There’s something intriguing about the ultra small notebooks that have been or will be released this year that makes me want to buy one. They’re not much bigger than a hardback novel and some of them are available in shiny new colors. Part of the novelty is that they don’t cost much more than an iPod Touch, have Wi-Fi built-in, and nearly full-sized keyboards with a choice of Linux or Windows XP operating systems.
I bought one of the first Asus Eee PCs last year for staff members to take to meetings and conferences. I fell in love with it, but not sure that anyone else made use of it.
They’re not meant to take the place of a desktop PC or to be used for gaming or multimedia devices, but if you need to send/read email, type notes, or find something quickly on the internet anywhere you have access to Wi-Fi, then this may be the device for you.
Mini-notebooks are not that much larger than a Kindle, so I’m wondering if they could also be used as e-book readers (although they’re not being advertised as such). I restricted these liliputian notebooks to 8.9” models, although some manufacturers may have larger versions available now or in the near future.
Acer Aspire One MiniNote – 8 GB hard drive, 8.9” screen, 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 Processor, 512 MB RAM, Linux Lite OS - $379 or Windows XP - $399; available in white, blue, pink or brown (3G data support is being promised for future versions)
Asus Eee PC – 16 GB hard drive, 8.9” screen, Intel Mobile CPU, 1 GB RAM, Linux OS - $399 or Windows XP - $449; available in Pearl White or Galaxy Black (Amazon.com)
Dell e Mini-notebook – 4 GB hard drive, 8.9” screen, 1.6 GHz Intel Atom CPU, 512 MB RAM, Linux - $299 or Windows XP – price unknown; other options (including webcam) add to cost; sacrificed function keys to provide larger keyboard; photos show red or dark grey case; not yet available (larger hard drives will increase cost)
HP mini-note – 4 GB Flash Drive, 8.9” screen, 1.0 GHz Processor, 512 MB RAM, Linux - $499 or Windows Vista - $599 (includes 120 GB drive, 1 GB RAM)
Lenovo IdeaPad S9 – 8 GB hard drive, 8.9” screen, Intel Atom N270 processor, 1 GB RAM, webcam, Linux or Windows XP - $418 approx. (not sure if same price for both OS); may not be available in the US until October.
There are a number of other ultra-portable notebooks that have been designed for children, but these specific models seem to be trying to appeal to adults wanting subcompact laptops. The appearance and projected price ($299) of the Dell make it a strong contender, but I'll have to wait until I read reviews by actual users. The Acer Aspire has a richer look to it than the Asus Eee PC. I remember that the Asus keyboard was very tiny and a bit clunky to use. Haven't heard if that's been improved.
Some warnings about these machines - they tend to run hot, best to place on a surface not your lap for any length of time; whatever version of Linux operating system they have available will probably work faster and more efficiently than Windows. If you must use Vista, I would recommend going with a regular sized laptop.
1 comment:
I don't know what everyone else thought of the EEE PC, but I didn't care for it just because the keyboard was SO small. If I got a mini-notebook, I think I'd lean towards the Dell model--but my full-sized laptop does the job, for the most part. I haven't done a conference yet, but I did take my full-sized laptop to OLC North this year and it was fine.
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