Notebook - Writing on the move.

[JohnTomorrow]

Hey there.

I recently posted a topic discussing my desire to write professionally, and wishing to purchase a notebook laptop (i'm fair to assume thats the name for one of those tiny laptops?), but dont wanna spend too much or be stiffed on quality.

...I know thats kinda an oxymoron, but go with me.

I just wanted to know if anybody has one of these tiny laptops, what they think of them as a writing tool, and what they would recommend. Please, no technical jargon - i know the bare minimum of whats in a computer, i only know how to use one semi-efficently (i.e. i know how to network and defrag a hard-drive. THATS IT.).

Australian btw, if that makes a difference.

 

[mad825]

sounds like you want one with touch screen

 

[JohnTomorrow]

sounds like you want one with touch screen

Bah, nah, not an Ipad or something. I'll get an Ipotato before i get one of them.

Nah, something with a keyboard and stuff. It looks like a laptop, but its teeny-tiny, with a 10" screen (or something, i dunno).

 

[TheComedown]

they are actually called Netbooks technically, anyway unimportant, as a writing tool it depends how well you can cope with an incredibly tiny keyboard, i tried a friends once and really struggled to get my big man fingers to hit the little keys i wanted, but if you yourself either likes small keys or has small fingers they would be pretty good, as for getting one, best bet is to go to some place like jb hi-fi or a local computer joint,(the local places are usually the best service, and can do good deals, jb hi-fi is the only big chain that is a complete rip off, to my experience and knowledge anyway) and just talk to them, see what they got, tell them your needs and they should be able to find something that will work for you

 

[JohnTomorrow]

I've had a look at the Harvey Normans and my local Austin Computers, and the cheapest i could find was 399, but is that a good price?

I guess, at the end of the day, if i can type on it and save my work on a USB, i can get pretty much anything, huh?

 

[mad825]

sounds like you want one with touch screen

Bah, nah, not an Ipad or something. I'll get an Ipotato before i get one of them.

Nah, something with a keyboard and stuff. It looks like a laptop, but its teeny-tiny, with a 10" screen (or something, i dunno).

O.O
I wasn't suggesting Iegotistical, win7 now fully *cough* supports touch screen. most of them will be adapted for desktops and netbooks

 

[TheComedown]

yeah its not bad, it also depends on the specs, but if its nothing more then word then it wouldn't really matter, if you have jb hi-fi near by check them out, im pretty sure ive seen cheaper then that at a jb tho. i personally spend a lot more time looking at the big monster pc's. so im sorry i cant really offer more then that

 

[Blackadder51]

Dont go to harvey norman mate, i used to work there and we rip off a ton! You are looking for a netbook, they have massive battery life. I say go for sony ones, but there are about $799. You can get some toshiba's like the A200 (i think) for about $499 which is a good price. If its really cheap see what Operating system its using, like is it using xp or vista or windows 7 or anything.

 

[JohnTomorrow]

I'll survive with XP, i'll flat out refuse Vista, never used Win7.

 

[floppylobster]

I have a Dell (unknown price) and an eeepc (really small cheap one [about $400 Aus these days?]). The Dell was given to me and at first I thought it was too big but now I do all my writing on it. I take the eeepc away with me when I go overseas but I don't enjoy writing on it.

EEEPC
The positives -
- It's great because it's small and light and has a great battery life. (I brought an extra large battery which lasts for around 8 hours).
- The plug can be easily adapted and Wi-Fi internet is easy to use (but the internet is a distraction if you're trying to seriously write).
- They turn on really fast. So if you suddenly get an idea, it doesn't take long to get into it.

The downsides -
- Small screen. It's a real pain to get an overview of your whole work or even more than a few sentences at a time. That annoys me most I think.
- Cramped keyboard. It's small and you have to think about where your putting your fingers as you type, and that distracts from my flow of thought when writing sometimes.
- The mouse. A touchpad isn't too bad but it can take a few seconds more to get where you want to be in the document, (breaking flow etc...).

As a back-up the eeepc is great. As a main writing computer you'd be unhappy with it if you ever tried another laptop. The compatibility has never been an issue but the other, minor, things have been.

My advice is to buy a second hand piece-of-shit laptop. The less features it has, the less distractions from your writing. Forget the battery; my grand ideas of sitting by the waterfront and writing never amounted to anything, and whenever I was running off the battery I was constantly worried about it (another distraction from writing). Every moment I sat not typing while on battery charge I would think, "I should shut the screen". Having a portable writing computer is great but 90% of the time you're going to have it plugged in. I have my Dell constantly on in sleep mode so whenever an idea strikes me I just flip up the lid and start typing. On a plane or train I just bring pen and paper or use the time to review print-outs.

The things you want to consider if you're serious about writing are a good sized screen, an easy to use keyboard, and no distractions.

 

[JohnTomorrow]

*Snip*

The things you want to consider if you're serious about writing are a good sized screen, an easy to use keyboard, and no distractions.

The screen is easy. You can adjust word/app size. The keyboard is a little different, but with practise, anything is possible. As for the distractions, i'm trying to cut down on them, but the whole idea of the netbook was to cut down on the distractions by removing myself from them.

Plus i have no idea where i'd get a second-hand laptop.

Thanks for the info but. I've seen the EEEPC mentioned a few times now, but according to the websites to my local computer stores, they dont stock them anymore. Which would mean ordering over the net, which i'm not 100% happy to do with such a large amount of money.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Go to whatever electronic stores you have down in australia, and write down the names of everything that is the right size/price. Then look them up on the internet and see if they're good or if you're being ripped off. CNET is a decent site for reviews.

 

[notyouraveragejoe]

I have an EEEPC netbook. I love it as a work-only computer. Its fine for anything OpenOffice/Microsoft Office. Also its good for surfing the web. Finally mine has more then 10 and half hours of battery life which is great since it means I can work on it on long plane or train rides (I did that for when I went to a Model United Nations Conference about 6-7 hours away. Finally it wasn't all that expensive. So if you can get an EeePC since they're great plus they're are made with Netbook users in mind.

 

[JohnTomorrow]

I have an EEEPC netbook. I love it as a work-only computer. Its fine for anything OpenOffice/Microsoft Office. Also its good for surfing the web. Finally mine has more then 10 and half hours of battery life which is great since it means I can work on it on long plane or train rides (I did that for when I went to a Model United Nations Conference about 6-7 hours away. Finally it wasn't all that expensive. So if you can get an EeePC since they're great plus they're are made with Netbook users in mind.

Went and got an EEEPc tonight. Actually typing this post on it! Its excellent, its exactly what i wanted. The keys and their spacing is good enough for me, and the screen is brilliantly clear. Dont quite know how long the battery life will last - its time is fluctuating between 4hrs and 3 hrs but the percentage is going down properly.

As long as i take care of it and use it properly, i can see this thing giving me a lot of creativity. Thanks all who posted!

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

they are actually called Netbooks

I love netbooks. I don't use them but I love them because they've helped my crusade against laptops, which, after having to fix a couple I hate with a burning passion. Now when someone wants a high performance laptop, unless they have a specific need for high powered computing on the go, I show them how for same price they can either get a more powerful desktop OR an equally powerful desktop and a netbook to handle their portable computing.

 

[notyouraveragejoe]

I have an EEEPC netbook. I love it as a work-only computer. Its fine for anything OpenOffice/Microsoft Office. Also its good for surfing the web. Finally mine has more then 10 and half hours of battery life which is great since it means I can work on it on long plane or train rides (I did that for when I went to a Model United Nations Conference about 6-7 hours away. Finally it wasn't all that expensive. So if you can get an EeePC since they're great plus they're are made with Netbook users in mind.

Went and got an EEEPc tonight. Actually typing this post on it! Its excellent, its exactly what i wanted. The keys and their spacing is good enough for me, and the screen is brilliantly clear. Dont quite know how long the battery life will last - its time is fluctuating between 4hrs and 3 hrs but the percentage is going down properly.

As long as i take care of it and use it properly, i can see this thing giving me a lot of creativity. Thanks all who posted!

No problemo. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I love mine. Good luck with and good choice!