My new Dell Mini 9

Finally I did it and bought a fancy Dell Mini: 9? screen, 8Gb SSD and 1Gb RAM, accompanied by a megapixel Webcam, Bluetooth and Wifi connectivity and running Windows XP. What about WWAN? No way, the standard model from Dell website comes without one. Not only it comes without the Mini-PCI card but also lacks of the slot. I bought it barely used through eBay and it was a big deal for 170 euros. At the same time I bought a WWAN card for it, that cost me around 100 euros, before knowing that the Dell Mini had not the Mini-PCI slot. Now I know and what is more important, I know how to install one on the Wifi slot and connect an embedded USB Wifi on it. You can check how on this video.

So, once I realized I could not install the WWAN card on my Dell Mini I had to sell the card. Fortunately I did it for almost the price I paid for it, so now I am looking for the suitable WWAN card that may fit inside my Mini's back. Why do I want 3G connectivity? Well, I have used 3G external USB modems for some time with my laptop, and it was great, but with the Mini I can not imagine sitting on the train with the tiny netbook connected to an external modem. It breaks all the aesthetics of the Mini and most of the times I would forget the modem at home. As I commented some time ago I use a Simyo connection when I am traveling for pleasure, so I need an unlocked WWAN card in order to configure it to work with my Simyo. The other possibility I am considering is buying a Huawei e156 USB Modem and try to take the cover out, sold the USB PINs to the corresponding of the Mini-PCI slot and put it all under the back cover of the Mini. As soon as I have more info on the solution I will post it here.

The use of the Mini is great, it fits everywhere, weights around 1 kilo and the charger is slightly bigger of one of a mobile phone. For me this is an important point because if you have a 1 kilo netbook but the charger weights half a kilo it loses part of its sense! The battery performs well, although it does not reach the announced 4 hours, it is enough for a 3h+ flight from Tenerife to Barcelona. As you can check on the image it is great to work with it on the plane (even if you don't fly business ;-) ) so is ideal to bring it anywhere.