Re: [PLUG] Need Advice: Netbook for Christmas?

["Gavin W. Burris" <bug@sas.upenn.edu>]

A netbook is all I use.  I carry it everywhere.  When I'm at a desk, I
plug in an LCD monitor.  I remote into rack-mounted equipment via
SSH/VNC otherwise.  The keyboard on a 10" netbook is very near full
keyboard size.

I had an ASUS Eee PC 1000, and now have a Dell Latitude 2100.  Both work
perfectly with a fresh install of Fedora 13.  If I were to buy a new
one, I would get another 2100, or maybe the ASUS Eee PC 1015PEM-PU17-BK
then swap in an SSD.

I think the only reason to go bigger for a laptop would be video editing
or gaming.  I have a Mac for video editing, and I gave up gaming quite a
while ago.

Cheers.

On 12/20/2010 08:16 PM, Casey Bralla wrote:
> I've been considering using some (well, all of it, actually) of my Christmas 
> loot to buy a netbook.  But I'm worried that I may find a netbook too slow and 
> confining.  What does the group think?  Are they "worth it"?
> 
> Here is what I'm looking for in a netbook:
> 
> 1.  Excellent portability
> 2.  Long battery life (should be able to fly to Europe (~ 6 hours) on a 
> battery charge
> 3.  Linux (natch)
> 
> 
> I don't have anything really "practical" I want to do with it.  It would 
> really be a toy, but hopefully a toy with some utility.  I'll want to do some 
> surfing, maybe some real work (in short spurts) and also use it as a fancy 
> iPod music player.  (playing flac files, of course)
> 
> I don't want a tablet because I want a true keyboard, even if it is smaller 
> than most notebooks.
> 
> I've got my eye on an Asus with a dual-core atom.  By the time I buy the extra 
> GByte of RAM and a bluetooth mouse (I hate track pads), it will be in the $350 
> range.
> 
> However, I could also bust my budget and get a budget laptop for $450.  This 
> would give more performance, but less portability and shorter battery life.
> 
> 
> My fear is that the netbook will be cool to play with for a while, but will 
> simply be too confining (too slow, too small a screen) to hold my interest.
> 
> Has anyone bought a netbook recently?  How do you feel about 6 months later?  
> Would you buy one again if you had it to do over again?

-- 
Gavin W. Burris
Senior Systems Programmer
Information Security and Unix Systems
School of Arts and Sciences
University of Pennsylvania
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