Netbooks. Something I Like About Them And What I Do Not Enjoy About Them

The partner has just left her job

The partner has just left her job. I am now lucky enough to be supporting her full time - and that is pleasant. Needless to say, when she left the job, she left behind all of her technical gear as well. Obviously, her cell phone requires replacing - I am still negotiating this purchase with her. Im trying to get her to just accept a 2nd hand iphone 3GS. (I would like the iphone 4), but it isnt going well up to this point in time. I will keep you posted.

Now, obviously there is her laptop. One of her complaints about her work laptop was its weight and size. Having to drag it across the city from meeting to meeting resulted in a very miserable evening for me, paying attention to her moaning regarding the soreness in her back and shoulders. On the worst days, it would mean a wasted half hour for me massaging the affected regions. So, when she requested a substitute, and knowing that she still travels a good deal, I suggested a Netbook. An Acer Aspire One. A very attractive piece of kit in white. Lets go over the specs:

Acer Aspire One 531 Perfect for mobile computing

10.1" Widescreen (1024x600)

Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz CPU

160GB Hard Drive

Microsoft Windows 7 Starter

1GB DDR2 Memory

Built in Wi-Fi

Integrated Acer Crystal Eye VGA Webcam

3 x USB 2.0, RJ45 10/100, Mic Input, Headphone Output

Built in Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g

Built in SD Card Reader

VGA Output

battery gives 7 hours mains free operation

12 Month Warranty

So, whats good about it?

The power source lasts for quite a long time:

Thats exceptional. The battery life goes for days, which makes this a truly mobile device. So, on a practical sense, you are able to place it in your handbag (or the wife can) and not worry about bringing the power adaptor with you. A large plus point.

The physical size:

Its small, portable and you can carry it everywhere. My wife puts it in her handbag and takes it out with her all the time. And she says she is very pleased with its weight being so light. So I do not have any further moaning.

Price:

When I purchased it around 5 months ago, it was somewhere around 300. Which I believed was fairly reasonable. I think now you can get the same spec. machine for around 250.

What's bad about it?

It is underpowered:

To be honest, its a bit of a struggle running Windows 7 in the netbook. Its not only that it isnt fast. It feels underpowered. You cannot use a netbook in the same way as you use a laptop or PC. The principle thing you will probably notice is you will probably have to get much more disciplined. Youre not going to get away with opening multiple applications with several different browser tabs. Its a lot more linear. You are likely to need to perform tasks one at a time.

Now, while the missus doesnt really find this much of an issue, there is certainly one thing that really annoys her. It just doesnt appear to have enough resources to run Skype effectively. The camera in the netbook is fairly average anyway, but even when you have closed all of the other applications, it sometimes won't have enough resources to run Skype. And then you find yourself tinkering with the task manager to close down system processes to get it to run. This is very frustrating, for the reason that, invariably I cannot be bothered. I could be watching Coach Trip or something equally riveting. I have stop watching my program to boot up my laptop and twiddle with it to allow her onto Skype so she can talk to her parents and her sister, who lives in Australia. A right nuisance.

The screen:

For me, it is just a little too small. On facebook for instance, you will want to scroll up and down to discover the next and previous image tabs. Slightly irritating. It is the vertical size of the screen thats mainly annoying. Titles and headings seem to be just under the visible screen this means you're constantly using the trackpad or keypad to read them. This actually makes surfing the internet harder than on a smart phone. The iphone for instance has more vertical space which means you scroll up and down less frequently.

The keyboard

As a final point, the keyboard. For myself, its a little too small. The missus has smaller fingers than I do. And she also said that it took a few weeks to get used to it, but now she has no problem. Perhaps, I could get familiar with it after a couple of weeks too. But my fingers are like paddles and I kept finding that I hit 2 keys as opposed to one.

The lack of a DVD drive:

'It goes without saying, it hasnt got a DVD drive - it is a netbook!' I explained to my other half. But the wife says that she misses it because she likes to watch a DVD when shes on the train, or at least have the option to watch a DVD. For myself this isnt a serious drawback. It is easy to get the film in a compressed format and put it onto a flash disk. But, she isnt as keen on technology as I am. You just can't please some people.

And therefore the conclusion:

Well, for what it is, you cannot really have a lot of complaints. It is small and light, and the battery lasts a good time. My other half seems pleased with it overall and that is who I bought it for after all. And if it was perfect, she would not have anything to complain about, so we probably wouldn't talk at all.... Myself, I would not purchase a netbook again. I would probably buy a medium sized laptop. Something that has a minimum of a 12" screen and appropriate CPU. It is my opinion the netbook is just too slow and doesnt multi task very favorably. The screen and keyboard are simply a little too small. For surfing the internet whilst on the go, It is my opinion the iphone is perfectly adequate. Although I wouldnt do serious surfing using the iphone, maybe just to look up things on IMDB for instance, I almost certainly would not wish to do any real surfing on the netbook either.

So what is the answer:

Employ a huge man to carry around a full size laptop for you or, failing that, surely, its got to be a significant sized laptop with a minimum 12 inch screen as well as a smartphone. Covers all bases.

by: Bryon Penird

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