[lug] OT: netbook opinions?

[Lee Woodworth]

Nick Golder wrote:
> Has anyone had a chance to play with any of the recent netbook
> offerings?  Care to share an opinion on any of them?
> 

I haven't had direct experience, but I just had an extended
conversation with a friend that recently got one. He just
loves it in combination with his phone.

He has a 1.5hr commute on the metro link in LA. Uses a
Treo w/ verizon and an eepc (solid state storage, XP). Can
connect the netbook to the phone via bluetooth to get
internet connectivity. Checks mail, some web surfing.
A fair amount of podcast/webcast viewing (offline, preloaded
before going to work). Some videos (also preloaded).
Uses the phone (no ipod) for music.

Usually recharges the batteries once a week (6-cell battery),
thinks its about 6hrs of use w/ bluetooth enabled. Chose the
eepc over the dell because of battery life (6 vs 4 cell),
not much concerned with weight compared to battery life.

Likes the portability (8.9" screen not an issue), much easier
to carry around than even a small laptop. Especially likes
not having a hard disk to worry about - makes it possible to
use the phone's gps and the netbook as a car navigation system
(no more worry about road bumps taking out an active disk).

XP is on a 4G partition. Data & portable applications (designed
to be run from a thumb drive) are on a separate 8GB card.
Doesn't expect the machine to run heavyweight apps. Just OO, mail,
web, video playback.

HTH