I have wanted one of these dinky little netbooks for a while but didn't really know why. I wasn't really sure how much it could do compared to my normal laptop, how small it would feel, etc etc. In truth it just looks so cool and cute that when I saw it pop up on hotdeals for £199 ( luckily just a couple of days before mother's day and in possession of a husband who had forgotten to get me anything) I decided to give it a go.

In order to get it at that price you need to sacrifice Windows and try Ubuntu instead. My techie husband is a big Ubuntu supporter and so has been very encouraging and helpful in getting me set up and tbh I can't really tell much difference. I have had a bit of trouble finding a new messenger client I get on with but Skype seems to be working well for me now. My e-mail and Firefox browser work fine and I can't really see what everybody makes such a big fuss about.

The Mini came with a good amount of charge that I could get going on it straightaway and and quick-start guide that was so good that even I was hooked up to the web within the hour with no help from DH (something I was ridiculously proud of). It boots up and shuts down really fast compared to my Dell Inspiron and you just shut the lid to put it to sleep (handy when the kids are coming at me with sticky fingers). The battery lasts just over 4 hours, I quite often unplug it first thing and take it in the the kitchen or outside, and if I close the lid when I'm not usin it for long periods then it will usually make it to the end of the day.

I have to admit that when it first arrived, and for the the first 24 hours after, I was convinced that the keyboard was too small for all purpose use after all and that I would only be using it for light surfing. 3 weeks later though and I don't open my "big" laptop for days at a time. I can type pretty much the same on the mini as on my Inspiron now and it doesn't feel too small at all, in fact it has just made normal laptops feel ENORMOUS.

So , I guess to sum up, the Mini 9 with Ubuntu - plus points

• battery life great (compared to what I'm used to)


• Very fast at booting up, shutting down, waking up from sleep mode


• V funky looking, shiny and small.


• Cheap compared to standard sized laptop.

and those negatives are

• Using Ubuntu means it can't run Itunes or MSN. Plenty of messenger clients and music playing alternatives to us but if you have an I-Pod then you need to have I-tunes running somewhere.


• Speakers are pretty rubbish and tinny, not a deal breaker for me but a shame. 


• Small keyboard can be uncomfortable after typing a large amount.

All in all, I am using it way more than I thought I would and I can let the kids go on my old computer without feeling panicky and not being able to check Twitter every 4 minutes. :)

This review first appeared on www.whatwouldbrybuy.com