Netbook

A few weeks ago, when the iPad was released, it got me thinking about my technology needs. After reformatting my hard drive and reinstalling windows, my HP laptop is serviceable once again. I have the internet, I've got most of my programs back, etc. It's really a fine laptop. Not great, but fine. The battery life is nearly nonexistent, though, and I'm not eager to spend 100$ on a replacement when it's too heavy to really be portable anyway. I've long since given up taking it anywhere except to Florida on breaks and sometimes a presentation if there's no other option.

In Europe I want to be lighter, more portable. I had thought about buying a new laptop, especially when my HP was in crisis mode. It just didn't make sense, though - not when I'm probably going to have to buy a fairly expensive mac when I enter advanced Journalism classes in another year and a half. I don't want a $2,000 super-powerful mac to carry around Europe - I want something sleek, portable, and serviceable - and when the iPad came out, I thought, briefly, that it might be the right product.

After a little investigation, I decided it was not. I would have to buy a keyboard extension, I didn't want to pay for a monthly plan, the iPad didn't have flash or USB drives... the list got longer and longer. In the course of my research, however, I found out more about netbooks. What I had been wanting all along, I discovered, was one of those - a mini-laptop, sacrificing the disc drive, some processing power, and, surprisingly enough, very little hard drive space for a tiny, lightweight body, a long lasting battery, and basic functions on the go.

Then I thought - why not buy it now and use it for a few months before Europe too? After a week of comparing models on Amazon, even making a thread in their discussion community where a lot of nice people helped me decide, I picked the model I wanted: The Toshiba Mini NB305.

http://laptops.toshiba.com/laptops/mini-notebook/NB300/NB305-N410BL

Here it is! Isn't it beautiful? :) I got it in the Royal Blue colour, which is a very dark shade of blue. (It looks a little lighter in the pictures but I don't really care.) The design is very nice but I barely looked at that when trying to decide. The only thing I did look at was trying to get everything in matte instead of glossy, since I want to be able to work outdoors, in the sun, etc. The Toshiba has a matte case and a gloss screen, but it's not too glossy - less than my HP's screen for sure.

My main criteria were the same criteria that make netbooks special -I didn't want one that was trying to be a full laptop and reflecting that in the price tag or loss of other features. I wanted something lightweight, something that could take a bit of travel, and, perhaps most importantly, a long battery life. My Toshiba is advertised at 11 hours of battery life, but it seems like with the wifi on, casually browsing and chatting and occasionally watching a video, I'm getting 8 - which is totally okay with me.

I went to the store to try it out and then purchase it. Originally I was a bit concerned about the keyboard. It's chiclet-style, and that's the popular one right now, but I was worried I might have to get used to it since it's rather different than the one on my HP. I'm one day in and I've even fallen in love with that. I have to say, the only thing I'm actually disappointed by are the speakers. I knew they weren't good, but even with the volume as high as it will go the sound seems tinny, cheap, and far away. I'm sure it's fine with headphones though, and even without it's sufficient for watching a video or something in a quiet room - just not an enjoyable media experience. Besides, usually when I'm using my netbook I:

A.) Won't need music (class, library, working hard, etc)
B.) Will have my iPod (if I'm out and about and just really want music)
C.) Will have my laptop or other source of music to turn on at the same time (at home).

So, it's really not a concern for me... but it's worth knowing.

Two other concerns, which I'll be watching closely for the next week or two to make sure they don't worsen (I'm sort of paranoid after the problems with my HP) are fluctuating (sometimes wildly) battery time estimates and wireless connection problems. When I first turned the netbook on, the wireless worked fine. Then it stopped working after I plugged in a landline for a few minutes. I put the landline back in and installed a new driver, and the internet's worked fine since then, but I'm a little confused/worried about it happening again.

I have my quibbles with Windows 7 but I can't bring myself to care too much. I hated Vista on my HP at first too, and now I really don't even care about it.

Overall I'm extremely happy with the netbook and can't wait to bring it to class on Monday. ^^ Surprisingly it's not only a toy, but I think I'm also going to find it extremely useful. The time between my classes can be a lot more productive now. Sure, sometimes I might use it to get on Facebook instead, but now I don't have to wait around for one of the computers in the library to open up to print or do research, I can check my email on the go, I can take notes into the laptop, etc. :D :D