Every year around this time I get two hankerings. The first is to go to baseball games. Winter is clearly on its way out; in just over a month I’ll be in Phoenix for a weekend of spring training baseball and general guy-bonding with dad and Nathan. And just next week UNM home games start, so I’m about ready to get my fix.
The second yen that I get is to buy stuff. You see, in early February we sit down and do our taxes and get all giddy about our return. The child tax credit is a wonderful thing. But this year, instead of wishing for a scooter, I have more practical plans.
So does Summer, who wants to start canning. We found a starter set, which comes with a 21-quart pot, jars, and various utensils, at amazon.com. Along the same lines, Summer and I did a search for home flour mills yesterday, finally agreeing that we like the products by Kitchen Resources.
My goals are nerdier. You see, here’s my dilemma. I’m very organized in my virtual spaces. My folders are well-arranged, my work blogs are humming nicely, I even upload and file documents well at scribd. But when I’m forced to use paper, I’m a mess. And church stuff typically involves lots of paper.
When I served as ward clerk, I would routinely take my laptop to meetings and keep notes there. But a full-size laptop is a bit unwieldy for a three-hour block with a host of unpredictable events and meetings. But the PDA, while portable, is not practical for taking a lot of notes, and the small screen and memory keep it from being completely versatile. So I’m considering (and have Summer’s blessing to buy) a netbook.
My plan is to tote the 2.3 lb piece (about the same size as a hardback book, and certainly smaller than the binder and folder I’m currently using) around, break it out to take notes and organize myself using my new favorite tool, Freemind. I can also load up my scriptures and other books and have access to an entire library.
The are definite drawbacks. I’d still be using a screen-based technology in a largely print-based world. And the resistance from the more retrograde members of the ward might sink the plan. But if I can get things done more consistently and effectively, it’s at least a try.
And since the low-end machines I’m looking at (like this Dell mini) are in the $300 range, it’s not a huge gamble. If I find after two weeks that the experiment is a failure, the netbook goes to the kids as a second at-home computer, or Summer and I can use it and the desktop to work simultaneously. I could leave my laptop at work more often and lug less stuff around (I dream of leaving for work and coming home again with nothing more than my PDA, iPod, and flash drive).
So, does anyone out there have experience with netbooks, or suggestions regarding especially good values? I want small—a 9” screen is the biggest I’d consider, and I even like the 7” ones I’ve seen. The idea of a linux-based machine is interesting, but I’m so embedded in Windows that I fear compatibility issues when I move files back and forth. And, since I’m famously cheap, I want to spend less than $350. Actually, I’d like to spend less than $250, but that’s not very likely.
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4 comments:
I've been wanting a netbook too. I've heard great things about the MSI Wind (more comfortable keyboard being one of the biggest praises). I think it's essentially the same hardware as the Dell Mini.
Linux is (or can be) very compatible with Windows. Since it's struggling for market share, compatibility is key to getting newbies to adopt it. If using Open Office (a free alternative to MS Office) it can save documents as .doc or .xls for Windows and MS Office compatibility.
Another alternative is to just use Google Docs. Computing "in the cloud." This is especially enticing on a netbook due to the typically smaller storage space and the possibility of losing all data by either damaging the hardware (easy when lugging it around everywhere) or misplacing it. Since everything is stored "on the cloud" you can get to it from any computer (regardless of OS) and it's always backed up. I believe there's also an offline way to use this for when you need to edit docs but don't have internet connectivity.
Don't try to do anything intensive with the netbook like editing video. I wouldn't even bother with photo editing. Being a low power system, they're made only for web browsing (hence the "net" in "netbook") and word processing.
Do your research on the keyboards though. That's usually the make or break point for any of these netbooks and the first thing most reviewers mention.
Another consideration is a wireless network router at home. Keep it encrypted with WPA.
Which brings up another issue of secure internet browsing on unsecured wifi access points while out and about. But that's way more info than you asked for.
For what it's worth Dell is having a one day sale today on the Mini 9 with Ubuntu. Sale price at $259 with Ubuntu 8 on it. Decent machine too 8 gb solid state hard drive, 1 gb ram. I'm considering picking one up for work.
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DNDOXM6&s=dhs
Thanks guys. I actually like the Gateway model I just saw, but in researching I learned that it's identical to the Acer Aspire One (Acer owns Gateway I guess). Radio Shack has the Aspire for $299; it has 1 GB of RAM and 160 GB of hard drive. My biggest gripe with the Dell is the meager hard drive. The OS and software eat up half of the 8 GB hard drive, and while I'd save most files to a removable storage, I think I'll install extra software that would make the hard drive pretty cluttered. I feel I ought to wait for the tax refund before I buy, but I'm liking the Acer...
After you make your purchase please let us know how you like it. If there's enough left over from my tax returns I'd like to get one too.
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