Just before my last trip, I decided to try out a netbook. I’ve been lugging around a Dell M1710 XPS laptop for a couple of years, and while the 17″ screen size is nice, the battery life, weight, and (lack of) portability when traveling makes it more of a chore than a joy. I could squeeze, at most, about 2 hours of battery life out of it and that required reducing the screen brightness.
I was looking for something just big/good enough to handle email, blogging, some light web surfing, but also offer a longer battery life. Reclaiming the extra space in my carry-on bag for books and magazines was another advantage I was looking for.
After some research, I bought an Asus Eee PC 1000HE, and it arrived a few days before my five-day trip. This model only ships with Windows XP Home, and I didn’t have time to wipe the OS and replace it with eeeubuntu (learning how to install a linux variant and get it configured, possibly incorrectly, was also a challenge I didn’t feel like tackling right before leaving). I installed NOD, Spysweeper, and Search and Destroy, made a few personal config changes, and tested the wireless card at home. Not one hitch – the Asus was now ready for a test on the road.
As a backup, I brought the M1710 just in case the Asus wireless card or config hiccuped. I was planning on doing a lot of writing on my Kenji novel, and I also needed email access, so I didn’t want to be dealing with a hardware/software issues when I should have been working.
I used the Asus on the plane out and for all of my work the entire trip (my wife fired up the Dell so she could check email one night while I was still working). The size makes it perfect for plane trips, especially when the person in front of you decides they absolutely must recline their chair ALL THE WAY BACK. The battery life averaged 7-8 hours at full screen brightness. The wireless card worked flawlessly. The keyboard is just big enough to require minimal typing adjustments. Startup and shutdown were comparable or better than my other PC’s at work and home. There is almost no heat loss on the bottom, meaning that even after several straight hours of use, the machine leaves no burn marks on your clothes!
I managed to bang out around 6,000 words in a few days, plus stitch together another few thousand words of previously written material without ever feeling like the computer was impeding the creative process.
I bought the blue version of this little workhorse, and I’ve named it “Blue Ant” (my new Crackberry is “Idoru,” my M1710 is “Sandbenders,” my Dell desktop at home is “Wintermute,” my backup NAS drive is “Walled City,” and my iPod is “Hosaka”). [insert obligatory geek/Gibson comment
In short, the Asus exceeded all of my expectations, and the Blue Ant has earned a permanent place in my carry-on for all future trips. I only have one problem with the Asus: it’s left me with a brick of a laptop that I no longer need!