Dell Mini 9: A Day In The Life

Posted by Rik Hepworth on Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Colour me impressed. I managed well over four hours’ battery life today and found the Mini 9 a joy to use. I have encountered a snag, however, and it wasn’t one that I expected.

You see, I’m now sitting on the 21:30 train from London Kings Cross to Wakefield after having been in the big smoke for a day of meetings. I got onto an empty train and picked a seat with a table – I want to get some work done on the documents required after my meeting and I thought the space would be nice.

Great, except I’m on 17% battery charge as I wait for departure, and I can’t use the plug in the wall. As a result, I have switched seats to a cramped airline seat, also next to a plug.

The problem is, the charger I so complimented in my previous post is too deep to plug into the socket by the table. The power cable won’t bend and there’s only about an inch between the socket and the table. Not enough to use the Dell charger.

So I now sit with the Mini 9 on a fold-down tray, and it fits quite well, I must say. One could even say it was made for it.

Anyway, the Mini performed like a champ. It was small enough not to get in the way during the meetings I had today, made no distracting noises as my other laptop is prone to do as it’s fans spin their merry dance, and just.. kept… working. Exactly what I asked it do do with no problems at all.

I wonder if Richard will notice if I don’t give him it back…?