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[personal profile] pyat
Last Friday, I purchased an Aspire One, one of those little sub-laptop PCs. I've been toting it with me to work for the last week, and using it to websurf in the evenings when [livejournal.com profile] velvetpage is on the main desktop.

I'm liking it a lot. It's quite powerful - perfectly capable of running all my usual utilities, as doing the sort of basic video editing I sometimes do, as well. The little built-in camera isn't great, nor the microphone, but they are functional. I can do video blogging, if I shout...

The keyboard is perfectly functional, though it takes a little getting used to, I admit. I occasionally find my thumb straying onto the wrong key. Still, I've written more then 2000 words over the past week on the Aspire for a freelance contract, and that's about my usual speed when I'm not in a hurry.

The wireless card works reasonably well, though I'm finding fewer useful public wifi pools than I expected. The St. Lawrence Market, for example, has signs up here and there boasting their wifi, but I've never been able to get a connection from Paddington's Pump, which is inside the building.


I've mostly been using it on the train. On every third or fourth car, there is one with just four seats arranged in such a way that I can cram myself in with barely an inch to spare. This is great for sleeping on the train, but I've also discovered it's handy for typing. I turn my case upside down and on its side, jam it on top of my legs, and voila, instant desk.

It's... um... more comfortable than it looks. No, really.

Date: 2008-09-12 07:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hilson.livejournal.com
Did you get the XP or Linux version? Solid state or regular hard drive? And how much, if you don't mind my asking?

Date: 2008-09-12 07:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyat.livejournal.com
XP, 120 GB HD, $425 at Canada Computers in Hamilton.

Date: 2008-09-12 08:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hilson.livejournal.com
How do you find the speed?

I'm thinking of picking the Linux one with the 8G solid state drive on my way home and I access access my home PC via Web if I want too or use a portable drive.

Date: 2008-09-12 08:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyat.livejournal.com
Pretty good! It starts up in under a minute. I'[d have gone for the Linux, but the doc templates we use at our office are so snarled they get corrupted by OpenOffice.

Date: 2008-09-13 12:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hilson.livejournal.com
Picked one up on the way home at Future Shop. $379 + tax for the XP version.

Playing with it at the pub and the owner now wants to buy one too.

Date: 2008-09-13 12:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pyat.livejournal.com
$379? Wow. They're coming down fast. When I reserved mine, the lowest price I could find was $460. When I went to pick it up, it was down to $425 or so.

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