[SC.LUG] Recommended 'mini' laptop.

[Simon Ward]

On Mon, May 25, 2009 at 12:09:58PM +0100, Roger Gibson wrote:
> I've a birthday coming soon, and wondered whether folks think that the 
> 'mini' lap top scene has stabilised,

I think there is certainly more to come.

> and if there is now a consensus on a short list of things to look at.

I can only speak for the Eee PC 900.  If you’re going Eee, you’ll
probably want the 901, although they have more in the pipeline.  Sadly,
they’re becoming hard to get with GNU/Linux out of the box, but you can
guarantee that everything works on it (not all free software: although
free wireless drivers are available, I haven’t yet got them working
satisfactorily on my Eee).

> I need something small enough to slip in a small brief case to take to meetings,

I also have a Thinkpad X60s which fits into my normally cramped
backpack.  While I will take my Thinkpad with me on occasion, I normally
just carry my Eee since it fits so easily.

> easy to skip through multi-page documents on, decent battery life, not
> needed for much than (unfortunately) Windoze compatible documents,
> spreadsheets etc, web browse and email.

Most things you would expect in a desktop environment run fine,
including OpenOffice.org for your wordprocessing, spreadsheets, etc, web
browser, email client.  You may find 1024x600 screen resolution limiting
for some things.

> I prefer it to be cheap enough not to get too upset if I lose/drop it.

At £230 you might not get too upset (I don’t know).  The case seems
reasonably durable, and moving part damage is reduced by it having SSDs
for its storage.

Simon
-- 
A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a
simple system that works.—John Gall
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