Totally Loving The Maxis Broadband-Ready Dell Inspiron Mini 9

So you’ve seen my post on the Girls Day Out which was kindly sponsored by Maxis and saw how I carried the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 around as if it was light as air. Actually, it was pretty much AS light as air as there were times myself and the other girls were like, “Oh shit! I thought I was holding it!” when in fact we were holding our shopping bags and someone else was carrying it for us.

I was allowed to have the laptop for up to a week and I really did not want to give it back!

For those who are into specifics, here’s what I got from the press release:

The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is running on 1.6Ghz Intel Atom Processor N270 with a Genuine Windows XP Home Edition. You gotta love the glossy 8.9 inch LED display (1024X600). When I compared it to my Dell Inspiron 630m(some zaman purba ancestor of the Dell Inspiron Mini 9), white colours appear SO pure and white on the Mini 9, where else, white colours on my old Dell look like stains!! 🙁

Okay, I’m not going to pretend I know a lot about the gritty computer stuff but if you know whatever 1GB DDR2 at 533MHz then yeah, that’s the memory and good for you. Please explain in my comments to my other readers! But from a simple girl who simply loves shopping, going online, logging on to Facebook and shopping blogs, then I’m just telling you this: The computer starts damn fast and shuts down damn fast too! That should be good enough for a lot of people. 😀

About it’s hard drive, (ya this one i know) it has a 8GB Solid State Drive. 8Gb is barely enough for the programmes that I need to function properly so I just plug either one of my trusty external HDs in and play my chinese dramas and edit my photos on the go. This is what I do with my own laptop anyway!

I did have a lot of fun with the 0.3 Mega Pixel integrated Webcam! Check out my stupid photos at the end of this post.

As if it is not small enough, the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 even comes equipped with blue tooth!

The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is what techgeeks call “a netbook”. The cool factor is the ability to go online whenever and wherever and not all of us are within vicinities of wireless internet courtesy of some hightech university(ahem) or overpriced coffeehouse. God knows how many stuff I’ve to do online. Especially all those things that involve “working hours”. Gah. Only one week and I used it to upload money to my tunecard, nearly booked a plane ticket back to Subang (NEARLY), paid a parking compound, sent bereavement flowers(this was quite hectic and I was really grateful that I had the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 with me) and booked a hotel room. All this while smacked dab between my morning and afternoon clinic sessions without needing to go home to my internet to complete my tasks. Paying my electric bills and my irrational online purchases can be done anytime. I LOVE YOU MAYBANK2U!

The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 comes with a tiny little sim card plugged in and this gives you instant Maxis Broadband connection! The laptop obviously has a Wireless 802.11g Mini Card and a Wireless 5530 HSPA Mobile Broadband Mini-Card. Well, not to say it is automatically connected to the internet. You still have to double click on the Maxis Broadband icon and click on ‘Connect’ and viola, the World Wide Web is your oyster!

As I’ve mentioned in the Girls Day Out post, the laptop feels like a clamshell phone at times.

The keyboard takes some getting used to. Since the laptop is tiny, the keys are no doubt tinier than your average keyboard. While everything is at the correct places, the apostrophe key (‘) is located where the right Ctrl key usually is. As a result, I keep pressing enter when I want to use the apostrophe key. But when you can go online anywhere and anytime, this is a small sacrifice to make.

It’s quite functional really. If you want to use the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 to connect to another internet connection, you’re free to do so with the LAN port there. Then there’s three USB ports for all your portable needs. I think the center port is for projectors. Not photographed here is the earphone jack which I used a fair bit. When you are out in public, best be using your own earphones.

The other two USB ports and ur SD-MS/Pro-MMC slot! That’s how I managed to upload my picture from my camera and blog live from My Diamond.

I have chicklits thicker than this.

When you remove the battery from its bay, you can see the Sim-card slot.

Here’s the SImcard!

There are a few networks that Maxis Broadband runs on such as Edge, GPRS, 3G and HSDPA(High Speed Downlink Packet Access). For example, where I am staying in Sungai Petani only has Edge and GPRS but in town there’s 3G. So does the highest floor of my dental faculty building (I was watching youtube videos with that speed!!). When I was in KL and back in my house at Subang Jaya, I was able to connect to the HSDPA network! Another amazing thing was that the North South Highway has HSDPA coverage as well! You’ll see it later on in my post.

The Maxis Broadband-Ready Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is only available in Malaysia, it being a concept created locally too. This is something to be proud of!

There is currently an on-going promotion for consumers to purchase the laptop with the Maxis Broadband connection at RM99 per month for 24 months inclusive of 6 months Maxis Broadband subscription. After that, it would be RM77 per month for the Maxis Broadband subscription!

I was particularly amazed that from the laptop you can even send smses to normal mobile users via the same programme that you use to connect to Maxis Broadband.

The fairly simple looking Text Message portal.

I sent a couple of smses to myself. I replied and it even gives off a little chime when my reply comes into the laptop. So you can type one whole rant and sms it to your friend and your poor friend might not reply you because he is only using a boring ol’ handphone.

At the beginning of my week with the darling Dell Inspiron Mini 9, I had to drive back to Kedah. I was really really surprised to see that I could connect to the EDGE network along the highway!

Proof that I’m at the rest area along the North South Highway.

You can even stand next to the highway and surf. Though obviously you would prefer to be in the comfort of your own car(even better if someone else is driving).

I really was online! Please excuse the jakunness.

Upon reaching Kedah, I had dinner at one of my favourite restaurants and naturally I whipped the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 out.

It was on GPRS at that time and I could check my email! YAY!

Even when the food came, I didn’t want to put it away. I heard whispers of “Internet” from the table behind me.

Digressing for awhile! See my pretty nails and my antibiotic! 😀

After dinner, I went to Tesco and I had fun disturbing my friends with “HELLO I’M IN TESCO!” on Gtalk.

When I went home, I did some online banking with it!

The old laptop is for downloading so it shan’t be move. The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 can be carried anywhere, so I put it on the bed to do my errands.

While working on some stuffs on my old laptop, I used the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 to watch my chinese shows. As you can see, the quality of the video is quite good. The laptop comes with Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950 and Integrated Stereo Sound. But I wanted it tob e louder and used my RM25 speakers to blare my TVB drama.

I brought it along with me for lunch on a Tuesday as I have no classes on Tuesdays.

It’s not a burden at all!

I’m always so happy to see my Gmail load properly. This means that the connection is good! I spent about 3 hours at Old Town and yet the computer did not die on me. Me thinks with minimal usage the battery can last up to four hours. If you watch plenty of videos, then it’ll deplete quickly for sure.

Here I am at my uni cafeteria looking smug with my pretty Dell Inspiron Mini 9.

It doesn’t look bulky at all right? It even complements my outfit!

I can even swing it with ease.

In the dental students common room, I was ECSTATIC! On EDGE, FREAKING EDGE, I could connect to MSN!

Here I am in between clinical sessions. My dad had instructed me to send bereavement flowers to Chee Kiang’s family (his grandma passed away on the 25th of November. She took care of Chee Kiang ever since he was a baby and I’m glad I had the chance to meet her as she meant alot to him. Apparently I’m known as “Ah Lene” to her. 🙂 Very endearing. RIP Chee Kiang’s popo. 🙁 ). So it was quite a task, googling for a florist in Penang, calling the florist and taking down notes(thank god for Notepad on the computer) then emailing the florist my specifications and banking in to her via Maybank2u – all this within half an hour! I was sweating bucket loads as I wanted the flowers to reach on that day itself. The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 really helped me out here.

My guy classmates were extremely intrigued by my tiny laptop and they gave the “WTF” italian-style hand signal when I said that Maxis Broadband lent me the laptop for a week to review.

Completing my online banking. The laptop is SUCH a lifesaver. I know I really sound like I’m sucking up but it’s not everytime you get to review something that you really really really like and appreciate.

As I was dismissed early, I headed to the locker room to try out the connection. PROPER GMAIL AGAIN! No need for lameass ball-sucking html versions of my beautiful Gmail inbox.

Furthermore, the connection in the locker room was only soso.

Yet I could STILL go to my blog. Being able to access my blog with a relatively slower connection only means that Maxis Broadband’s slowest network is already pretty awesome!

As I was waiting for my flickr page to load, I held it open like that all the way back to the car.

Checking email and driving is a no-no. Don’t learn from me! (Suddenly i feel like one of those stuntmen who do silly things to wow their audience and then tell them not to do it at home.)

Flickr finished downloading! Yay!

I nudged Esther on MSN but she didn’t reply. So I syok sendiri and turned my webcam on to camwhore.

With Maxis Broadband on your Dell Inspiron Mini 9, you can even surf the net from the comforts of your tarmac road.

Or have a good time checking out other people’s facebook and blogs with your girlfriends. We were at Starbucks at E-gate, Penang! All the way from Sg. Petani yo!

Me being lanci at having such a tiny laptop while everyone else’s laptops were hugeass!

This post would not be complete without a picture of me and the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 in my classroom. I had the most awesome connection there in that entire week. Of all places! I could load Youtube videos, I could go on MSN, go on Facebook, go on my favourite shopping blogs…etc! But since I only have lectures once a week, I didn’t get to enjoy the amazing speeds as much as I would’ve liked to.

I could even pass the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 to my classmates like how one would pass notes in the class. The arrow indicates how far the laptop went from me during a lecture session.

Chee Wen borrowed my laptop to get some inspiration for his tasks regarding the upcoming Dental Dinner.

He wanted to utilize an Avril Lavigne Concert Opening-style and wanted to show me the video.

On Edge only and can go on Youtube, MSN and the works!! OMG!

As it is so tiny, I did not rouse the suspicions of my lecturer.

Yes, I talked on MSN while class was going on but hey, I did my part! Took down notes too!

Our love affair came to an end on Friday. 🙁 I was using it on the bus ride back but because I watched too many chinese dramas, I depleted the battery quickly.

I found Wai Ping online and couldn’t resist telling her where I was!

The bus turned into Butterworth and ZOMG I’m on HSPA!! I could practically do ANYTHING online. I felt…so powerful.

I had to announce it on Facebook.

And I definitely had to annouce it on MSN. (can see ah?)

The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 proved to be a good companion when I was waiting for my mum at Pudu Bus Station (I HAAATE that place). Furthermore, I’m in freaking KL and obviously the connections there are mind blowingly fast.

Iconic KL Tower in the background.

Cute little LED to show that the internal camera is turned on!

I got slightly carried away playing the camera so bear with me. They even had those cute accessories for us to mess around with!

Left: I look more like a baker than a French girl.
Right: My Ugly Celebrity Look.

Left: A french artist trying his best to maneouvre the colours on his canvas.
Right: Either a pimp/Italian chef being delighted at the skills of his latest whore/taste of his newest dish.

left: The Macy Gray look is not a good look for me.
right: As it makes me look like a beruk!

I got some Beruk jokes for you, told to me courtesy of stupid Dennis Chan.

Q: What’s Beruk and Green?
A: Berukoli! (broccoli)

Q: What’s a Beruk who fell off a tree?
A: BERUKEN! (broken)

Q: What’s two beruks talking about other beruks?
A: Dennis and Jolene -_______________________-

left: Somehow Dell decided to install Kurt Cobains hair into their program.
right: Woops the hair is floating away hahaha

left: i know i look surprised here, but I’m actually trying to be like a baseball fan being excited.
right: Jack Sparrow beremo.

I brought the laptop for my Dental Students Association meeting.
Left: melvin damn layan.
right: Ei Leng comes to Kepo as well!

left: A Chinese in France!
right: Child pervert.

left: Not a good look!
right: hahahhaa he looks like he knows Kung Fu!

left: Jimmy sifu so yau yeng.
right: Anime hair added to mess things up.

left: The hair looks damn real! So does the glasses. Weird moustache.
right: HAHAHA. Lesbian or 50 years old. You decide.

left: Julie Walters.
right: He’s just confused.

left: I added a bandana on top of his orange hair.
right: HAHHAHA stupid Jimmy.

Left: arrrrh!
right: HAHAHAHHA China Doll Jimmy.

left: So unladylike Jimmy!
right: got bored of the accessories so I played with my own hair.

My brother adores gadgets, so I had to share this funny little camera with him.
Left: Like a country bumpkin child rapist!
right: ROBBERY!!

left: italian mafia gone wrong.
right: AMISH HAHAHA.

My brother actually looks like a gentle creature here…

i know the consequent photos are going to be a bit long, but I couldn’t choose! So all goes up!:D

It was late in the evening and I was quite a distance away from the fluorescent light hence the grainy images.
left; Angel and I reading something together.
right: I surprised Angel with a kiss.

left: Angel looks genuinely happy.
right: She looked at the camera! Good dog!!

left: Another kiss for the clever girl!
right: Like a teddy bear..:)

left: me thinks she has had enough of kisses. Quite angry the face.
right: the natural shape of her eyes! She was born with almond-shaped eyes!

left: Angel look at the camera damnit!
right: Dogs are for hugging!

I tried using the accessories on her but the camera simply wouldn’t recognize her features. 🙁
left: My unfashionable older sister cuddling Angel.
right: Angel hugs back.

left: She looks so reluctant.
right: Totally not in the mood.

left: Angel suddenly takes over.
right: She makes an announcement to anyone who would listen or else………………

…she would record a scandalous video to tarnish my reputation. (yeah she likes to hump my hands, don’t know why.)

left: Shying away from the public after the scandal hahaha
right: On vacation in the tropics to put the past behind me.

I’m really grateful to Maxis Broadband for this opportunity and I might even get one myself. My internet addiction is beyond help!