Netbooks..

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Mace

Mace

rock scientist..
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They seem like the ultimate scaled down laptop..

I have a full sized laptop. I am looking for something to run a GPS unit on and basicaly have internet (almost) where ever I go. (plus load up a s***load of music on there)

The Dell Mini 10 is looking good right now, But I know nothing about the processors that they come with. Plus, is there a better processor??

Comments?

(apples suck, so no...)
 
I have one. In fact, I'm surfing Mud on it right now. All the netbooks use the Intel Atom processor, which is a slow but power-efficient processor. It's fine for web surfing and running basic stuff like email, word processor, and spreadsheet. I would not try to run any processor or memory intensive applications.

I use it for everything now, including all the business applications. It is slow, but I really like the small size and battery time. I do plug mine into a external monitor, keyboard, and mouse at the office, and it is fine for what I use it for. The best part - it's only $300 and I can afford to just buy another one when I need to upgrade my computer.
 
I bought a Toshiba NB205 from Costco last month for movies and music on the road and internet in hotels. I love it. Crazy long battery life, near full size keyboard, 10" screen, plus Costco behind it.
 
I got the Lenovo S10, it works great. I use the webcam on it to call my Family down in Mex and it works great. They are soon coming out with a dual core atom 330 so just wait little and get the dual core atom. I work for Intel Co, atom is great stuff.
 
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No matter, you're going to LOVE the (mobile?) laptop GPS thing if it's new to you Mace.


:beer::beer:



TY
 
I've got the Verizon HP1151NR in my truck and I love it. It's no power house but it runs my GPS, Google Earth, iTunes and Firefox just fine.

IMG00082-20090825-2259.jpg
 
For rig navigation, I looked at netbooks and went with a Fujitsu tablet with a daylight viewable screen, very happy with it. The screen is readable in direct sunlight and don't miss the keyboard at all for rig navigation duty. It's much smaller, easier to mount, not in the way as much as a laptop with the same size screen.

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I made the mount out of a laptop stand, chopped it up, bent up some L brackets and bolted it right to the dash bezel. Here is a pic without the netbook on it.

IMG00088-20090825-2300.jpg


IMG00091-20090825-2301.jpg
 
Wow, slick mount-

I'm running an ASUS EEEPC 1000HE- Upgraded to a 125GB Solid State Drive. Instant loading of almost everything... Graphics are okay, but it does everything.... I'm half way through a year in Egypt, and it's still running strong... Google Earth, all the Topo software I can find, it's all great... Uses the 802.11 N networking card... Even better if you tie it into an external antenna...
 
Netbooks are a rapidly evolving category of small, light and inexpensive laptop computers suited for general computing and accessing web-based applications; they are often marketed as "companion devices," that is, to augment a user's other computer access.
 
I'd like at the Asus models. Very nice and cheap.
 
Just used my Asus eee 1000HE to travel through DV running Delorme Topo. I can compare it to a normal full size Compaq laptop that I have run in the same application previously.

It is much smaller, a little lighter, and the screen while smaller is "crisper" if that makes sense. If you turn the power saving features off, the screen is plenty bright in the sun. I learned the hard way that you need to tell your hard drive to stop after 3 minutes, which makes it less likely to get damaged on washboard. I want a solid state drive to see if it makes a difference.

It is helpful to get a "car adapter" for $10 off of ebay. If you buy the car adapters at Fry's they are like $60. Go to the ebay site, type in "car adapter" and your computer model number, find the retailer with a sub $10 buy it now and 10000 transactions, and that's the one you want.

As far as performance goes, it is a little slower, especially if you try and run the 3-D Topo features. the recalcs when off course also take about 2 seconds longer to update, just enough to notice, but not enough to be a problem.

The biggest advantage of the netbooks is that many can be had with a battery that lasts 9 hours. I tested mine, it actually last more like 8, but compared to the 90 minutes of a normal laptop, it totally rocks.

I have seen ToolsRUs' tablet in person. It totally rocks and If I had unlimited $$ I would set up a dedicated mount as he has done.

Geeky story from Death Valley: 3 days into the trip, we hit Panamint Springs for gas and an icecream. It is literally in the middle of no where. The computer which was running the mapping software, goes "doink" Wireless Network Available. It turns out the gas station had an unsecured satellite based connection. I logged on, checked my email, scanned IH8MUD, and then drove back into the desert.
 
SSD

Cruiserdrew said:
Just used my Asus eee 1000HE to travel through DV running Delorme Topo. I can compare it to a normal full size Compaq laptop that I have run in the same application previously.

It is much smaller, a little lighter, and the screen while smaller is "crisper" if that makes sense. If you turn the power saving features off, the screen is plenty bright in the sun. I learned the hard way that you need to tell your hard drive to stop after 3 minutes, which makes it less likely to get damaged on washboard. I want a solid state drive to see if it makes a difference.

The biggest advantage of the netbooks is that many can be had with a battery that lasts 9 hours. I tested mine, it actually last more like 8, but compared to the 90 minutes of a normal laptop, it totally rocks.

I have seen ToolsRUs' tablet in person. It totally rocks and If I had unlimited $$ I would set up a dedicated mount as he has done.

Geeky story from Death Valley: 3 days into the trip, we hit Panamint Springs for gas and an icecream. It is literally in the middle of no where. The computer which was running the mapping software, goes "doink" Wireless Network Available. It turns out the gas station had an unsecured satellite based connection. I logged on, checked my email, scanned IH8MUD, and then drove back into the desert.
Click to expand...

To back up the Solid State Drive comment:
I just (2 minutes ago) dropped my laptop accidentally on the corner of the laptop. Completely accidental. If I'd been running a Hard Disk Drive, I would have scratched the disk, and perminently screwed myself over.... (and the laptop is fine, thank heaven).

(whenever I hit a hotspot, I automatically connect to MUD too...)
What you need now is a wifi detector ($10 @ radioshack) to tell you where there's a hotspot without making you turn the netbook on or get your cell (Ipod Touch, iPhone, Blackberry, Palmpilot...) I have mine attached to some velcro and velcro'd to the inside of the console- works like a charm.
 
Cruiserdrew said:
...
I have seen ToolsRUs' tablet in person. It totally rocks and If I had unlimited $$ I would set up a dedicated mount as he has done.
...
Click to expand...

For the mount, I bought a longer bolt for the seat mount, the rest was scrap metal, a found/donated ball swivel and fab time. The tablet was an ebay purchase, have less than $300 in the whole deal, tablet, GPS puck, street & topo software, 12v PS and mount. :hillbilly:
 
Cruiserdrew said:
... I learned the hard way that you need to tell your hard drive to stop after 3 minutes, which makes it less likely to get damaged on washboard. I want a solid state drive to see if it makes a difference.
Click to expand...

My hard drive has never had an issue, but IIRC the Fujitsu has a vibration reducing cradle mount for it? Other locals have run laptops longer than I have and haven't had a hard drive event.

Cruiserdrew said:
... The biggest advantage of the netbooks is that many can be had with a battery that lasts 9 hours. I tested mine, it actually last more like 8, but compared to the 90 minutes of a normal laptop, it totally rocks.
Click to expand...

Battery life has never been a priority for me. When in the rig it runs off of the accessory wiring, so when the key is on it's powered. My power settings are related to key off, battery power. I immediately have the screen dim, the turn the screen off after 5 min, after 15 min the tablet goes into hibernate. When the key is turned on it comes right back on to where it was.

The battery is the used, the one that came with the used tablet, don't know how old it is. Have never tested the life, but it's never been an issue for my use. Stop at a restaurant for dinner, hanging in scumrock or the banquet at CM, jump in, turn the key and it's on. Don't know how long it goes, but a couple of hours hasn't been a problem.
 
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