subnotebook/netbook w/ linux 4 electronic music?

[Jay Vaughan]

> What would you recommend for the hardware?

I'm really fond of the Acer line of netbooks .. my old Aspire One is still ticking away.

But I currently lust for this:

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Ideapad-0647-2BU-10-1-Inch-Netbook/dp/B003N2OVMU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314265528&sr=8-1

.. or maybe this:

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Ideapad-0651-85U-10-1-Inch-Netbook/dp/B003N2OVN4/ref=dp_ob_title_ce


> I suppose battery life has improved, CPUs became a tad faster and linux runs a bit smoother on such a thing.

Yup, but I think also netbooks have stagnated a little bit.  Neither of the above items I'm lusting for are 'bleeding edge' or 'mega-performers', but I know for a fact they run Linux just great and are more than adequate for your average jam/music-making task, if you make an effort to get the distro right .. (myself personally I'm quite happy with Ubuntu Studio - all the benefits of Ubuntu/Debian, stable music-making apps in the repo, and a proper audio kernel already ready already ..)

I'm still running Ubuntu-Studio on my Aspire One, it is lovely and slick.  

Best is if you put your own SSD in the netbook too, by the way, so choose one that you can easily do that with (Ideapad..)

> What I really barely can cope with is the glossy screens, but I'm afraid there's no way around it.

Best is to have a look before you buy - I also don't like the gloss, but there are some that are matte (Ideapad can be ordered in Matte, I think).

> I'm planning to connect a USB-audio interface, so Firewire is not an issue (which Jack has troubles with, IIRC).

No, Jack does not have any troubles with Firewire whatsoever.  I have been using Firewire with Jack stably for years.  It works better than my Mac, in fact.  

> Very nice to have would be a built in modem w/ Sim-card slot for mobile data transfer. (Linux supported of course).


This usually adds about 100eu,- to the price, unfortunately, but that may not be a problem .. but don't you have an iPhone already or something that you can tether with?  I find tethering to my phone to be a perfectly reasonable replacement for having a builtin modem ..

;
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Jay Vaughan