Last October, Asus launched a new computer called the Eee PC which created a new class of computer of its own – the mini-notebook.

There were several features of the Eee PC which were significantly new to the market – it was REALLY small, REALLY cheap, came with a solid state drive and was only available with the Linux operating system.

Since that time, Asus has launched several new models of the Eee PC – most of the changes add new features like bigger screens, better battery life, Windows XP as an option, additional memory and new CPUs. This has all been at the expense of what was probably the greatest draw of the Eee PC – its ultra-low $299 price point.

PC juggernaut Dell, unsurprisingly, has been paying attention the entire time, and has now launched its own Eee PC competitor, the Inspiron Mini 9.

Let’s see how the new Mini 9 measures up to the current Eee PC, I configured one of each to compare them as closely as possible.

The conclusion? The Dell is a little more expensive and has the new Atom 1.6 Ghz CPU and Intel 950 Chipset, while the Eee PC 900 is cheaper, a bit smaller, and has the older 900 MHz Celeron M.

From early reports the Atom should be negligibly faster and consume a little less power than the Celeron. One should note that you can configure a Mini-9 for as little as $349 with less memory, storage, and no webcam if you don’t need those features. Finally, Dell has a special deal where if you buy certain Dell notebooks, you can get the Eee PC for just $99.