[ale] Current Netbook Options

[David A. De Graaf]

On Tue, May 11, 2010 at 06:41:29PM -0400, m-aaron-r wrote:
> I recently had to request a spreadsheet document from an
> associate at an organization I work with.  Very surprisingly,
> offered the file format choices of ODS _and_ gnumeric!  It
> turns out the person keeping the records and her partner got
> fed up with windisease a few years back and they switched
> to Linux and OOo for all their computer needs.
> 
> One of their machines is a Acer Aspire One Netbook, but it has
> been problematic for them, apparently a faulty BIOS flash memory
> issue that makes the track pad and mouse dysfunctional across
> all the distros they have tried.  Since the factory fix only lasted for
> a week, they are looking to replace the device.
> 
> I sent them a Netbook comparison & review article from an
> older Linux format issue, but also promised to ask here for
> current recommendations for Linux  netbooks or mini notebooks.
> 
> Any input appreciated!
> 

I'm more than happy with this ASUS N10J netbook which I'm using while
traveling in Europe.  It's running a full install of Fedora 12 with
every program that I've ever wanted, completely trouble-free.

It is a priced-up netbook, about $700, but has worthwhile features,
including Atom dual-processor, 2 GB RAM, 320 MB hard drive, 10 inch
screen with NVidia video.  There's 802.11n wireless, bluetooth,
ethernet, 3 USB ports, an SDcard slot, HDMA and 15pin video out,
and builtin camera and audio.  It does everything.

It came with Vista Biz, but I've only ever used that to demonstrate
how slow to boot it is.  When necessary I use VirtualBox to run XP.

The keyboard is compact, the right SHIFT key is annoyingly small, but
I've adapted.

-- 
	David A. De Graaf    DATIX, Inc.    Hendersonville, NC
	dad at datix.us         www.datix.us