Currently viewing the tag: "LAPTOP Magazine"
Last week I reviewed a new CULV (consumer ultra-low voltage) notebook from ASUS called the UL30 (more precisely, the UL30A). The UL series laptops come in various sizes, including 12-inch, but I reviewed the 13-inch model. It’s 4 pounds, a smidge less than an inch thick, and lasts for about 10 hours on a charge. You can read my review here.
This machine is actually a perfect one for writers. It’s powerful enough to handle many programs open at once, unlike netbooks that get kinda slow after 4 or 5. The keyboard is full-size and easy to type on. It doesn’t have the spring I like best, but it doesn’t hinder typing in any way. The big screen is great for writing and editing. And it’s skinny and light enough to carry around all the time.
Well, I think it might be. So I’m putting that last part to the test. I’m leaving my Samsung NC10 at home for a week and carrying around the UL30, instead. This weekend I’m going to write with it. (More than blog posts, hopefully.) During the week I’ll write with it on the train, like I usually do.
Today I’m taking the UL30 to my favorite café in my neighborhood and then to Central Park to hunt for free Wi-Fi and a drum circle.
I’ve been to the café – it’s just around the corner from my apartment, so not too long a walk. The UL30 didn’t take up a lot of space on the tiny table and easily found a bunch of wi-fi hotspots. I love that café because there are always a lot of people sitting around talking about the gadgets they use. Something about cafés draws a tech-enhanced crowd.
After that I ran a few errands and came down to Central Park. I’m not wearing my normal messenger bag because, by itself, it’s a little heavy. My NC10 doesn’t weigh me down, even in that, but the UL30 is 1.2 pounds more. You wouldn’t think that extra pound would make a big difference, but it does. My shoulder hurts a bit more than usual, but I don’t feel really weighed down the way I used to with my large screen laptop. Still, I can tell. Carrying this isn’t quite effortless.
The bag I’m using now is a bit smaller and lighter by itself. It also converts into a backpack, which is what you need when tech is straining your shoulder a bit. IN backpack mode I barely feel the weight.
Now I’m sitting by the bandstand enjoying the late summer evening and a group of excellent drummers. Earlier in the day the UL30 didn’t do that great with direct sunlight. The glossy screen is too reflective.
If you’re the type of person to sit and type in the dark, then you might not be down with the lack of backlit keys. I don’t usually type in the dark, so it’s less of a consideration for me. The light from the screen is plenty to see by.
Now I’m going to settle in for a little writing since that’s why I came out here in the first place. The UL30 is at 92% currently.
As many of you know, I freelanced in the city for a long time. I was on a neverending quest to find a great café with wireless and plenty of outlets. There were several great places in the city that have Wi-Fi but no outlets, or very few outlets, thus you’d have to do a little musical plugs with the others around you. What a difference a few months make. I found a new (to me) coffee bar and took a seat without even looking for an outlet. Turns out they don’t have any at this particular seat, but hey, I just don’t care!
Today’s adventures are almost over. Once they kick me out of this place I’ll head home. Having carried the UL30 around all day, I can conceive doing so on a regular basis. I definitely felt it, but not yet so much that I’d rather leave it at home than take it with me just in case I can get some writing done. We’ll see how I feel at the end of next week.
All "My Week With The ASUS UL30" Posts:
- Trading My Netbook For An Ultraportable: Day 1
- Day 2: Running Errands With The UL30
- Day 3: Commuting With The UL30
- Day 4: How To Write On The Subway
- Day 5: It’s Ultraportable, But Not A Netbook
- Day 6: And Now, The Conclusion
The May issue of Laptop Magazine is on the stands (has been for a bit, actually) and includes two contributions by yours truly. One is the massive roundup of Linux reviews I did and another is a tips article on how to live without an optical drive.
I’ve steadfastly resisted the temptation to buy an external DVD drive for my netbook mainly because of the research I did for that piece. I haven’t had trouble installing any program I have on disc and in the past few months I’ve installed various Linux distros from USB drives (over and over and…).
It’s very odd to me that, when I was in college, having a CD-ROM drive was a big deal, then it was a big deal if you could get a DVD drive included, and then came the wonders of writable DVD drives which seemed so fancy and awesome. Now we’re back to having computers with no optical drive. But considering how you can download almost anything you need from media to software, it isn’t such a big deal any more.
I try not to feel old when I think of things like this…
Anyway, go buy Laptop Magazine. It’s a great issue even beyond my small contributions. 31 free apps that don’t suck! And more.
A little while ago Laptop Magazine’s Avram Piltch IMed me the following video from CNBC:
I was prepared to watch another vaguely interesting segment about whether the new PC vs. Mac ads were making a difference to consumers, etc., but instead I spent almost the entire time making this face: >:O I was so completely appalled by how much CNBC Silicon Valley Bureau Chief Jim Goldman was straight out lying about Macs. It wasn’t just that he got a few things wrong, he took wrong, fed it some steroids, and then sent it to the gym for 6 months.
It was a lot of wrong.
Avram does an excellent job of taking Goldman’s points apart on Laptop’s blog. I think I started to see red when the guy said that Photoshop comes with a Mac but you have to buy it fr the PC. I don’t know what crazytown Jim lives in. Or perhaps he’s never had to buy a Mac for himself, therefore doesnt know that these programs do not magically appear on the hard drive.
I had a fleeting thought that maybe he was talking about iPhoto, but then dismissd it. No one would mistake iPhoto for Photoshop. After all, I have not yet been able to figure out how to make the free version of iPhoto that comes with Macs resize an image. Yes, a basic function such as resizing is beyond iPhoto’s capailities as far as I can tell. If it can resize, the functionality was hidden. Mac people are free to correct me.
Another thing he said made me roll my eyes forever: ”If your PC breaks down — Macs tend not to — if your PC breaks down…”
Stop right there, Sunny Jim. I know too many Mac users to even give you credit for being ignorant on that one. Macs break down, crash, get messed up, just like any other computer. They may be more durable overall, but they are not so much less likely to break that you can make a statement like that on national television. All technology breaks, whether through manufacturer flaws or human error. And I’ll bet the percentage of problems caused by human error is about the same on both kinds of computers.
This is why people do not respect Mac cultists.
And its a shame because, as Avram pointed out, there’s no need to lie in order to make a case that Mac gives users value over PCs in some instances. It depends on who you are and what you want. This is a partculrly egregious lie because Jim Goldman is supposed to be a journalist. But he’s no better than a blogger. And we all know about them.
As I said a couple of days ago, I am totally getting a Samsung N110 when it comes out next month. It’s a pretty spiffy computer, but every netbook needs a few extras to make it absolutely perfect. Last month I wrote this roundup of top 10 netbook accessories for Laptop, which you might consider perusing.
I usually carry around the lapdesk, USB drive and mouse and I own the speakers. I would consider the majority of these to be essential, with the exception of the mobile broadband and TV tuner.
I used to tote a portable keyboard around (don’t need it now!) and a tiny mouse with a retractable cord. I don’t need the keyboard for obvious reasons, and I dig the wireless mouse much more than I thought I would.
How would you trick out your netbook? Any products you love not on the list?
So, two bits of news you might find interesting if you spend all of your time looking at tiny laptops and loving them. First, I updated our faceoff of 10-inch netbooks so I could add the newest Eee PC (1000HE) and the new MSI Wind and the Acer Aspire One, which now comes in a 10-inch version. Back in November the Samsung NC10 was the best. Now… well, go read. However, despite everything the Samsung is still my favorite netbook and I’ll be buying one in March.
Also, about that Acer Aspire One…
When we first tested the battery it lasted almost 8 hours. Like 3 minutes shy of 8 hours. And all across the land there was rejoicing. Then we found out that Acer didn’t plan to put that battery on all the Aspire Ones, just the first batch. Subsequent batches have a lower capacity battery (why? I don’t know. ) and thus less life. We actually got that “normal” battery in yesterday and the test results are in today: 4:24. Ugh.
Yeah, 4:24 isn’t horrendous, but it’s not 8 hours! It’s not even 5! Meanwhile, the Eee PC got over 7.
ASUS really stepped up their game with the 1000HE (even if it could use a better name). I’m pleasently surprised.
But I’m still buying a Samsung.
One of the many things my boss and I agree about is that laptops should come in more colors. I personally would also like to see more laptops come in patterns and prints — you know, artistic stuff. But really, anything beyond black, grey and white would be appreciated.
Some laptops come in red, and that’s cool. The Samsung NC10 comes in dark blue, also cool. There’s pink… well, I have issues with pink, as do some other people. I don’t dislike pink totally. But I do dislike the idea that making a notebook pink means it will appeal to women.
There aren’t enough patterns, as I said. And there are some tragically overlooked colors: green, purple, dark orange, brown, teal. I could start whipping out the names of shades from Benjamin Moore, but you get the point.
I think that netbook makers are being especially remiss in not doing something similar to Dell’s Design Studio. I think many people would buy a netbook with less than perfect specs if they got the chance to choose from over 100 really cool designs.
Also, it looks like branded netbooks might be on their way. Yesterday my colleague Dana went to ToyFair and saw some netbooks at the Sakar booth. For those of you who don’t know, Sakar makes electronics, mostly for kids, that are branded with some popular toy or company name. Hello Kitty, Crayola, G.I.Joe, etc. If you go into a Radio Shack, say, and pick up one of those $20 Hello Kitty cameras for little girls, Sakar is probably behind it.
They had pink, purple, red and silver on display. The pink is very hot pink/fucia, so perhaps not intended for Hello Kitty. It’s more of a Barbie pink.
Right now the netbooks run a kid-friendly Linux, which is apt. Click over to Laptop Magazine’s blog for the deets, if you’re so inclined.
No patterns as of yet, but if Sakar plans to use these netbooks as the base for branding, then we’ll probably see something cute and different. Keep your eye on the local Toys R Us!
Hello Kitty isn’t really my thing, I admit. I would not run out to buy an HK netbook, no matter how cute. But maybe this will prompt other netbook makers to get more creative in their designs and consider putting something funky and different on the chassis. I await this day with great patience…
