Didn’t want to have to use a dongle or other external GPS device? with Dell E Mini 9

started by tearing the Mini down and seeing if it was even possible. Dell’s service manuals for the Mini 9 are pretty decent and are all you need to take the system apart. You can view them here. 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.

Once I made sure the GPS receiver worked, I immediately took it apart to see just how small it could get. I was pleasantly surprised to see just how small it really is. Here’s a picture of the GPS unit, the Bluetooth adapter, and a quarter for scale comparison.

Read More:mydellmini.com

**when you try something like this, you could break your computer. If that is something you could not live with, do not even attempt it. Also, it helps to have electronics and soldering experience.