What’s a netbook, you ask? It’s the new mini notebook that is taking the computer industry by storm. What does this have to do with crochet? A lot, actually.
Like many of you, I spend a great deal of my day working at my computer. I also travel quite a bit, which makes computing on-the-go an absolute necessity. I already have a laptop, but I wanted something that was even smaller and easier to travel with—something that I could tuck into my purse or crochet bag for easy note-taking, pattern writing or editing. I was certain that it would make my life easier, but since I count computers among my hobbies, I thought they also looked like fun. I was right on both counts.
I did some research, discovered what I did (and did not) want in one of these little computers, then persuaded my husband to take me computer shopping. Within just a few minutes of entering the computer store, I found what I was looking for and bought it on the spot.
As with anything else you buy, there are pros and cons to the different brands, and it’s not my intent to recommend one over the other. But, the Asus EEE PC 1000H had everything I wanted and needed at a price that I found affordable at less than $400.00 (that is if you don’t count the extras I bought that I didn’t necessarily need). So while I’m sure that there are plenty of other great buys out there, this one was right for me.
Because the keyboard on a netbook is smaller than on a standard desktop or laptop, I was a little worried that I would find it hard to get used to but that wasn’t the case. After stumbling through a few lines of text, my fingers soon figured out the smaller key spacing, and it has been smooth typing ever since.
With the smaller amount of memory a netbook has, I was also concerned whether it would be powerful enough to handle my Microsoft Office 2007 Professional suite, but I needn’t have worried. I installed it shortly after bringing the computer home and haven’t noticed any system slowdown.
One word of caution, though. Some of the netbooks are distributed with Microsoft Windows XP, while others are distributed with Ubuntu, a Linux operating system. I have no experience with Ubuntu, but I’m told that it can make installing new programs difficult if you aren’t familiar with Linux.
As I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, I am totally thrilled with this little computer. It does everything that I need for it to do and is much lighter and easier to carry around. If purchasing one of these minis is an option for you, I definitely recommend them!
2 comments:
Thanks Brenda for this post, I have been thinking with fascination about these netbooks and I'm glad to hear that one is useful for you!
Hi, Ellen! I've owned my netbook for several months now, and it's been very useful. I highly recommend them.
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