As much as it’s a tremendous feat for Mark Shutleworth, to have the newly launched Mini 9 netbook ship with the Ubuntu OS, he must be a tad disappointed to have it already in need of an update. The problem, which occurred because Dell  used a 4Gb Ubuntu OS image on all its models, causes the 8Gb and 16Gb solid state disks (SSD) to only recognize the first 4Gb of disk space.

Dell reacted quickly to this problem and all future models will have this situation rectified, however for the unlucky few who have the early release model there are several options available.  The first is to reinstall Dell’s custom version of Ubuntu Linux, although this does require an external disc drive. The second option, for those who are more technically minded, is to opt to resize the SSD using third party partioning software.

Other than this problem, the Mini 9 is a good value for money product. It features an Intel ATOM N270 / 1.6 GHz, 512MB DDR2 SDRAM, 8.9” screen, Intel ATOM N270 / 1.6 GHz graphics processer, 3-in-1 memory card reader, USB2.0, VGA and ethernet ports and 802.11g Wi-Fi.

All in all, it’s an ideal starter unit for watching videos, browsing the net and doing basic office duties.   

Tags: Dell Inspirion mini 9, SSD partition problem, ubuntu