I'm typing this on my new netbook . It's an Acer Aspire One from Walmart ($298 retail). Sounds like a plug because it is. I get no money from this, but I like to extole the virtue of value. I know in my last entry I talked about thriftiness and saving for the important purchases, but this is my one big-ticket item for a while. I bought this because I wanted something to do my extra-curricular work on seeing as how my old desktop is 3 years old and I needed to update my work environment. In this case, I'm keeping the desktop to do the heavy graphics stuff and using this for development and blogging on the side. I can't always be home, so I got this to be able to do so.
It's a marvel of technology (at least at this time, it is). A little Atom processor (dual-core 1.6GHz) with a gig of memory and a large hard drive. The box spec reads 120GB, but actual size was ~150GB, so I definitely got my money's worth (YMMV, so you may just end up with the 120GB drive, either way still a good deal). 3 USB ports, 2 MMC ports (1 SD, 1 multi), RJ45 port, and built-in wi-fi. Just what you need to do a little work on the 'net on the side. No CD/DVD device, so program installation is limited to what you can get on either Flash memory sticks/cards, but with the standard software and what is available through the 'net, you can really do quite a bit. I have a dev environment set up so that I can test page updates without internet connectivity, and I have some minimal graphics software to do some basic editing if I have to. All in all, worthwhile.
My wife also wanted her laptop back. It was useful to have a wireless laptop for when I'm not in my office to check e-mail and the like. She was complaining I spent more time on her laptop than she did, so I compromised and bought this one.
My son calls it "Michael-sized," which it is. He thinks it might be for him. Someday it might be, but for now, it's all mine. The keyboard is smaller than normal, but it still is pretty easy to type on. A few keys which are located weird, but I guess I'll get used to it. The display maxes out at 1024x600, which is small for most, but larger than my first computer's display (at 640x480). It makes thing a bit hard to read, but if you max the Internet Explorer window (F11), you can make respectable reading for most pages. This is a good thing.
If you get an opportunity to test drive one, I wholly recommend you do so. Don't just buy it because it's "cute." If it turns out you can't stand the size of the display or keyboard, then it's really not worth the money. There are other larger sized laptops out there, just a little bit more in cost. This model prides itself on portability, and that means doing without the bells and whistles that larger displays can bring.
Oh, yeah, and if you plan to spend any length of time on it longer than 20 minutes, buy a mouse. The touchpad works for short time lookups, but a mouse is so much easier to deal with. Also try to update the touchpad drivers to disable the pad on external mouse plug-in. Saves you some time from re-typing when your fingers graze the touchpad while typing.
But as the means to an end, it works for me...
It's a marvel of technology (at least at this time, it is). A little Atom processor (dual-core 1.6GHz) with a gig of memory and a large hard drive. The box spec reads 120GB, but actual size was ~150GB, so I definitely got my money's worth (YMMV, so you may just end up with the 120GB drive, either way still a good deal). 3 USB ports, 2 MMC ports (1 SD, 1 multi), RJ45 port, and built-in wi-fi. Just what you need to do a little work on the 'net on the side. No CD/DVD device, so program installation is limited to what you can get on either Flash memory sticks/cards, but with the standard software and what is available through the 'net, you can really do quite a bit. I have a dev environment set up so that I can test page updates without internet connectivity, and I have some minimal graphics software to do some basic editing if I have to. All in all, worthwhile.
My wife also wanted her laptop back. It was useful to have a wireless laptop for when I'm not in my office to check e-mail and the like. She was complaining I spent more time on her laptop than she did, so I compromised and bought this one.
My son calls it "Michael-sized," which it is. He thinks it might be for him. Someday it might be, but for now, it's all mine. The keyboard is smaller than normal, but it still is pretty easy to type on. A few keys which are located weird, but I guess I'll get used to it. The display maxes out at 1024x600, which is small for most, but larger than my first computer's display (at 640x480). It makes thing a bit hard to read, but if you max the Internet Explorer window (F11), you can make respectable reading for most pages. This is a good thing.
If you get an opportunity to test drive one, I wholly recommend you do so. Don't just buy it because it's "cute." If it turns out you can't stand the size of the display or keyboard, then it's really not worth the money. There are other larger sized laptops out there, just a little bit more in cost. This model prides itself on portability, and that means doing without the bells and whistles that larger displays can bring.
Oh, yeah, and if you plan to spend any length of time on it longer than 20 minutes, buy a mouse. The touchpad works for short time lookups, but a mouse is so much easier to deal with. Also try to update the touchpad drivers to disable the pad on external mouse plug-in. Saves you some time from re-typing when your fingers graze the touchpad while typing.
But as the means to an end, it works for me...