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New Netbook

January 28th, 2009 at 10:08 am

I've been a Mac user for over 20 years but I am now breaking into the world of the PC. I recently bought an Acer Aspire One netbook, primarily to access email and the Internet when I travel. With an 8.9-inch screen, it weighs just 2.2 pounds and is ultra portable... it fits right into my purse so I don't have to carry a computer bag. It's wireless, has a built-in webcam for Skyping, a 6-cell battery for about 5+ hours of use when not plugged in, a 160 MB hard drive, and 1MB RAM.

The netbook came with Windows XP Home and so far, it's got me on a learning curve. To me, it doesn't seem as user-friendly as the Mac, but it's getting easier every day. The right and left click is different from the Mac. The keyboard is very small so I have to focus or I end up making lots of typos. It's not a bad thing to be on a learning curve... gives my boomer brain some exercise.

For creating documents, I downloaded OpenOffice, a free productivity program that includes a word-processor, database, spreadsheet, and presentation program. It lets me save files in various formats including MS Office, so they can be read on my Mac. So now when I travel, I'll take along the netbook and leave my bigger MacBook Pro at home. The cost was ~$379, including tax and free shipping.

Posted in Travel | 8 Comments »

8 Responses to “New Netbook”

  1. ceejay74 Says:
    January 28th, 2009 at 10:25 am

    Wow, it sounds awesome. Thanks for the items next to it for perspective! Smile $379 is not bad; we like taking our laptop on trips, but it would be nice to have a smaller, lighter one for traveling.

  2. NJDebbie Says:
    January 28th, 2009 at 11:15 am

    Congrats on your new laptop. I can't live without mine. I have the Dell XPS M1330 red and I love, love it!

  3. Koppur Says:
    January 28th, 2009 at 11:51 am

    Great deal~! It's so cute! (Psst, so is the kitty)

  4. whitestripe Says:
    January 28th, 2009 at 11:55 am

    its so cute!
    i use mine for work, so it is much bigger, it has a 15.4" screen and cost over $2k, two years ago.
    once you have a laptop its really hard to go back to a desktop!

  5. Mr. GoTo Says:
    January 28th, 2009 at 12:53 pm

    Congrats. I have a netbook myself - a Lenovo S10e. Has a slighter larger screen (10"), built-in Bluetooth, and instant launch for accessing the web without booting the OS. I also use it as a desktop sometimes by connecting an external monitor and keyboard. I recently upgraded the RAM to 2GB. You might consider that - RAM is cheap. I envy your 6 cell battery!

  6. Analise Says:
    January 28th, 2009 at 12:54 pm

    whitestripe - Yes, I don't think I could ever go back to a desktop computer. I really love my "main" laptop which is MacBook Pro with a 15.4 inch screen. It was very expensive (~$2200) when I bought it in August and I want it to last a long time. So, the new netbook will work well for traveling when it is more likely a laptop could get lost, stolen, dropped, etc. Another reason for getting the netbook is that I've been wanting to learn how how to use a PC and now I'm becoming a "bi-platform" user. ;-)

  7. Analise Says:
    January 28th, 2009 at 01:05 pm

    Mr. GoTo - Your netbook sounds great! I didn't know it was possible to access the web w/o booting the OS. You definitely know more about PCs than I do... I wouldn't even know how to begin to upgrade the memory.

    One thing that has been a challenge is that my netbook does not have a CD/DVD drive, so programs have to either be downloaded or I'd have to use an external drive. I don't want to spend $$ on an external dive unless I have to. I'd love to figure out how to get some music on the netbook w/o buying a drive.

  8. frugaltexan75 Says:
    January 28th, 2009 at 07:27 pm

    I purchased an Asus EeePC a few months ago. It's similar to yours, except it runs on a Linux platform. I really love it, although the keyboard is still not the easiest thing to type on. I don't have a built in webcam in mine, and am waiting on a specialty webcam to go in stock (one you don't have to install software for.)

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