[kwlug-disc] things to look for in a netbook

[Eric Gerlach]

Keyboard.  Keyboard, keyboard, keyboard.

Seriously, whichever one you're looking at, try to find it in a Staples
or Future Shop first and get her to type on it for 5-10 minutes.

All in the internal specs in the world won't save you if you don't like
typing on it.

Secondarily (or perhaps primarily for someone who types less), trackpad
configuration.  Some have the buttons to the side (instead of below), or
even worse, built into the touchpad (hello Dell Mini 10).  Again, see if
you can try before you buy.

If she's happy with the keyboard and mouse, I think the rest of the
machine will just fall into place.

Cheers,

Eric

On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 10:44:53AM -0400, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> 
>   a lady i know is in the market for a netbook that will fit in her
> purse.  and even though she's almost certainly going to be running
> windows, she asked me what she should be looking for, so i'm pondering
> the following, and others can tell me what they think:
> 
> 1) screen res:  most netbooks have 1024x600 displays, but i just
> noticed this:
> 
>   http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/News/HP-Mini-5101/
> 
> and the option for a 1366x768 display.  *i* would go for that, but i
> don't know if it would be a big deal for her.  are there any netbooks
> available locally with that kind of res?  i checked canada computers
> and the salesgeek was adamant that any netbook that advertised that
> was simply talking about the size of the virtual desktop.  that's not
> what i read about the HP model above, but i'll ask the lady if that's
> an issue for her.
> 
> 2) HDMI port:  just me, but i think it's getting increasingly
> important to have an HDMI port.  thoughts?
> 
> 3) Atom N280 processor.  it looks like that's the standard for fairly
> new netbooks.
> 
>   other thoughts?
> 
> rday
> --
> 
> ========================================================================
> Robert P. J. Day                               Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA
> 
>         Linux Consulting, Training and Annoying Kernel Pedantry.
> 
> Web page:                                          http://crashcourse.ca
> Linked In:                             http://www.linkedin.com/in/rpjday
> Twitter:                                       http://twitter.com/rpjday
> ========================================================================
> 
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