Netbook Match-Up: Dell Inspiron Mini vs Eee PC

Although Dell came in late into the netbook market, the company managed to make some waves when its first netbook was launched. In fact even before launch, the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 was already a hot commodity. Many have anticipated its release, especially since the market was getting deluded by the Eee PC. When the first Dell netbook was released, Asus found a stiff rival.

Several months later, the rivalry is still strong. Even up to now when the netbook trend is starting to shift to bigger displays, Dell and Asus and the rest of the netbook manufacturers continue to battle it out for supremacy in the market.

Here's a quick comparison between the Dell Inspiron Mini Netbook vs the Asus Eee PC.

In the 9-inch netbook category, the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 and Eee PC 901 are the best match. Both have the Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz Processor, 1GB of RAM, LED Backlit display, Bluetooth and Wi-FI options. The differences between these two netbooks are the battery and storage. The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 beats the Eee PC 901 with its 16GB SSD storage for Windows XP configurations and 32GB SSD for Ubuntu Linux configuration. While the Eee PC 901 managed to pack in 12GB for Windows config, 20GB for Linux plus 10GB space from the Eee Storage for either configurations. Battery-wise, the Eee PC 901 beats the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 big time. The Eee PC 901 has a 6-cell battery pack which can provide up to 6 hours of use on XP and 8hrs on Linux. The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 only managed to give a 4-cell battery pack good for up to 3-4 hours of usage time. But of course having a longer battery life entails a higher price. So the Dell Mini 9 can be had for only $270 while the Eee PC 901 will still set you back for around $349 over at Amazon.

Which is it going to be? Depends on where you will put the premium on when you buy your buying a 9-inch netbook. Price? Battery Life? Storage? The choice is yours.

Moving forward to the 10-inch netbook department, it seems the Dell has lagged behind Asus. Since both the Inspiron Mini 10 and Mini 10V are equipped with HDD storage, the most appropriate match up in the Asus line-up is the Eee PC 1000H. But if we want to beat Dell, we could also compare the Inspiron Mini 10/10v with the EEe PC 1000HE. But it would not be a good match-up since the Eee PC 1000HE is already equipped with the Intel Atom N280 processor. So, let's just stick with the Eee PC 1000H vs the Dell Inspiron Mini 10/10v.

Specs wise, all three netbooks are equipped 1GB of RAM, 160GB HDD, 10.1-inch widescreen display, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and 1.3MP webcam. Again the differences among these netbook has something to do with storage, processor and battery life. Both the Inspiron Mini 10v and Eee PC 1000H are equipped with Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz processor while the Inspiron Mini 10 has the Intel Atom Z520 1.3GHz processor. Clearly the Eee PC 1000H beats the Dell Inspiron Mini 10 in this department while of equal processing speed than the Mini 10v.

Again, the Eee PC 1000H beat both Inspiron models when it comes to battery. Both Inspiron Mini netbooks are packed with 3-cell battery only while the Eee PC 1000H has a 6-cell battery.

Price-wise, the difference between these netbooks are not really that big. Their current market prices ranges from around $350 to as high as $380 at Amazon.

So, which would you choose? I must admit that if I'm planning to get a netbook and my choices are these two, I would have a hard time selecting which netbook to get. But if battery life is all that matters, then there is not doubt that the Eee PC 1000H is the big winner here.