Sun, 07 Aug 2011

Netbook - A Look Back

I wrote the article below in April, 2009. I have used the machine since then. I have added a couple of things. The most important for use is a 9 cell battery giving me 5-7 hours of battery life. This makes all the difference in the usability of the device. The battery is BIG, but it sets the device at a good angle for typing and actually makes it easier to carry, of all things. I also have a good wireless mouse. I don't like track pads so this make things better for me. I have also added Ubuntu along with the Windows XP it came with. All-in-all, a good investment. I use the device at work as a note taker. Can't attach to the work network because of security restrictions, but I do get to attach to the guest network which gives me limited Internet access. I take notes and e-mail them to my work accout if needed. At home, no restrictions. My primary tools are OneNote on the Windows side, Basket Notes on Ubuntu, and, of course the browser.

So what about a tablet. Well, first, I can't afford one and second, I'm not sure that it would use one all that much. Rather than a device to consume information, I need one more oriented to creating information. Now if they had a tablet that ran a program like OneNote and a browser over WiFi, I would be all set.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

I got a netbook for Christmas -- an Acer -- and have used it for the past few months. It has Windows XP on it and, for the most part, I'l liking it. Here are my thoughts. (Typed on the netbook, naturally!)

The keyboard is small, but then, so are my hands, so this isn't a big deal for me. I can see where this might be a problem for people with larger meat hooks, however.

The pointing device is a touch pad. You should know that I'm not a big fan of these in general. I really like a mouse or the little eraser button on some Lenovo's and other machines. This one is a bit of annoyance as the buttons are positioned to the left and right of the pad. I have a small, portable mouse that I much prefer to use with the device. I think a small trackball would even be better. But this is a minor annoyance.

The screen is small, but useable. I'm an old guy and sometimes the type gets a bit unreadable, but most of the time things are OK. One of the major problems I see is screen real estate. I have found that the F11 button is a big help when using the browser. This puts the software in full-screen mode and give more size to a web pagpe.

The battery life is around 3 hours. I use the machine on electricity whenever possible. Right now, for example, I am sitting in the living room away from the plug and have been on about an hour. It's good for getting away from your desk and going somewhere to work. Giving yourself a different view of things. Getting out of the same old chair and going somewhere else -- like outside.

I use the system on my home wifi and have had no connection problems. It has worked its way into my home network without any difficulty and a 2 gig USB drive adds to this capability to integrate with other systems.

That's about it for now. More as I work this into my routine.

posted 08:25 [/Technology] permanent link