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Why Is the Ubuntu-based Dell Mini 9 Unfinished?

18.03.2009
I recently caved in to my inner geek and bought a Mini 9. This is the cheap netbook from Dell that runs Ubuntu (although WinXP is an option). It took Dell a month to get it to me, and although the price dropped significantly during that time they refused to give me a refund. So when the Mini 9 eventually arrived I was grumpy, and not inclined to see it in a good light. But I'll be damned if the little thing hasn't stolen my heart. It's everything you might expect from a miniature notebook. You've probably read the various by now, and there's not much I can add (apart from pointing out that the Mini 9 is surprisingly sluggish -- it's a 1.6GHz processor in name only, and feels like it's running at half that speed).

A special Dell remix of Ubuntu came installed on the model I ordered. I had fun playing around with this, but it was a painful experience at times. I initially categorized the problems I experienced as bugs, but that's incorrect. It's more that the operating system is unfinished. Don't get me wrong. It works OK. It's functional. You can web browse, and IM, and word process just fine. But there was no final polish before the car left the showroom.

Here are a couple of examples: I tend to set screen brightness low, while the default Ubuntu setting is higher. This would be fine were it not for the fact that Ubuntu keeps forgetting my setting. When the screen dims after a period of inactivity, the brightness leaps back to default when I use the computer again. I'm left squinting and fumbling for the brightness hotkeys. (On occasion the brightness hotkeys just stopped working completely.)

Then there's the trackpad. I'm typing this blog entry on the Mini and, as I do so, the mouse cursor is leaping all over the screen because my fingers and palm keep touching the touchpad. This is inevitable because of the small size of the Mini versus the comparatively large size of my hands. The touchpad can be set to deactivate for a split second after each key is pressed, which helps avoid this, but this feature hasn't been activated. I'm fairly sure it would be if I'd ordered a Windows notebook from Dell. If I ordered a MacBook it certainly would. So why not Ubuntu?

And what about the time it takes Wi-Fi to get back online after waking from suspend? The entire computer comes back to life in seconds, but I have to sit and stare at the Network Manager icon for at least 30 seconds as it goes through the motions of reconnecting. During this time I'm sitting on my hands and unable to do anything apart from play Solitaire, or maybe fetch a cup of tea.

There are many other small irritations like this. I'm not sure if the Ubuntu/Dell developers actually used the system for more than a few minutes when testing, but if they had, they would have stumbled across these irritations themselves. I honestly don't know how they could miss them.