Thursday, December 11, 2008

I say listen to all voices, but mine's the final decision

I borrowed an Asus EEE from work yesterday. I've been considering buying some sort of mini laptop or web book for quite some time, and wanted to try one out for a while before making any kind of decision.

My current laptop is an LG LW25, which has a 12-inch screen and weighs in at 1.8 kilos. I've used it for about a year and a half, and I'm very happy with it apart from the start-up time, and the current battery time which is crap, but I didn't expect anything else after 18 months of frequent usage. The size and weight are just right for my purposes, which is writing, emailing and loitering about on the Web. Nothing major.

(of course, I was less than happy with the crash, but I'm not a Mac person and have to settle with Windows, so I'll just have to deal)

So. The Asus. So far a nice little machine. I wrote parts of this on it on the train this morning. Initially I had problems with the small keyboard (I have sausage fingers), but I've managed to up my typing speed considerably in only ten minutes. It still needs some getting used to, though.

Not sure if I have reached any kind of conclusion yet, other than the fact that I will need a new laptop of some kind within the next six months or so. I'm seriously considering using two, an Asus EEE-type machine for carrying around for writing purposes, and a bigger machine at home to use for editing purposes and storage. Of course, an external hard drive solves the second part, so I need to do some serious thinking whether I need a bigger screen than 10 inches or not. The other option is to go for a new 12-inch. Decisions, decisions.

Now children, this is what we call a luxury problem.

Another problem, is which video game console to choose. I'm still undecided between an Xbox 360and a PS3, but leaning towards the Xbox, if only because a lot of people I know have it, plus it's a boatload of cash cheaper.

Oh. And Wintersleep's "Search Party" almost makes me cry each time I hear it. Awesome stuff. Thanks, Spotify.

4 comments:

LadyM said...

Det är underbart med lyxproblem :)

Jesper Bylund said...

Keyboards take some getting used to, and always go for battery, it's what you REALLY need. Storage and performance is just techno-masturbation. Oh, and to get rid of the start-up time and possible crashes without using a mac go for Ubuntu. Easier to install and use then Windows, runs everything and always works. Insane. Used it on my EEE before I sold it, almost cried parting from ubuntu... :(

beardonaut said...

Jesper: indeed, battery time will be one of the foremost factors when I decide what to buy.

beardonaut said...

And about Ubuntu...no. Probably not. I want the machine out of the box, just working. I'm not enough of a geek to go for anything not Windows.