Out with the Old, In with the Net (book)
OK, lame post title...
Anyway, it's finally come time to retire my old laptop. Since February of 2007, I've been using an Everex SA2052T. I bought it mainly for two purposes - to use on my train commute to and from downtown Chicago and for use as a GM tool. I wanted something fairly small and light since I'd be carrying it around each day; the Everex was small but not so light. But the price was right and the screen was incredible.
Turns out the SA2052T was a little powerhouse. Not a top of a line computer - 1 GB RAM (shared with the video processor), 80 GB hard drive, Core Duo processor (not "2", so it was dual cores but only 32-bit). However, it worked great - even ran Vista with Aero without noticeable sluggishness. I used the heck out of that thing. I'd still be using it but for the batteries. It came with a 6-cell and a 3-cell, but after long and repeated use, the 6-cell has degraded too much to be of value (it would often run out on me on the way into the city, which is trip of only about 50 minutes). The 3-cell worked a bit but about the same. I'd have bought a new battery but at around $100, I figured that would be a good chunk of a new netbook (something which had fascinated me for awhile but which I couldn't justify buying - not while the SA2052T was working fine). I did end up buying a new PSU last year for half the cost of a battery, which meant charging the laptop up at work in between trips.
The daily recharge helped but I still found the battery imposing itself on my productivity. Once I passed the half-hour mark, I was constantly distracted by the thought that I'd only have a few minutes of battery life left. Worse, the SA2052T would report erroneous conditions, like a fully charged battery being at only 3% power after only 5 minutes of use. All in all, as a portable PC, the SA2052T was no longer viable for me.
I did quite a bit of research on netbooks for a replacement. I was gunning for Gigabyte's new touchscreen T1028, but I was worried about the size of its keyboard as well as the "newness" of the touchscreen technology; I no longer like being a guinea pig for "bleeding edge" technology. Plus, the cost difference of the T1028 compared to regular netbooks was too high for me to justify to myself to get one. I do plan on revisiting touchscreen netbooks after they're a couple of generations along; probably mid-to-late 2010.
Best Buy, ironically, is what drove me to the one I bought - the HP Mini 1035NR. Not that I bought it there, mind you (when I compare BB's prices to places like Newegg or Amazon, I'm amazed at how they can charge so much more and stay in business). But I did have the opportunity to try out some of the keyboards on their display models, including an HP Mini, an MSI Wind, and an Asus EEE PC. By far, the HP had the best keyboard, which was in my top three criteria, if not the top one. I do a lot of typing on the train - blogging, the Mythosa wiki, my campaign, etc. So a keyboard that I could easily adapt to was important. The other netbooks are nice but for serious typing I don't think I could have gotten used to their keyboards.
So far, the Mini is pretty sweet. It's not perfect, of course, but it's got a nice clear screen (1024x600), the aforementioned keyboard, and it runs pretty well. I'm currently using Ubuntu 8.10, though I'm still getting used to it on this particular computer (messing with the brightness through the GUI can be troublesome, and I don't have it connecting wirelessly to my home router yet, but otherwise things are working well). I do need to upgrade to 2 GB of RAM as well, something I'm going to do next week.
The Mini is definitely smaller than the SA2052T, which is a plus:
As far as weight goes, they don't seem that much different, which is a little disappointment, but not a huge one. Some people have complained about the fact it only has 2 USB ports and a 60 GB HD, since comparable models usually have 3 USB ports and a 120 GB or 160 GB HD. To me, neither is a concern - 2 USB ports are fine for me, especially on the train where I use 1 at best (for a USB flash drive), and 60 GB is enough space for the stuff I want to store. This is a netbook, not a desktop powerhouse. The other complaint about the hard drive is that it's a bit slow - 4200 RPM versus 5400 RPM. I consider that to be a valid criticism, but it's something I can live with.
Well, that's enough rambling. Almost to my train station and the battery is still above 25% (and that's having used it this morning as well with no recharge in between). So far, so good!
Size comparison of Mini compared to the Monster Manual:
Anyway, it's finally come time to retire my old laptop. Since February of 2007, I've been using an Everex SA2052T. I bought it mainly for two purposes - to use on my train commute to and from downtown Chicago and for use as a GM tool. I wanted something fairly small and light since I'd be carrying it around each day; the Everex was small but not so light. But the price was right and the screen was incredible.
Turns out the SA2052T was a little powerhouse. Not a top of a line computer - 1 GB RAM (shared with the video processor), 80 GB hard drive, Core Duo processor (not "2", so it was dual cores but only 32-bit). However, it worked great - even ran Vista with Aero without noticeable sluggishness. I used the heck out of that thing. I'd still be using it but for the batteries. It came with a 6-cell and a 3-cell, but after long and repeated use, the 6-cell has degraded too much to be of value (it would often run out on me on the way into the city, which is trip of only about 50 minutes). The 3-cell worked a bit but about the same. I'd have bought a new battery but at around $100, I figured that would be a good chunk of a new netbook (something which had fascinated me for awhile but which I couldn't justify buying - not while the SA2052T was working fine). I did end up buying a new PSU last year for half the cost of a battery, which meant charging the laptop up at work in between trips.
The daily recharge helped but I still found the battery imposing itself on my productivity. Once I passed the half-hour mark, I was constantly distracted by the thought that I'd only have a few minutes of battery life left. Worse, the SA2052T would report erroneous conditions, like a fully charged battery being at only 3% power after only 5 minutes of use. All in all, as a portable PC, the SA2052T was no longer viable for me.
I did quite a bit of research on netbooks for a replacement. I was gunning for Gigabyte's new touchscreen T1028, but I was worried about the size of its keyboard as well as the "newness" of the touchscreen technology; I no longer like being a guinea pig for "bleeding edge" technology. Plus, the cost difference of the T1028 compared to regular netbooks was too high for me to justify to myself to get one. I do plan on revisiting touchscreen netbooks after they're a couple of generations along; probably mid-to-late 2010.
Best Buy, ironically, is what drove me to the one I bought - the HP Mini 1035NR. Not that I bought it there, mind you (when I compare BB's prices to places like Newegg or Amazon, I'm amazed at how they can charge so much more and stay in business). But I did have the opportunity to try out some of the keyboards on their display models, including an HP Mini, an MSI Wind, and an Asus EEE PC. By far, the HP had the best keyboard, which was in my top three criteria, if not the top one. I do a lot of typing on the train - blogging, the Mythosa wiki, my campaign, etc. So a keyboard that I could easily adapt to was important. The other netbooks are nice but for serious typing I don't think I could have gotten used to their keyboards.
So far, the Mini is pretty sweet. It's not perfect, of course, but it's got a nice clear screen (1024x600), the aforementioned keyboard, and it runs pretty well. I'm currently using Ubuntu 8.10, though I'm still getting used to it on this particular computer (messing with the brightness through the GUI can be troublesome, and I don't have it connecting wirelessly to my home router yet, but otherwise things are working well). I do need to upgrade to 2 GB of RAM as well, something I'm going to do next week.
The Mini is definitely smaller than the SA2052T, which is a plus:
As far as weight goes, they don't seem that much different, which is a little disappointment, but not a huge one. Some people have complained about the fact it only has 2 USB ports and a 60 GB HD, since comparable models usually have 3 USB ports and a 120 GB or 160 GB HD. To me, neither is a concern - 2 USB ports are fine for me, especially on the train where I use 1 at best (for a USB flash drive), and 60 GB is enough space for the stuff I want to store. This is a netbook, not a desktop powerhouse. The other complaint about the hard drive is that it's a bit slow - 4200 RPM versus 5400 RPM. I consider that to be a valid criticism, but it's something I can live with.
Well, that's enough rambling. Almost to my train station and the battery is still above 25% (and that's having used it this morning as well with no recharge in between). So far, so good!
Size comparison of Mini compared to the Monster Manual:
posted by MythosaAkira | 9:30 PM
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