netbooks

[geoffff]

My friend has a sportsmobile that he takes to Mexico regularly (http://octopup.org/sportsmobile/). He's running a Fujitsu lifebook.

Here are some details on the Fujitsu touchscreen computer I have mounted in my Sportsmobile:

http://octopup.org/sportsmobile/computer-gps.htm

My mount is something I put together with a swivel mount I found at a surplus store, and some custom-bent steel & cloth:



So far I haven't had any hard drive problems with the Fujitsu, or with my older Toshiba Libretto solutions.

[edit: actually, that's a lie. Now that I think about it, I did have a hard drive gradually fail a year ago, but I clone my drive using http://www.apricorn.com/products.php?cat_id=52 so getting back up to speed again was quick.]

-- Geoff

 

[sundaypunch]

The 1000HE is available from lots of sources. The best deal I see today is $330 plus $10 shipping from www.buydig.com
http://www.buydig.com/shop/product...._campaign=AS1000HABLK001X&sku=AS1000HABLK001X

That link appears to be for the cheaper 1000HA. The cheapest I can find the 1000HE is around $370.

I'm ready to pull the trigger on one if I can find a deal. :coffeedrink:

 

[Sportsman Matt]

I've been experimenting with my netbook and laptops for a couple months, maily for internet usage while away from home and the WiFi Cable setup I have at home.

I'm using for my daily usage an Acer Aspire One, 160GB SSHD, 1 GB Ram. I love it, although the drawback is the lack of battery time, as the factory battery gets about 2 hours out of a charge. Recharging takes 1 to 2 hours, so it's sort of a draw. I linked my laptop to my Nokia 6301 T Mobile Cell Phone, and as long as I have service, I have internet access. Drawback is it's slow like dial up, so no streaming video footage unless you can store it and watch it later. I have tried it with the HP laptop also, and get the same results. Biggest thing is with the laptops and netbooks, the vibrations aren't a real problem unless your shaking it so violently that the regular hard drive looses track of it's position. I myself prefer the Solid State Hard Drive in the Acer, it's quiet, uses less power, and resists motion bumps rather well, but I haven't had anything to cause a physical crash of the hard drive yet.

 

[flyingwil]

DIY Acer Aspire One UMPC

DIY Acer Aspire One UMPC

ToDo forum member stretracer18 loved his Acer Aspire One netbook, but wanted a touchscreen slate version instead; Acer not being forthcoming with such a UMPC, he created his own. Now we’ve seen touchscreen modifications of netbooks before, but this is a full case reworking: the top and bottom sections of the Aspire One have been screwed together minus the keyboard in-between, with the lid flipped round to give access to the display (with touchscreen panel) and webcam.

Right now the Aspire One is only moderately altered - internally, anyway - with a 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1.5GB of RAM and an 8GB SSD. Next step might be upgrading the internal storage to an 80 or 120GB hard-drive.

OS is Ubuntu, which supports touch input, and the modified display itself used a basic 8.9-inch touchscreen kit. I’m not sure how much the slate weighs now, but I imagine - without the keyboard and hinge sections - it’s actually less than the 2.2lbs of the original Aspire One.

Some other photo's on the forum, but it is all in Spanish.

 

[haven]

Sundaypunch is right -- the link I posted was to the less expensive older Asus EEE 1000HA. The cheapest non-eBay price I could find for the 1000HE is about $390, or $375 on eBay. I edited my post to correct this error.

Good deals on models with 9" display continue to appear. Yesterday, it was the Dell Mini 9 for $199 (Ubuntu Linux, 8 GB SSD, 512MB RAM), a few days earlier I saw a refurbished Asus Eee PC 900A (Xantros Linux, 1GB RAM, 4GB disc) for $180.

A good place to keep up with netbook sales is http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/ Search for "netbook"

Chip Haven

 

[haven]

"Which netbook would be the best for email, internet machine surfing, and possibly quick books, nothing else?"

The "best" depends on your perspective. For some people, best means cheapest. For others, best means most portable, best supported by the manufacturer, longest battery life, easiest keyboard to use, best support for high speed mobile data service, easiest screen to use outdoors, fastest to turn on, and so on.

This month, "mainstream" netbooks use a 10.2 inch display with 1024 X 600 resolution, somewhat larger keyboard and larger battery to go with the Intel Atom processor, 1 GB RAM, a 160 GB disc and Windows XP software. Here are a a few examples that sell for $350 to $400

Asus EEE PC 1000HE
Acer Aspire One AOD150
HP Mini 1000
Dell Mini 10
MSI Microstar Wind U120

There's an pretty complete database of netbooks here
http://products.liliputing.com/

QuickBooks is small business accounting software that works on PCs and Macs. Intuit, the manufacturer, recommends 1GB of RAM for PCs. So Quickbooks would run on any of the above netbooks.

Chip Haven

 

[stevenmd]

"Which netbook would be the best for email, internet machine surfing, and possibly quick books, nothing else?"

The "best" depends on your perspective. For some people, best means cheapest. For others, best means most portable, best supported by the manufacturer, longest battery life, easiest keyboard to use, best support for high speed mobile data service, easiest screen to use outdoors, fastest to turn on, and so on.

This month, "mainstream" netbooks use a 10.2 inch display with 1024 X 600 resolution, somewhat larger keyboard and larger battery to go with the Intel Atom processor, 1 GB RAM, a 160 GB disc and Windows XP software. Here are a a few examples that sell for $350 to $400

Asus EEE PC 1000HE
Acer Aspire One AOD150
HP Mini 1000
Dell Mini 10
MSI Microstar Wind U120

There's an pretty complete database of netbooks here
http://products.liliputing.com/

QuickBooks is small business accounting software that works on PCs and Macs. Intuit, the manufacturer, recommends 1GB of RAM for PCs. So Quickbooks would run on any of the above netbooks.

Chip Haven

Thanks Chip. "Best" to me means it can do what I want it to do in a smaller package than a laptop. I can compensate for battery life, my fingers can adjust to any keyboard size, etc. I just want to be able to surf the web, check email, and manage quick books on it.

 

[sundaypunch]

..... I just want to be able to surf the web, check email, and manage quick books on it.

Using quick books or any software where you are doing much typing / data entry, you will probably want to carefully check out the keyboards first.

I found that the 10" ASUS 1000HE had a much more usable keyboard than the 8.9" models I tried. I could deal with the smaller model if I was just using it for surfing the web, email, GPS, etc.

I would actually rather have the smaller 8.9" model but will probably end up buying a 10" for the keyboard.

 

[off-roader]

There are some people that have posted in this thread that they have had no problem with HDD's. Supposedly on washboard & offroad.

I have no experience with them but would like to hear more opinions as I am considering a netbook.

I wouldn't say you'd experience them immediately although that is possible but what happens over time is your hard drive's read/write heads will hit the hard drive platter each time you move the drive and the drive head assembly cannot compensate for that movement. What happens over time is you eventually corrupt critical sectors on your drive that it cannot function without. Usually this will happen at the most inopportune moment.:smiley_drive:

FWIW, ask any IT expert their thoughts on moving hard drives while operating the way they do off road and they will all say you're playing with a ticking time bomb. That drive will fail, sooner than later & more quickly the harsher the ride.

Now if you already have a laptop and don't want to buy another one, you can also buy a 2.5" SSD drive to replace your original hard drive.

 

[haven]

There are plenty of hard drives that have managed to stand up to significant punishment. The original iPods have hard drives, for example.

If you plan on running the computer as you drive, for GPS mapping, for example, then I'd look for a SSD. If you're not running the computer while the vehicle is in motion, then a conventional hard drive should work fine.

Chip Haven

 

[Outdoorsben]

There are plenty of hard drives that have managed to stand up to significant punishment. The original iPods have hard drives, for example.
Chip Haven

There are also plenty that have bit the dust because of this. There is a reason why toughbook's have stressed their hdd mounts and they are shockproof. Once SSD have hit a large capacity part i'll guarantee that toughbooks and other rugged vehicle/work site computers will have them. I'd rather have something in my vehicle that I KNOW won't fail because of shock rather then take a chance on it just to have more space.

 

[craig]

An SSD is going to be more reliable. There is no debate. It is also a fact that a conventional HDD will not immediately start failing or even get damaged the first time you drive it across a washboarded road. You will get years of service with a conventional HDD.

Look at all the laptops getting used by offroaders and expeditionists on this website alone. If there was a problem with conventional HDDs we'd be ringing the bell.

 

[Lost Canadian]

I think it's faulty logic to assume SDD's won't fail. They will and do, just like any other electronic component. I've had my fair share of flash memory cards go poop and they have no moving parts. Conversely my 160 gig HDD aspire one has been flawless, and it spends the majority of time in my truck, used for music and photo backup.

 

[chet]

are SSD's not just a chip? why not put more than one in a computer to make it bigger?

 

[off-roader]

I think it's faulty logic to assume SDD's won't fail. They will and do, just like any other electronic component. I've had my fair share of flash memory cards go poop and they have no moving parts. Conversely my 160 gig HDD aspire one has been flawless, and it spends the majority of time in my truck, used for music and photo backup.

Nobody's said they don't fail and it's wrong to say that. What is being said is that they will fail far less often than Hard Drives when used off road. I don't think anyone can really argue that. Well you could but people might look at you wierd.:sombrero::smiley_drive:

are SSD's not just a chip? why not put more than one in a computer to make it bigger?

Yes they are just an array of chips but you can't simply put more into a computer. It has to be physically designed to allow for additional memory slots. Also, SSD memory is unlike digital camera memory or even the RAM you put into your PC's/Laptops.

Digital camera memory has a far more limited number of write's before it will 'wear out'. Yes, your Memory Stick, SD, XD or Compact Flash memory cards will only allow so many saves to them. Once they exceed that number they will no longer function properly. If you were to use this memory as an SSD device (there are adapters being sold that would allow this) you would quickly find them failing especially if you use them to hold your OS's Virtual memory area (where your system makes thousands if not tens of thousands of writes in one session). Alternatively you can use them as a data repository where the system does not continue to write to the memory. I actually use an SD card for mapping (Topo & Street softwares) since either software rarely writes to the card unless I actually elect to save something to it.

SSD memory on the other hand is different and does not have that same limitation with the number of writes.

HTH