Having been amongst the first to purchase the Dell 910 Mini I wanted to share my experience with others that might be thinking about acquiring this item or one of the other sub-notebook or ‘netbooks’ as they have become known. I manage a web design agency and I’ve been considering the idea of acquiring myself a more modern laptop as my old Dell Inspiron from 2003 is as heavy as a brick.
Shortly after having retired the old Dell to my girlfriends house (I couldn’t face lugging it back and forwards any longer so it just lives there now, I might well do the same with myself one of these days soon!) it stopped charging and wouldn’t run from the mains, so eventually when I gave it to my tech to repair he found out that it was one of the known faulty models, the 5150 which developed a problem with the motherboard overheating after prolonged use, this I found out about 2 years after they stopped replacing them as part of a class action lawsuit, shame I’m two years too late to get it replaced for free!
Ah well what’s 150 quid for a factory refurbished Motherboard off ebay, compared with years of loyal service in spite of being dropped a couple of times, spat on repeatedly, eaten over and all manner of other not recommended usage styles! I even used to have it hooked up to my TV via the onboard S-VHS port and watch films on it, so it has seen some action, oh yes!Not that I download movies off the internet you understand of course, oh no that would just be wrong, and illegal and I wouldn’t want to risk getting my broadband disconnected!
However, this was all instigated by my step dad who just took delivery of top of the range Toshiba Portege at around £1,200, but he’s at that time in life where 1,200 quid is affordable, where as I’m still in financial recovery from my last divorce (yes there was more than one!)! So I happened across the Dell Inspiron 910 Mini on the Dell website whilst looking at specs of laptops for a customer, and there it was £299 inc VAT and delivery. What a bargain I thought!
Anyway there I was flexible friend on hot standby, wrist twitching ready to buy, but wait a minute I thought, why am I buying this, do I really need it? No, I don’t NEED it I just HAVE TO HAVE ONE! So then some sensibility came over me and I put my credit card away, feeling all smug with myself at having managed to resist an impulse purchase!
However, the following day my step Father needs me to take a look at his new machine because he can’t get the music software to work and can’t get it to see the other computers that are on our network(this job for me, comes with the territory! ) So I have to genuinely work on this ultra lightweight Toshiba, wow I’m amazed at how light it is, especially compared to my old Dell 5150! I wish I had cash spare to invest in one of these I thought! I noticed he didn’t have my preferred security software set up though. I setup my recommended internet security tools: Avast Anti Virus and Spybot Search& Destroy which I always use.
The next day I had to go to a client’s and as it was first thing in the morning I went straight from my girlfriends house and took the old laptop with me (which gives me a great excuse to call in on my way back and drop it off, coincidentally around about lunchtime when there might be the chance of a ham, cheese and salad sandwich on the go! ) So anyway, I about put my back out trying to put this incredibly heavy laptop in the car passenger foot well whilst sitting in the drivers’ seat! So having experienced the new lightweight machines first hand, and realised I do have a genuine requirement for the new Dell Inspiron mini after all, weighing in at around 1kg, you know I planned to get that credit card out again as soon as possible!
So as I had a management meeting that afternoon I informed my Finance Manager I would be ordering one and that was that. It was Friday October 3rd when I placed the order on the Dell website, and on the 8th I got back from a customer meeting to find a tiny cardboard box on my desk with the Dell log on the side, I thought it couldn’t possibly be the new mini as the confirmation email I got said it would be delivered on or around the 20th October, but sure enough it really had arrived! Just a 5 day turn around, wow!
So I’m like a kid in a sweet shop thinking “best day ever” (See Heroes Season 3), I was ecstatic and carefully unpacked it, tossing instructions and disks to one side of course, “read those later” I thought. I got it out and started setting it up straight away, you know remove Tiscali Free Trial and all the other junk software these things come with these days. Why they can’t just send you a blank windows installation I don’t know, more advertising!
As it has an integrated web cam I also downloaded Windows Live Messenger and had a quick video chat with my girlfriend whilst she was doing her ironing, fantastic!So next I Googled ‘mobile broadband suppliers’ and toyed with ordering the USB dongle from Three, as their 5GB monthly allowance is only 15 quid a month so the best looking deal, providing those coverage stories you hear about Three Mobile are not really the case! (Update: Yes the coverage is lousy in all the areas I want to use it, even at my desk I have to connect the dongle to a USB cable and hang it from my roof to get 1 bar signal strength, ridiculous buy another brand!)
Anyway, it was soon time to go and pick up my daughter from school so I thought yeah I’ll take it with me and even though I don’t have the mobile broadband dongle yet I can continue configuring it in car park if I’m early. I was early, so I turned it on, it said:
Windows could not start because of an error in the software.
Please report this problem as :
load needed DLLs for kernel.
Please contact your support person to report this problem
As we say in England from the popular Catherine Tate sketch “Computer says no…”
Ah dear, it was great fun whilst it lasted, all of about 2 and a half minutes!Then followed a two and a half hour telethon with Dell support in India 
Apparently they were so quick to ship it to me that my service tag isn’t on their system yet. Service Tag? What does that have to do with it not booting up?
In my opinion good support is simple, it’s not like we’re dealing with complicated server virtualization here. It’s a Dell 910 mini laptop, which has an error on the screen when you try to start it up, every time, send a replacement! “We don’t’ know what the service tag is so we can’t do that”, I was absolutely livid. In spite of insisting to speak to the supervisor, I got absolutely nowhere, and they probably thought they had handled that call in the appropriate manner!)
They suggested I called back in 24-48 hours, well I told them exactly what I thought of their suggestion as I’m sure you can image, but to no avail. I did indeed have to call back today and they have agreed to send me a replacement unit as it is within 7 days of delivery.
I hope the replacement arrives as quickly as the original unit did…
So conclusion? Apart from the fact it doesn’t work (a faulty drive in my opinion) and for the life of me I can’t get it to boot from an external drive or USB key (it doesn’t have a CD or DVD drive you know) it feels really solid, looks lovely, and is nice to handle (sounds a bit like the ideal companion to an i-phone 2.0 doesn’t it!).
Like most reviewers have stated , the keys are small (but blackberry users manage and they are larger than those keys) and the right shift key is tiny and means you can’t type an @ in the usual fashion. But the screen is nice, 3 USB slots, a monitor connector, Ethernet and earphones and mic connectors although it has both speakers and mic internally so you can video conference without having to plug anything in.
On the whole, I would recommend it, providing you get one that isn’t broken ! I am also yet to try it with LogMeIn which is my preferred way of dealing with how to access emails, lots of passwords, specialist software and all that kind of thing when you are out and about. Possibly the screen is going to be too small to be able to work with for extended periods of time, but I’ll let you know when the replacement arrives and I have had chance to give it a proper testing, assuming that one doesn’t break on me as soon as I start urm ‘configuring’ it!
Further Update: So I have had the Dell Mini for about erm, wow nearly 12 months! It would never work with LogMeIn over the Three dongle. To be fair Three were very helpful, until we took the dongle out and successfully used it in another one of my computers and were able to connect on LogMeIn without any problems, at this point they referred me to Dell, at which point I lost the will to live!
It is all to do with one of the browser settings, not remembering itself when you select the check box and hit Apply. I can’t remember which one it was now, and maybe internet explorer 8 will have fixed the problem or it might work on Mozilla browser instead, I just never got round to trying to sort it out again and tend to use the Mini more now to read the news in bed with my cup of tea in the morning.It’s just so convenient being so small, and another great feature is it’s near instant turn on. If you just shut the lid it goes into standby, open the lid and it comes back on again within seconds.
It is too small to use for really extended periods but it is great for checking your email when you’re out and about, or for a quick impulse surf when you’re watching tv and you want to remind yourself what other films that actor or actress was in for example!
Someone with one of those massive lcd monitors could get great use out of one of these minis by using it to drive a large screen.
It’s a great little machine though and also works quite well down the pub, because I can fit it in the pocket of my big coat, and that is proper cool, except it doesn’t like beer puddles much so I tend to avoid taking it most of the time, unless I know I’m going to need to log on, but then the pub has got a sexy new Mac which is already covered in beer so I prefer to use that (any excuse to get behind the bar really!)
In summary though it has not had any hardware problems since the initial replacement was received. On the whole I have found that Dell kit tends to be pretty reliable anyway, especially when you are dealing with the more business based items whereas this is obviously more consumer focussed. With a Dell if they are going to go wrong they will usually do so within the first 6 months of use and generally after that they will keep going until recommended service intervals such as changing the disks after a couple of years and that kind of thing, assuming you continue to use them in the same fashion throughout their life spans.
It should be made clear though that these mini Dell laptops/netbooks, call them what you will, do not having a regular hard disk drive inside them. A normal hard drive has a disk inside it that physically spins round and a ‘head’ which moves backwards and forwards over the sectors quite like the relationship between the stylus and the tracks on an old fashion vinyl record(which being 40 next year I do remember from my childhood)!
The storage within the Dell mini, and other netbooks too I should image, are solid state, that is to say they are rather like USB flash drives or memory keys. In fact I think from a picture I saw they look more like RAM memory chips all joined together than a single physical device. The advantage of using solid state memory over traditional hard drives is that they use less power, they are not as heavy and they are quieter.
My machine is blissfully quiet in comparison to any of my other computers, desktops or laptops. Although if you are auditorily hyper-sensitive to noise like I am then you can notice a very slight hum or whine when you give it something to do that requires it to access the hard drive. Most people probably won’t notice this but if you are familiar with the faint hum from your mobile phone charger or other devices of that ilk that transform power from one state to another then you might know what I am talking about. It certainly isn’t a problem though, although the power adapter for the machine itself does make some odd noises if you listen to it closely.
My favourite aspect of this machine is that in some it elicits the same response as having a small puppy or kitten out and about with you, especially down the pub where if you get it out to a bunch of girls you can hear the ooh and ahhh’s of girls who think something is cute! That is priceless!
Garbage Disposal Reviews
We have discussed such subjects as money transfer possibilities, and today I would like to focus on FX credit Cards. Just what is this and what can it do for you and I? Is it safe and will I save money in the use of this? To begin with, let us focus on the main features. It looks like a payment card – it has similar features such as the magnetic strip, the signature, the Chip and PIN security and it even bears your name on the front. As with a credit card, it will also carry the logo of one of the main credit card providers eg Mastercard. But while a standard credit card will give the customer availability to a line of credit, and while a debit card will allow for a overdraft facility, the fx card will only give the holder the possibility to spend what he or she has topped up onto the card. So, in essence: it is a “pre-pay” card, where the user “loads” their own cash on to the card, and can then spend this. Once the funds are used up, it is up to the individual to top up the card.
However wait a second – what’s the point of that? Most have a credit card. Why should I get an fx card and just load it with my funds? Well there is something important to travel money cards – and that is their added advantages. To begin with, it is in the name – fx – which stands for foreign currency exchange. The rate of exchange you have access to on an fx card is significantly greater to the one you will have on your normal card. Every time you go to buy something overseas, you are being charged a “purchase fee” – and then add to that the cash withdrawal fee. All these may be charged to your fx card as well – but they will be much better value for money. They will be tailored to suit someone who is on a trip and needs to use funds in the best way. Many of us have been overseas and withdrawn money using our regular cards. There will be a fee which cuts out a section of your money, and then the fx rate will sting you. On an fx card, you’ll save some funds.
I have always had a motorbike ever since the age I was able to get a licence. I started out with a little run around that was almost as slow as a push-bike and now ride a bike that would hold its own on the racetrack. It’s extremely powerful so I have to be quite careful with it and I also want motorbike insurance that is not going to be a complete rip-off! I decided to take a look on the web and came across a company who mainly take motorbikes and I was able to secure a significant amount of money off fr the reason that I have never caused an accident and am a very well seasoned rider.
There are more often cases of depression in teens which are being reported by doctors and scientists. This may be due to more advanced treatments which are available, and more of teens need help.
We can’t ignore the fact of depression in teens as it is spreading rapidly. For whatever the factor it might be but some cases are so serious which have ended up in tragedy. You have to take action against it if you or a family member of yours is suffering from depression.
If you are looking for answers on how to overcome depression, you should check out the following articles:
Alternative Medicine for Depression
Alternative Treatment for Depression
You will probably end up being depressed if you have a physical or an internal circumstance affecting your brain. It also can be due to the brain not having the important chemical which is needed to have a happy mood.
You unfortunately will end up in a sad mood if this important chemical is not being produced in your brain. Chemical instability in the brain only causes depression in teens more often. The variation of hormones during puberty all can be so bad that you end up in depression.
Some of these physical causes go away with time in teens. As hormones level off as teens grow older. It is not right to believe this and get no treatment done as you can end up suffering terribly in the end.
It’s thought that problems such as bullying can cause depression in teens. Keep in mind that often when a person feels trapped and helpless in their situation this can lead to depression, regardless of the situation they feel trapped in – a bad marriage, severe debt, a stressful job, and so on.
Teens and kids are often helpless when it comes to being bullied in school. Where as adults can soon come out of problems. Teens are often afraid to discuss such things with their parents also.
Teens feel helpless, and frustrated of being bullied. They are unable to overcome the humiliation they suffer in college or school.
For instance if they live in an abusive home or even if one parent is negligent or abusive, if they are using any kind of drugs, if they have failing grades, or if they feel they are under tremendous amounts of pressure to perform academically or athletically, these factors too can cause depression in teens.
There are many ways to treat depression in teens and having a good support system is of utmost importance. Teens should be able to approach their parents with any problem they have to know that they won’t be chastised or punished but rather will be helped and assisted, and depression should be no different.
Disclaimer: Whatever you do, make sure to consult with your doctor first before taking a step further.
What precisely is fantastic when you do on-the-internet surveys to receive funds is you can do it whenever you would like to. Even if you just woke up and also have a bad hair day if not still in your pajamas you may open your computer, surf the net, and submit your opinion. It really is pretty much simple and comfy. It is a cash making gig that you simply do on the internet. You can perhaps have some fun while performing it and more importantly, via surveys that pay you help organizations enhance their product just before even launching it or maybe soon after introducing it. Now, do you understand the beauty of online surveys? I think you surely do. What is the next consideration would be how to spot the most beneficial paid surveys. Here are ideas to spot the best surveys to help you. Or else, should you require much more information on surveys that pay, click here.
First, study the organization. To be able to get paid to do surveys you have to do a background check about the trustworthiness of the business. You could do this by way of searching for firm reviews online or you may try to ask other people feedback. However on doing so, be careful and steer clear of fake reviews. You may try yahoo answers or view forums in order to avoid fake reviews regarding express paid surveys which may have been authored by the firm themselves.
Second, check out contact data. Contact info is extremely vital for legitimate businesses who offer surveys that pay. Contact info of a legitimate survey website could be found in an easy to see location within their website. If you have got second thoughts on their e-mail information, you can send them an email and ask for a reply to find out if the site e-mail account is legitimate. Furthermore, you can maybe call them to be sure that the telephone number is actually working. Recognizing fraudulent internet sites by means of this technique is surely an excellent way.
Third, look over and understand firm terms and conditions. Particularly, familiarize the pay structure of the site to be sure that they are actually offering surveys that pay for real. You can find those websites that say they provide money but then turn out to provide only prizes. Lastly, in no way pay for online surveys. This sort of payment structure in which they ask you to spend first is pretty obvious scam.