-bit runs well on the Mini 9.

[minitom]

I can second that windows 10 runs well on the mini's. I find that once it starts up and virus checks (defender) it settles down to around 4% CPU with about 40% memory use (2GB). I am a realist and use the mini for one at a time things. Using opera my browsing experience is good. I can also watch media using kodi.

---------- Post added at 09:23 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:00 AM ----------

One other thing I like about the mini 9 related to the SSD, is the ability to have SSD's setup with different operating systems as well as a backup. I can swap the harddrive in a few minutes.

[darknessblade]

Originally Posted by minitom

I can second that windows 10 runs well on the mini's. I find that once it starts up and virus checks (defender) it settles down to around 4% CPU with about 40% memory use (2GB). I am a realist and use the mini for one at a time things. Using opera my browsing experience is good. I can also watch media using kodi.

---------- Post added at 09:23 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:00 AM ----------

One other thing I like about the mini 9 related to the SSD, is the ability to have SSD's setup with different operating systems as well as a backup. I can swap the harddrive in a few minutes.

another good lightweight antivirus is 360 total security. (uses at maximum 25% ram so about 500mb)

and this is when running a full scan.

i also have removed all stock apps that are removable, which prevents many background tasks
https://www.howtogeek.com/224798/how...einstall-them/
you have to manually remove each app.

_________
this might be something to look into:
http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/31/14...ndows-10-cloud

since win10 cloud could be a lightweight alternative to windows 10 HP

[seansco]

Originally Posted by Bartowski

Yessir - thank you. I found your thread from awhile back discussing it, after starting this one.
There is a Kingspec 64GB available, I'll be going that route. On a side note, how is Windows 10 working out for you? I'm debating on which OS to install once I get the new SDD.

I;'m using a Kingspec 64GB and it works great