Netbooks

[Jay Vaughan]

> Any preferences?

imho, the new aspire one is awesome, i wanna upgrade my old aspire to  
it already.  not going to, but the difference between the original aao  
and the new-era derivatives is huge.  seriously good design-progress  
curve.

tho', to be honest, just go see a lot of them in a shop.  they're all  
so similar spec-wise that its the real physical experience, hands-on,  
which counts.  i wouldn't buy a netbook on recommendation.

> I am doing so many meetings, that lugging my
> development machine around is getting really boring (and my back is
> starting to complain). I am thinking of something small like a dell
> MINI or Acer aspire would work great.
>

i just got a smart q7 for work-related things, and it works wonders  
once you wipe the OS and put your own on it. ;)  the apple wireless  
keyboard + logitech bt mouse + q7 combination is pretty handy, to be  
honest.  i can't imagine there won't be superlative versions of the  
same config within a few months of this rig becoming commonplace.  all- 
bluetooth.  tablet + mouse + keys + ??controller == the wireless,  
light, efficient reality.

> I checked out the Asus eee pcs, but the cellurons in them seem to make
> them run a bit hot...

yeah, careful here.. if you wanna wait for the Nvidia Ion chipsets,  
there will be serious progress with heat/battery-life, but for now  
there are ups and downs with the chipsets.  Dell, Acer and Asus all  
have a spectra of chips, and some places are getting the dodgier  
varieties and over-pimping them.  Atom Nx series, tho', seems okay.   
my aspire one has a battery-pack on it that gives me 10 hours of use,  
btw, but it does get a little hot ..

> Suggestions?
>

get hands-on experience, no matter what.  they're all so similar specs  
wise that the actual physical feeling will make a huge difference to  
you, so you gotta go actually feel one.  these are cheap, so don't  
expect massive power, either, but also don't underestimate ..

> OS doesn't matter.  It will be reloaded with ubuntu.
>

.. how prosperous you can make your machine really be, for you, when  
it a) feels good in your hands, and b) has a light, custom, well- 
maintained OS on it that pushes that little CPU hard .. ubuntu-studio,  
ftw, by the way.

++btw, netbooks need all the RAM you can give them.  always max out RAM.

;
--
Jay Vaughan