Getting a Netbook?
For a while I’ve wanted something a little more useful than my iPhone when I’m not at a computer. I had a Toshiba laptop, but wanted something smaller with a longer battery life. I started looking at the netbook models, and these caught my eye:
Dell Mini 9
MSI Wind U100
Lenovo S10
The one issue I kept getting hung up on with these devices was the screen resolution. Most of them are only 500-600 pixels high. That means a lot of scrolling on an already small trackpad. Unfortunately right now in laptops (and netbooks) we mostly have 15.4 inch screens and 9-10 inch screens. I started to look at my options for something closer to a 12″ screen. This brought options like the IBM x40, ultramobiles, macbooks, and the new Dell Mini 12. My plan was to run Linux or OSX (potentially try installing on non-Apple machine). At the end of the day I found a used white macbook for a little over the price of a loaded netbook. After just a day I can say the smaller Mac laptop fit the bill perfectly and didn’t break the bank.
I found it interesting my employer is now offering $50 netbooks in some areas if you purchase the right data plans. Too bad no MacBook discounts 🙂