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About to head overseas, and I'm getting sick of lugging my macbook around. I am scheduled for several dozen flights over a three week period, and I'm thinking of a lightweight laptop/pda/phone addition and leaving my lappy at home.

Any suggestions? Must have wifi, SD card compatible with a decent screen, but doesn't have to be a phone.

Thanks in advance,

Ozi.

Asus eee are tiny and have SD capabilities, also wifi. On the cheaper side too.

How much are you prepared to pay for the laptop and what are you really going to be using it for?? What programs will you be wanting to run...??

What sort of life do you want out of the laptop as well...?? (as in years, not battery life)

Shorty

Craig mentioned the Asus eee.

I have one and I love it, but you need to work within the limitations that the machine provides.

It's great for surfing the web and the occasional document or spreadsheet etc. IM is fine too. I have a 3 wireless connection, and it sits beside the Macbook in the studio when I'm on the air, and I use it for researching missing information about the tracks I'm playing, IM, email etc.

At home, it seamlessly and wirelessly connects to the LAN, and one extra (and very valuable) use for this is that, because of its size and portability, it's ideal for setting up new routers and stuff when you need a direct connection to the hardware in question.

No worries at all.

Mine is set up with a 4GB SD card that's bootable into Windoze XP Home as well, for those times when I feel like I want to be reminded about just how great Windoze is.

The Xandros distro that's the default install is one of the best Linux distros that I've seen, and for people who don't want to know about OSes and such, it's great. It comes with most everything that you need, and it just works.

Cons: Battery life is less than two hours. It probably will not be coming to N'Awlins with me.

The screen is smaller than I'd like. That's expected, and not an issue. it just is.


Value for money is pretty bloody good, and it's a great machine to carry around and use on a bus or in the train, or wherever. I often use it at meetings to stay online and awake instead of playing Buzzword Bingo.

Whether I'd grab one to take to the US? As I mentioned, it's unlikely to even be packed in my checked luggage, and perhaps it might be a good idea to see what's available in the bricks'n'mortars for when you land in the USofA? That might save you a few hundred at the purchase price, especially given the current value of the Pacific Peso.

I bought an eeepc a couple of weeks ago for this purpose.

Haven't used it in anger yet, but it is promising. It isn't as fast as a desktop, but on the other hand, it weighs nothing and costs less than $500 (more if you want XP or need SD cards or extra memory etc). XP is an option (depends if you _need_ windows apps), the linux that comes on the eee is quite functional and tweakable. Has Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice. The Gimp is available, as is Ufraw (raw image conversion) if you want to go down that path. Screen is small, but sharp. Works quite well with USB gadgets including my Seagate Freeagent external drive.

A larger version and some competitors in the works.

There is a eeepc/linux photographer page on the eeepc users wiki here.

Lots of info and the usual rabble on the eeeuser forums here.

Michael

I have a Dell XPS M1210 for exactly this reason. It fits perfectly on an airplane meal tray (until the idiot in front of me decides to lean his/her chair back), the battery lasts 4.5 hours (of real use.) It lasts the entire trip from Sydney to Perth and prior to the flight in the Qantas Club while I check DSLR Users over a bad cup of coffee

The battery has not exploded yet.

Will nip down to Hardly Normal's and check out the EEEEEpeeeceee, it sounds good. Linux would suit me fine, I have no need for Windoze, but definitely need wifi + Skype capability (or something similar) and SD card input, plus ability to email with basic text reports. I think I can pick up an Eeepc stateside for $299 USD which makes for a bargain. I have handled one of these before, they seem quite sturdy for such a small package.

Has anyone tried out a Nokia E90 communicator? Supposed to be pretty good, but pricey. What about N800/N810 with wifi and browser etc? These are smaller again but not sure how functional.

Thanks all for the input.

Ozi.

Thanks again to all for their (always relevant) advice. I priced a 4GB model this afternoon, stopped lastly at HN's, got the cheapest price plus 3 years warranty and am now the proud owner of an Eee Pc. Now, what is linux...? How do I drive it?

Just turn it on and get into it.

I wouldn't worry about whether it's linux or whatever, you can get involved with that if there is something you want to do that isn't there by default. It's enough to know that linux is the operating system that runs it, and it's pretty reliable and 'Open Source' if you know what that means.

Quick start guide is good for starters, although everything I've done so far 'just works'

Happy to help with any issues, as I'm sure others here are.

Michael

Thanks Michael, will keep your offer in mind. I did rip a TV episode (using handbrake) into an SD card, put it into the SD drive in the Eee PC display model and the video worked well - the volume was a bit low but you would normally use earphones anyway. I also tested the wifi/browser and it was quite fast, so I think I will be happy with the purchase.

Ozi.

Here's some very basic initial observations of the Asus Eee PC. This little gem exceeds my expectations:

1. Firstly (and most importantly) it's not Windoze, that says almost everything in my point of view.
2. Wifi/browsing is lightning fast, faster than even my late model Macbook
3. Touchpad is quirky but you get used to double tapping and it's fine
4. Battery life is commendable
5. Size and weight is ideal
6. Startup/shutdown time approx 20 secs
6. Did I mention it's not Windows?

I picked up 2 4gb SD cards yesterday ($26@) while driving through Sydney, that is plenty of extra storage for this machine.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars (after three days of usage.)

Ozi.

Ozi,

Glad to hear that you're getting along with it...

Interesting to note that the eeepc draws a small amount of power even when shutdown.

I had a usb stick plugged in the other day, and the led was lit with the unit off, couldn't work it out

Most people seem to get 2-3 hours out of the battery, but there are different model batteries depending on the version of the eeepc you buy. I _think_ all Aussie eepc's come with a 5200mah unit, which is what most reviews talk about for battery life. There is also an extended battery 10400mah for those wanting extended life, saw one on ebay for about $100 plus $30 freight out of HK recently.

Michael

2-3 hrs is fine for me. In all reality I wouldn't use it more than that on a long haul flight, I seem to fall asleep after an hour or two anyway. Another benefit is this - when the flight attendant/passenger seated next to you etc spills drink/curry/coffee etc on your laptop inflight, at least they haven't wrecked an expensive piece of gear!

Not to mention that most long haul flights seem to have power available for laptops anyway.

Have you tried loading photos on it yet? I've got the Gimp and Ufraw (and 'Gimp-Ufraw' so that Gimp can open a raw file if it needs to) Wouldn't suggest it for day to day use, but it does allow access to the images when away from the desktop.

Michael