While plenty of folks will try to tell you that mini-laptops like the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 are only good for some light web browsing (which has led to the popularity of the term “netbook”), the truth is that these little machines can come in handy in a variety of situations. As a freelance radio journalist, I’ve used several different netbooks to edit audio interviews and upload sound to an FTP server on the road.

And professional photographer Rob Galbraith says his Dell Inspiron Mini 9 has become an essential part of his gear bag. He can use it to import, peruse, and transmit images on the go. And if you look at the picture of his gear bag, you’ll note that the laptop is substantially smaller than his camera, taking up virtually no space at all in his backpack!

But the most surprising thing Galbraith found is that this $300 laptop actually has a screen that is better in some ways than the latest Macbook Pro displays. Galbraith compared the screens of 4 different notebooks and found that the Dell Inspiron Mini does a better job at accurately reproducing colors than the Macbook Pro.

Of course, the Dell laptop’s screen is substantially smaller and cheaper. And that image quality breaks down if you try viewing the screen from an angle, where things will start to look a whole lot crappier. But given the price difference between the Mini 9 and the $2000 Macbook Pro, the findings were pretty surprising.

Now, take this with a grain of salt. I don’t have a Dell Inspiron Mini 9 or a Macbook Pro handy so I can’t really judge Galbraith’s statement. But I’m pretty sure he knows a lot more about display quality than I do, so I’d value his opinion more highly than mine anyway.

via Wired