Netbook Wishes and Mobility Dreams

I kept looking for a netbook that I could change into Mac netbook. It was difficult finding one that would just work. Well Dell made one, Dell Mini 9. I couldn't find it in the stores and I didn't want to purchase a computer from Dell over the internet. To get the one I wanted I would have had to customize it and that would have put it beyond the $500 mark and I certainly didn't want to spend that much for a netbook. So I thought the Acer Aspire One might be good, but NO as some of the hardware isn't compatible with the Mac installation. I even looked at others that were close, but for the most part the Dell Mini 9 was the one if you wanted a Mac netbook with no hassle. So I let the dream go because the Dell Mini 9 was just too much and then I didn't really need a Mac netbook.

However, what I did need was a way to have a windows machine that was portable. My work windows machine is a 17" which requires too much power to be powered in a car. Plus it is heavy. I like having my personal machine (Macbook Pro) with me when I travel and adding a 17" monster to that just isn't fun. If I had a smaller portable Windows machine I would be in heaven. I use VMWare Fusion to run Windows on my Macbook Pro, but sometimes you just need a physical windows machine.

Having given up on wanting a Mac netbook I moved to just needing a Windows netbook which made the choice of netbook very easy. The Eee PC 1000HE is the only one that gives you bluetooth, wireless N, 160GB harddrive, and the best battery life in the world. The most recent MSI Wind comes close, but Eee PC has better battery life. So I ordered the Eee PC from Amazon and got it in a couple of days. I immediately put Windows 7 Beta on it. It is slower than I'd hoped. Probably because of Windows 7 and maybe debug info being captured.

After using the Eee for a while I do like it, but I wouldn't want to work on it all day. If it was my only laptop. I would have to use an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse. It is convienent to have the small laptop, but you get fatigued by the small screen, small keyboard, and small trackpad. My biggest problem seems to be the small shift key on the right side. I end up hitting the up arrow that is next to it a lot. The tracking of the cursor with the track pad is not quite right though I suspect adjusting the track pas settings would help with that. I can do most of my work on my Macbook Pro, but the rest I do on the Eee.

I also put a skin on the Eee after seeing all of the designs available. I did notice the top getting lots of finger prints and would guess it would get lots of scratches too after a while. The skin protects the top and the even comes with a matching wrist rest skin.