Call and act like you're a new customer ordering a new one in the same configuration and ask the rep what the ship date will be. If he gives you a date closer than the date on your existing order, tell him to switch it over to that order...and when he can't then escalate to a supervisor and get an explanation.

You should have just bought an EEEPC, Better, More bang for your buck, Not made by dell... its win after win after win, But you can hack the mini-inspiron to no end... I reccomend the EE(E?Anyone?)CB. Good Luck, and dood, you might be getting a dell.... or you might have to wait until next year...

cancel order, buy Hp instead?

@AngrySicilian: Cancel order, buy Mac instead.

@Etaripamai (XBL):

I, too, recommend the Asus EEE, especially with "EEEBuntu" installed. Fabulous, relatively inexpensive, pint-sized PC. I've had mine for a few months, zero problems, decent battery life, and lots of curious glances from on-lookers.

I had a similar problem with Lenovo when I ordered an S10, another really small notebook. I complained to their customer service for a while and they are giving me $25 back on my order, makes the wait a little easier to swallow.

Cancel order, buy pizza and beer.

Cancel it. They don't deserve your custom, and better machines can be had for cheaper.

@goodcow: Cancel order, Come up with several hundred more dollars, buy Mac instead.

There, fixed that for ya!

I wonder what the specs are of the machine if he changed anything? I just went to Dell's site and the $399 XP version has an estimated shipping day for 11/6 and the Ubuntu version for 11/13.

I ordered the 910 and I'm in a similar position; they just haven't bumped my ship date yet. Ordered 10/17, expected ship date 11/17, which is pretty close to the latest date you have. From what I've been able to gather they've had trouble sourcing cases.

I just went through a new build for a 910 and their expected ship date is 11/6... maybe they'll ship existing orders early?

Cancel order and buy an acer aspire one. 1g RAM, 120HDD, WinXP (which can be changed)- $349-$429 on amazon.

@crouton976: BTW, my mother in law LOVES hers...in fact she hasn't shut up about it for 2 months...

There were many of us who pre-ordered Lenovo S10 netbooks (which competes with the Dell Mini-9) in August and were given an estimated ship-date of early Sept. As the Sept ship-date came and went, we found that shipping was being slipped to Oct and Nov. This is basically what is happening to you Mini-9 buyers.

My solution, (which I sent to Consumerist but was not published) was to carefully craft a targeted email to the top-dog in Lenovo Operations. It was a direct hit!

To make a long story short, the Lenovo CEO's Chief of Staff shipped me a $5000 laptop to use until my sub-$400 netbook was delivered. I was also bumped-up on the delivery schedule from Nov. to Oct.

No, I am not a bigshot in a Fortune 50 company -- I'm just a regular Joe (Plumber?) .

This unnerves me since I ordered a Inspiron Mini about a week and a half ago...my account initially showed that I was billed for them item, but then it was like I had never been billed just a few days later. Did they independently cancel my order? What gives? I'm thinking I should probably give them a call.

This is typical of Dell. They have a habit of constantly delaying/placing on back order items that they oversold or underestimated until they cancel it, as a "favor" to you. Very popular to get around having too many price mistakes in any given period, something else Dell is infamous for

@Etaripamai (XBL): Having played with the EEE, I'm not impressed.

I ordered one in mid October, and it's ship date is currently 11-11, so there must be some sort of parts delay.

I ordered a Mini with Ubuntu around the same time and actually received mine around a week ago, though it was plagued with problems right out of the box. From what I understand, the delays are only with the Ubuntu version of the netbook and are due to software configuration issues that are documented thoroughly on the Ubuntu Dell Support forums. Particularly in this thread:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=910487

(On or around page 28)

If they are moving your shipment date back and back they are REQUIRED to provide you with the option of canceling your order with a full refund, or agreeing to the new ship date.

Dell got into a huge amount of trouble with this before and almost had their online vendor license pulled because of it. Instead they were slapped with a billion dollar fine. That was a fun week... Our support centers had to take over email support that was normally left to people in Indian (which were the first couple of places let go) along with Canadian support.

If they do not provide you with this option, or have never provided you with this option - Bring it up with them on the phone, or report them to the BBB along with a EECB.

Unless of course you responded to this already and said it was cool. Otherwise they should have contacted you via email or telephone.

Stephen: I ordered a Mini9 and had it for about a week before I sold it. I got the XP version and boy was it slow! Luckily, they sent me the Mini about 3 weeks after I ordered. I did call and escalate. I found the Asian based agents to be very helpful. They upgraded all of my shipping to next day (I got two laptops and a printer). Why don't you cancel and buy on eBay?

The ship date for the top of line one in black is....

Preliminary Ship Date: 11/20/2008

I believe they are having a problem obtaining the parts.

@crouton976: ya thats pretty decent. i think this might be my new netbook.

I no longer deal with Dell. They have screwed up my order for the last time.

this happened with my wifes 1525. i wound finding the email info from this site and sending them a letter threatening to contact the bbb and the attorney general and consumerist. they emailed me back the same day and said it would ship tomorrow. it actually shipped that same day and i got it tomorrow. very fast after about 6 weeks waiting. when i got it, it had an upgraded processor in it. so i take it they were waiting on processors and just put a better one in to make me happy. but im a dell whore, they better keep me happy.

i have a mini 9, (Meh, real tiny, needs more ram IMO, check into the keyboard b4 buying) purchased it before they started shipping it. They seem to play games with their shipping, i got the 1 day shipping (i REALLY wanted this comp) and it took a week to get it to me. why? because 1 day shipping means to them it will be kicked around the warehouse for 6 days and than sent out.

It's most likely due to a problem with one of their suppliers. I think you'll run into that across any laptop type computer you purchase right now. Google Dell and HP semiconductor chip problems and you'll find more info about what's happening in the laptop world :)

Happened to me with the Studio laptop. I called to tell them that I'm leaving the country and if it can't be shipped by end of the week to cancel the order.. Laptop arrived later that week.

What super annoyed me was that I paid for Next day shipping. What is the purpose of paying for next day shipping when your order can be delayed indefinetily..

I had to wait about a month and half for my Studio 15 to ship. I would've raised hell had it not shown up the DAY BEFORE I left for the new school year. I wasn't planning on taking a desktop to campus and I didn't want to cancel my order (a number of Dell errors in my favor) because of an awesome price.

I had this happen last year around school starting.

I called everyday and eventually they gave me free overnight shipping and then when i sent a random nice but explaining to the michael dell email or w/e it was I got another 50 bucks off.

I was happy because they even let me use all my coupons together the 2nd time i called. $2500 laptop for around 50% off after the 2 coupons, the dpa signup and then the complaining.

I'm in the very same boat here! I ordered one in mid-September for my girlfriend, and it's been delayed at least twice. Supposedly it'll ship on 10/28, but somehow now I'm not counting on that anymore.

I've been looking at getting an Acer Aspire One for myself, but wanted to check out her Mini and see if I can get used to the netbook size. Now I'm thinking I should do it the other way around -- drop the mini and just get a pair of AAOs.

Thanks for posting this story! I thought I was just one unlucky sap this time, not one of many..

@Dacker: It's not just Dell, and it's not just the netbooks. I have a Lenovo X200t convertible on order, and none of the orders for that laptop are making their ship dates either.

It's annoying as hell (I wouldn't mind a crappy ship date if the one shown was simply more accurate), but I'm not in desperate need for the laptop (I'm writing this from my Eee 701) and there's absolutely no way to get exactly what I want any sooner, so here I'll be patiently waiting.

I'd say to those that are shopping for a laptop and need one immediately-ish, shop local or with a reseller like newegg.com, find what's closest to your desired configuration and buy what's in stock. It's a tradeoff, wait for what you want, or ditch a few features for instant gratification.

Get an MSI wind... I worked for Dell for three years and after seeing what kind of crap they could put people though first hand thought the reliability of there products I would never recommend them to anyone.

Also unless you order though an employee purchase program or a corporate contract you Will speak to India for support.

Two key Specs.
Display dell 8.9in vs Msi 10in
Memory dell max 1GB vs. MSI 2GB

@Distahs:
I put a 2gb stick in mine, works flawlessly.
I received my Mini four days earlier than quoted.I ordered mine the first week they were out. Sorry to hear you guys are having to wait so long for yours.

I recently got my mini 3 weeks after I ordered it. When I submitted the order and AFTER dell charged my card, I was told that the item would not ship for three weeks (until 10/15). I was pissed but I can understand its a new product. What I was mostly upset was that when you are in the process of ordering and done configuring your device they don't tell you that the Mini will ship in 3 weeks. I think once you are done configuring and BEFORE you make the purchase that there is a warning that the device is not available.

I ordered the fully spec'd out Windows model with all the goodies on the release day, 9/5 I believe. My order is still open actually and it just keeps getting delayed.

I bought the MSI Wind and absolutely love it. I would suggest it as it was actually cheaper and has a real 120gb hard drive vs. a 16gb SSD drive.

I still have the Dell order open just because my Mom said she wanted one and I plan to give it as a gift hopefully. I might cancel it, but to be honest I was kind of curious to see how long it'd take them to ship it.

I too ordered on 9/5 but mine came in about 4 weeks. XP version loaded out. If you want to make these guys run faster turn off the disk compression. Mine boots in about 50 seconds now.

@Etaripamai (XBL):

I actually just got my EEE -- the 1000H, w/ 160gig HD and I bought the 2gig RAM upgrade for $39 more.

I must say, I am quite impressed at this little gadget. Small, but powerful. Beats the hell out of dell. (Hey, that ryhmes)

@Skunky:

And they say nobody's spending money and the economy has gone to poop... Look at all of us buying new laptops!

My husband placed an order for a laptop from Dell and they kept delaying the order. After the 3rd call verifying that there was going to be another 2 week delay (he had already waited 3 weeks up until this point) he got fed up and canceled the order. When the Dell customer service asked him why he was canceling the order, he told them "I have no faith that your company has any intention of shipping this product".

He instead ordered a new laptop from Tiger Direct and got it in THREE DAYS.

CANCEL THE ORDER and get a laptop somewhere else.

@Dooley: Nobody can say I didn't do my part. :)

I ordered mine 9/14 but it was bumped one week at a time until the last date they gave me was 10/27 but they could not tell me they would not bump it again.

I went to cancel the order but they only let you do it by calling them. I hate it when companies let you do everything online except cancel.

Warning - I called and and was transfered to India over a poor phone connection where I canceled the order, I said I went and bought a Eeepc at a local store since I could not wait any more.. I logged in the next day and they still showed the order open. I called again and they confirmed the order was still open, just as he said do I have you permission to cancel the order I was disconnected. I did check back online later and saw the order showing canceled so I printed it for proof it it became an issue again.

I wonder if the phone reps are punished if they can not talk someone out of canceling the order.

To top it all off, I had ordered the $30 bag for the mini on a different order number. They shipped that right away. I told them I want to return the bag because I could not get the computer. The response was that it shipped over 21 days ago so no returns for any reason. I said it was their fault they could not provide the computer but again no return allowed.

I understand they are having production problems but the way it was handled has turned me off ordering a computer again.

Ordered the Mini 9 in mid-September and received it three weeks later with no delayed ship. While three weeks seems a ridiculous amount of time to ship, I was not strung along with delay notices.

@BizTake: same here, using a 2gb stick, works fine, ordered in the first week, have it. good luck!

I just canceled my order for a Dell Inspiron Mini 9 yesterday. Well, actually the day before yesterday, but that cancellation didn't take and I had to cancel it again.

I suggest you cancel and get a different netbook. I got a Lenovo S10 and compared it to a friend's Mini 9. I was shocked at how much larger the Lenovo screen looked, even though both systems weighed about the same. I wanted two netbooks, so I'm going to order another Lenovo when they start offering blue ones.

There's a big difference in how Lenovo and Dell treated my orders. Both had heavy demand and shipping delays, but Lenovo behaved more honestly throughout.

I ordered the Lenovo S10 on August 19, and the predicted a ship day of September 15. Oh, well, there was a huge demand, so I understood. On September 15, they told me it was delayed, perhaps to mid-October. But they then shipped in on September 24, which wasn't a very bad delay. And during the time they were having shipping delays, they STOPPED taking new orders. Presumably, they didn't want to take orders under false pretenses. I didn't like the delay, but they behaved pretty well.

The Dell Mini 9 was a different story. I ordered it September 13, and they predicted a ship date of September 29. On September 29, they predicted a delay of a week to October 6. On October 6, they predicted a delay to October 13. On that day, they predicted a delay to November 10. I was hoping they'd beat that date, but finally gave up, and decided I liked the Lenovo S10 better. During the delay periods, Dell kept advertising the Mini 9 as shipping within 4 business days and kept taking new orders.

I really like the Lenovo PC, and it's cheaper than the Dell. It has a traditional hard drive instead of SSD, but that hasn't been a problem and it gives me a lot more storage. I installed Ubuntu and dual boot with it and XP, and have plenty of space for both. It's easy to increase the RAM and or replace the 2.5" SATA drive if you want. And it's shockingly fast, even in XP.

I ordered mine on 9/17 and it was here in early October, but I sent it back a week later. :( The keyboard is useless for typing notes in class.

We ordered two at my office (for staff) on the same day, and they have yet to arrive.

Remember that Dell's business model is to build ONLY AFTER the computers have been ordered. This creates a huge delay during busy times (like the beginning of the school year or Xmas) or when parts are constrained. Last year there was a problem with the company that provided one of the Dell model's LCD screens- at the beginning of the school year no less- and orders took about 2 months to ship.

If you want it fast, you need to order it from a company who has already built it. This business model saves Dell a lot of money by not having computers sitting on shelves at EOL, but it means it might take a while to get to you if there are ANY problems.

When it comes to a full powered notebook, I'm a Dell diehard. Nothing but good luck with them and they have a great support website. With that said.. their netbook (mini 9) is overpriced for what you get.

I got an Acer Aspire one with WinXP, 160GB drive, 1GB RAM & a 6 cel (5.5+ hour) battery for 399 at Amazon. (They currently have the white one in stock and are taking orders for the other colors, but you can find the blue & black models elsewhere now for a few bucks more). I LOVE my AspireOne. It's the perfect size for a simple travel notebook.

My advice - kill the Dell order and get the Acer.

@crouton976: Yep, my husband lusted after the Acer Aspire One for several weeks and finally bought one from CDW in October and as soon as it came in, I fell in love with it. He has it in black and just bought me one in white, due in next week!