Netbook buy: Dell Mini 9 or Asus Eee PC 901?

[hound]

Looking to pick up an under 10" netbook for less than $300. I'm a poor graduate student, so I can't spend more than $300.
This will almost exclusively be used for typing documents. There will be some web browsing as well. That's about it. I've used a small laptop before (old, 10" Acer tablet) so I can adjust to the smaller keyboard.
Small size is a must for me---I walk to campus everyday and I have to carry many heavy books, so I want the smallest, lightest machine possible. I already own a full-featured laptop (MBP), but I'm sick of hauling its weight.
OS doesn't really matter to me--if it comes with Linux, great. If it comes with Windows, I'm installing Linux.
Long battery life is also nice, but I think most of these things average out to around 4 or 5 hours, which is more than enough for me.

So I've narrowed my choices down to either the Asus Eee PC 901 or the Dell Mini 9. Anyone with experience with either care to chime in? Or does anyone have anything else to recommend?

Thanks!

 

[ScYcS]

For under $300 i would probably get the MSI Wind U100 (not the U120 due to it's limited upgradability). I think it has the best price/performance ratio out of them under $300. The Dell Mini 9 is not 10" and i think the Asus isn't either; they're both 8.9" screens....

But the MSI Wind is a solid netbook and one of the lightest ones out there, too.

<edit> nevermind, i just saw you're looking for an UNDER 10" netbook....lol....dell mini 9 from the dell outlet and then upgrade memory to 2gb and a bigger SSD driver would be my choice. Get the Mini 9 for $199 from the outlet, spend $20 on memory and another $75 on a 32GB SSD and you have a nice mini.

 

[Kil4Thril]

I looked at both of the models you are asking about. Build quality and upgradeability were pretty much equal. Go somewhere and pick based on the keyboards (why I chose the 10" model- my hands are FAR too big for the smaller ones).

 

[groebuck]

at bjwholesale -

www.bjs.com

Acer 8.9" Aspire One Netbook with Intel Atom Processor N270, 1GB DDR2, 80GB HDD for 249.00

when I looked at it in store though it had better specs and a bigger HDD - see if you know someone with a membership and check it out - or they might give you a one day trail membership

 

[hound]

For under $300 i would probably get the MSI Wind U100 (not the U120 due to it's limited upgradability). I think it has the best price/performance ratio out of them under $300. The Dell Mini 9 is not 10" and i think the Asus isn't either; they're both 8.9" screens....

But the MSI Wind is a solid netbook and one of the lightest ones out there, too.

<edit> nevermind, i just saw you're looking for an UNDER 10" netbook....lol....dell mini 9 from the dell outlet and then upgrade memory to 2gb and a bigger SSD driver would be my choice. Get the Mini 9 for $199 from the outlet, spend $20 on memory and another $75 on a 32GB SSD and you have a nice mini.

Good call on the refurb, I just picked up one with 1GB of ram and the 8GB SSD for $219 (well, $240 after taxes) and free shipping. I'm probably just going to pick up a sd card later for more storage if I feel the need (I'm lazy).

Thanks for the advice guys!