Notations of a Netbook

I finally decided to bite the bullet and procure a netbook. I have been wanting a netbook since before netbooks arrived. My upgrade from a 13" MacBook Pro to a 15" MacBook Pro intensified and further justified my desire for a low-power, small display, customizable, general-computing device. I found my superiorly-endowed Mac no longer as portable or practical in my private space and as a student in the classroom. It is a fantastic primary computer. But I wanted something less large and power-hungry for true portability.

I waited for the new Intel chips. They came with very moderate gains. I hoped the Intel/MS specs-fixing I wrote about would stop. It has not. I waited for Apple's iPad to be announced. It is actually cheaper than I thought it would be, but not cheaper than a netbook, and nowhere near as customizable or practical for writing, lacking a physical keyboard or stylus. I've been watching since the beginning, and waiting patiently for over a year to grab one. There was no more waiting to be done.

Asus was the first to capitalize on and innovate in the netbook market, practically creating it from the whole OLPC and Intel Classmate affair, and so far I've liked what I've seen of Asus' netbook products. I also have a rather techy friend who's had an Asus netbook for over a year and is rather recommended me one. So I went with Asus. I decided upon a black Asus 1001P-MU17, one of their new "Pine Trail" models.
Specs are as follows:

• Intel Atom N450 (1.66 GHz)
• 1GB RAM (2GB Max)
• 160GB HDD
• 10.1-Inch Matte LCD, 1024x600 pixels
• 6 Cell Battery "for up to 11 hours of battery life"
• Windows 7 Starter

Asus offers another model, the 1001P-PU17 for a little over $30 more (if you know where to look) with Bluetooth and a larger hard drive, and the 1005PE model with all that, a different spaced-out (MacBook like) keyboard and an even higher-capacity battery. However, a 160 gigabyte hard drive is more than enough for my netbook needs, Bluetooth is not really a priority, 802.11n is nice, but not a must-have either (not to mention it consumes more power than 802.11b/g) and while I might have easily sprung for an 1005PE for the additional battery life, what definitively turned me away was the completely unreasonably glossy finish and glossy display.

My MacBook Pro has a glossy screen, and it isn't always ideal in some lighting situations. When a dark scene comes up in an image or video, I often wind up looking at a reflection of myself looking back, and sometimes it takes me a little bit to refocus my eyes, making me wonder if it's the best thing for my eyesight, staring as long as I do at computer screens already. So going with a matte display was never a question for me. At least I had an (admittedly cheaper) option.

And the glossy finish is something I've never understood. It seems more appropriate for a piece of art that is rarely moved and touched only to be cleaned, than for a practical piece of portable technology which is constantly being touched, handled and moved form place to place. For stuff like that, I prefer matte and brushed metal finishes over glossy hands-down. Not only does the 1001P have a non-glossy finish, it is lightly textured in a rather aesthetically pleasing way.

I am aware of course, of even greater Atom CPUs Intel has in store for netbooks, and the Flash/HD video accelerators already making their way onto some netbooks. But so far these options seem to compromise far too much on a hardware platform where less is more, and these were never my primary objectives anyway.

And Windoze 7... Don't even get me started! Suffice to say, I don't do windows, and a fresh install of Linux was my first chore for the netbook.

Coming up: Pics of my new netbook and some impressions on running Linux.

Daddy's Adventure

They call him Daddy. Always on the prowl, a loner, a survivor. There he was minding his own business when a violent rain began to fall all around. "My God!", he said. The drops were so huge and violent that they were threatening to drown him. It was death from above. That's what he got for traveling to this strange land, he thought. He scurried around- to the left, to the right, front, back. But every step he took seemed like a misstep-- He could not escape the violent downpour. He was in a canyon, one wall covered in grass as high as he could see, the others bare and white. Maybe his last day had come. His legs were vibrating in fear.

Just when all seemed lost, a huge mesa of land came down from the sky and floated above him. Was his fate to be crushed to death in lieu of drowning? But it was a giant who held the mesa in his hand. A naked giant. The wall of grass Daddy had seen was actually his hairy legs. The giant boulders above were... "Get on!" he said. Daddy didn't know what to think. This was bizarre. Larger than life. But a chance for one more day was enough to make his decision. He got on and the giant moved him to safety on this mesa, outside the falling of the huge, violent raindrops.

"And what happened next, Daddy?"

"Well, the giant spoke to me in his booming voice."

He said, "Now go... shoo! I need to take a shower!"

"That's quite an incredible story, Mr. Longlegs"