The New Dell Inspirion Mini 9 may well become my best friend. I noticed today that Dell is previewing their new line of Mini Notebook computers and they are impressive. The Dell Inspirion Mini 9 is Dell's entry into the mini notebook market at a very low price point: $349.

Dell’s Inspiron Mini 9 Netbooks running Windows XP and Ubuntu are on sale. But US newspaper advertisements from Dell and Best Buy show Dell’s Windows XP netbooks to be a far better bargain than Dell netbooks with Ubuntu Linux. Here are the details.

"Dell isn't resting on its recent consumer Linux PC laurels. The computing giant has added a new laptop -- the Inspiron 1420 Notebook -- to its Ubuntu Linux 7.04 offering. It is also replacing the Dimension E520 desktop with the new, low-priced Inspiron 530."

So this guy buys a Dell Inspiron Mini 10.1-inch netbook but either isn't happy at its lack of cellular coverage, or just has a severe phone fixation and decides to rip it apart and turn it into a Dell Mini 3i phone, complete with Android-based OS.

Canonical's relationship with Dell has faced intense scrutiny in recent months, but the partners showed unity today by unveiling Ubuntu Moblin Remix Developer Edition. The offering, based on Moblin version 2, is optimized for Dell's Inspiron Mini 10v netbook. Here are some more details plus some anaylsis of the Canonical-Dell relationship.

While there are many netbooks on the market from a variety of different vendors, for the most part they are composed of the same hardware. When it comes to Dell with their popular Inspiron Mini 9 netbook, they happen to be using Ubuntu but with a few modifications.

A few weeks ago we ran some rumored specs of Dell's answer to the Eee, the Dell Inspiron 910 (aka Mini Inspiron and Inspiron Mini).

Dell is currently flogging a cheap-as-chips netbook that apparently comes loaded with that well-known Microsoft operating system, Ubuntu 8.04. Anyone dropping in on the computer maker's UK product website will be able to buy an Intel-based Inspiron Mini 10 laptop for £199 a pop.

I declare Shenanigans! Dell is at it again with their Inspiron Mini. When Dell first launched open source PCs on their desktops, they did the same thing. Why do they even offer Ubuntu if it costs more? Why would someone pay more for Dell to install Ubuntu? Are they deliberately trying to spurn the adoption of Linux?