Following in the footsteps of Acer and its $99 Radioshack Aspire One, Dell announced on Friday that it will be selling its Inspiron Mini 9 netbook with integrated mobile broadband for a mere $99 with a two-year AT&T LaptopConnect agreement ($60/month). Unfortunately, the $99 price tag comes after a $350 Dell Mail-in-Rebate which may scare away more than a few prospective buyers. The $99 price ends January 31st, 2009 so you have only three weeks to jump on this offer. As with the Acer deal, it really only makes sense if a LaptopConnect contract was already in your future as a $99 Mini 9 is hardly worth $720/year otherwise.

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After launching a mere week ago, Dell Mini’s were arriving on doorsteps everywhere Friday. As expected, it did not take very long for one of you eager, early adopters to put together an unboxing video. This time it is a reader over at Gotta Be Mobile who posted 12 minutes of brand spanking new Mini 9 goodness. What can we say, we’re suckers for shiny new ultra-portables.

[Via Gotta Be Mobile]

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Of all the details that Dell could have omitted from the launch of its Inspiron Mini 9, we would think that one of the mini-notebook’s most distinguishing features might have made it to the table. According to Dell spokeswoman Anne Camden, Dell’s new tiny dancer is packing an integrated 3G card. Talk about easter eggs! While there isn’t much detail to be found from Dell, the fact that Vodaphone has already announced that it will be offering the Mini 9 leads us to believe that we’re talking about a tri-band card here. Presumably it will play nicely in Europe and here in the US we’re going to assume that it’s packing 850 MHz for use on AT&T’s high-speed networks. Considering you can now pick up a unit for as little as $99, the story just keeps getting better as far as we’re concerned. Dell is likely in talks right now with a certain US carrier (the reason for Dell’s silence perhaps) and it will be interesting to see what comes of it. Of note, Dell’s Inspiron Mini 9 is said to have a battery life in the three-hour range with no mention of 3G. We can only imagine what will happen when users start streaming video and whatnot over 3G. Ouch.

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We almost forgot what it was like outside the mobile phone game. You know: Leak -> Wait -> Official announcement -> Wait -> Launch! Sure plenty has been leaked as far as Dell’s latest lappy is concerned, but kudos are still in order. Just yesterday we learned that the Inspiron Mini 9 was set to be announced this week and bam; today they’re ready to order. Let’s take a look at how each of the three variants of this sweet new ultra-portable shape up specs-wise:

$349

• Intel Atom Processor N270 (1.6GHz/533Mhz FSB/512K cache)
• Ubuntu 8.04 OS
• Glossy 8.9 inch LED display (1024X600)
• RAM: 512MB DDR2 at 533MHz
• Hard drive: 4GB Solid State Drive + 2 GB of online Box.net storage

$399

• Intel Atom Processor N270 (1.6GHz/533Mhz FSB/512K cache)
• Windows XP Home Edition OS
• Glossy 8.9 inch LED display (1024X600)
• RAM: 512MB DDR2 at 533MHz
• Hard drive: 8GB Solid State Drive

$449

• Intel Atom Processor N270 (1.6GHz/533Mhz FSB/512K cache)
• Windows XP Home Edition OS
• Glossy 8.9 inch LED display (1024X600)
• RAM: 1GB DDR2 at 533MHz
• Hard drive: 16GB Solid State Drive

There is a downside of course, but isn’t there always? The size is great, the gear is great but the battery is… Not so great. Basically you’re looking at about three hours of juice before the Mini 9 starts coughing and needs another fix. Yikes. The good news is that this little sucker is so small that you should have absolutely no problem fitting a heafty external battery pack in your back with it. Does that defeat the purpose? Hmm, your call.

UPDATE: If you purchase a Studio 15, XPS M1530 or XPS M1330 laptop between 6 am (Central) tomorrow and 6 am (Central) Tuesday September 9th, you can snag a Mini 9 along with it for only $99. Woo!

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