Comments | candid: ultra-laptop

candid

ultra-laptop

Sep 01, 2008 18:12

This fall I am going to India for 3 weeks. It is looking less and less likely that my magnum opus "Making Out With You Killed My Dog" (not actual title) (current status: 22k words) is going to be finished by then, which means that I will need some way to work on it while I am traveling ( Read more... )

Comments 14

(The comment has been removed)

Re: buy a mac candid September 2 2008, 01:34:43 UTC

I am (briefly) meeting her family, but that is an effect of the trip rather than the cause.

I already have a regular-size laptop. I want something small that's less of a pain to lug around.

etesla September 2 2008, 01:49:45 UTC

I just picked up a Sylvania g Netbook for $299, and it's worth the $299 once you rip out the OS it comes with (gOS) and replace it with stock Ubuntu. (gOS, uh, managed to screw up *terminal ( ... )

candid September 2 2008, 01:54:27 UTC

SgN is now $329 at Amazon, which is the same price as Acer.

I have very minimal software requirements for writing. If I can run Abiword, that's good enough for me.

perich September 2 2008, 01:50:51 UTC

Making Out With You Killed My Dog" (not actual title)

You think there's a better title? That's gold!

Also: though I suppose this ought to be the time that I urge you to buy a Mac, I won't. Trying to learn a new OS is frustrating, and you wouldn't want to compound the frustration of finding a power adapter in a new country with learning how Tiger works.

candid September 2 2008, 01:55:53 UTC

When I show you the manuscript, you'll realize why that's not the actual title.

(Hint: part of it is that the book has nothing whatsoever to do with Nancy Drew.)

As I said above, the main reason I won't consider a Mac is that I want something CHEAP and SMALL, and a Mac is neither.

pjammer September 2 2008, 02:19:51 UTC

I have an Air which is awesome, but completely not cheap. :P

mighty_sam September 2 2008, 02:19:33 UTC

1. Take a notebook, write by hand, totally old-school. Break the habit, finish the project with renewed freshness.

2. Look into whether exchange/duty opens possibility of getting something there. Or even "renting" (buy cheap, sell for >0) something there, and transferring files before return.

From someone in the trenches jjsaysblah September 2 2008, 03:03:59 UTC

a friend of mine is the guy at DELL literally responsible for sales of all desktops and laptops in north america.

this is his recommendation:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2327896,00.asp

it's not listed as available on the website, though it will be this week.

it's tough, and meant to be used by roadwarrior powerusers/engineers around the world.

spendy, but you get what you pay for - especially in the mobile market

but you mentioned you wanted small...

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsnb_m1330?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd

not to my taste, but it IS small.