Dell has become the latest vendor to introduce a low-cost mini laptop aimed at mobile users.

The Inspiron Mini 9, available in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany and Austria from late September, fits the now familiar format of an 8.9in display and a weight of just over a kilogram.

However, Dell has put its emphasis on durability, and said its model has a sealed keyboard and is only available with a Flash solid state disk up to 16GB instead of a conventional hard drive.

Dell's mini laptop will be available with either Windows XP Home edition from £299, or with Ubuntu 8.04 Linux and a Dell-developed custom user interface from £269.

Like many of its rivals, the Inspiron Mini 9 is based on an Intel 1.6GHz Atom processor with 1GB memory and supports 802.11g Wi-Fi networking. It ships as standard with a 4-cell 32WHr lithium ion battery pack.

For the Windows version of the system, Dell offers its DellConnect Remote Assistance, whereby a Dell technician can diagnose and solve PC problems via an internet connection.