Digital Home Thoughts: Dell Inspiron Mini 9: GPS Hacking

"So, I wanted to add a GPS receiver to my Mini 9, but I didn't want to have to use a dongle or other external device. I figured that a netbook really ought to just have it built in, so that's what I decided to do. All of these pictures are links to larger versions. I started by tearing the Mini down and seeing if it was even possible. Luckily, there's a bit of space around where the Bluetooth adapter is located. It wasn't much, but it looked like enough, so I ordered the smallest USB GPS receiver I could find. It's a nice unit with a SkyTraQ chipset and support for AGPS. Once I used the included utility to download an AGPS update into the unit, it gets a location fix in about five seconds after a reset."

There aren't many laptops that come with GPS receivers, but when you consider the size and sheer portability of the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 (I received mine last week and will do a video of it shortly), a GPS unit is a logical extension of the functionality on this device. The procedure definitely isn't for the faint of heart, but if you want to do what this guy did, the instructions are fairly clear - just be aware that you'll be voiding the warranty, and you might break something.