from CNET
If you’ve been counting, I have had the opportunity to work with four netbooks in the past year or so. First was the Asus EEE 701. Its biggest selling point was its portability. I convinced close family members and friends to buy their own. Next came the Acer Aspire One. I fell in love with its keyboard. Mine has an 8GB SDHC card in its storage expansion slot. A dear friend got one for herself. I bought my spouse an Asus EEE 1000H for Christmas. I have borrowed it from her on several occasions. I call it a powerhouse. It can actually replace a full-blown laptop. Its 6-cell battery can last over 5 hours on power-save mode.
The HP Mini 1000 I now use as my primary netbook sports the crappiest webcam among the four. Its battery life is so-so. It has no VGA port so there’s no way you can connect it to a monitor or a projector unless you buy the HP dongle. Yet, despite these flaws, it’s my current favorite. Aside from its excellent keyboard, which I’ve written about earlier, the Mini is probably the coolest looking netbook you can find at its price range. It’s under an inch think, weighs just a tad over 2 pounds, and is actually, with its 10.2″ screen, smaller than the ACER, with its 8.9″ screen, in over-all dimensions.
All four devices work very well in a school setting. The 1000H, over 3 pounds, is still light enough to carry in a backpack or even large purse. These carry-everywhere computers only work if you carry them everywhere. Except for the Mini, the netbooks come with a sleeve or case. I usually carry both the Mini and the AA1 in my Sandugo backpack. All four connect with no problems with the Wi-fi services available at Mocha Blends, Burger King, Robinson’s Place, and my brother’s house. I can easily surf the web on the Mini and the 1000H via bluetooth using my Nokia phones. Globe’s Visibility USB Modem works great with the Aspire One.
These devices are great for word processing and other office apps, for surfing, for blogging, for skyping, for reading, for listening to audiobooks and music, for watching the occasional video, and for playing Solitaire and other relaxing games. They are great as second or third computers. They are not supposed to replace a desktop.
September 9, 2009 at 8:32 am |
Acer Aspire One Sapphire Blue
used to hate lugging my old laptop around, it was heavy and the battery never lasted long enough. If you buy this with the larger 6 hour battery option, it’s cheaper then adding it later. This neat little number fits in your purse and has a pretty powerful WiFi receiver, I take it grocery shopping to Safeway to look up recipe ingredients!!
The only drawback is the small screen. Your eyes get a bit tired with extended viewing. I highly recommend it though for people on the go and it’s great for travel.