WHAT EVERY GLOBE TROTTING BLOGGER NEEDS…

Change isn’t just about attitudes and philosophies, sometimes it can be helped along with the odd tool that helps us move into new behaviours, so as a real technophile, who loves the odd cool gadget, I’ll be talking about some the toys I acquire and use to help me on my way.

Having started writing a regular blog, I’m obviously spending much more of my time at de old keyboard, bashin’ away! However, it has coincided with a patch of work which needs me to do a fair bit of travelling and being loathe to weigh myself down, I leave the laptop at home whenever I can get away with it. I can’t stand the weight, and I feel responsible for it too.. .what if I lose it or drop it?! Stupid I know, but there it is. I could spend a small fortune of one of the latest micro laptops, but the one I have is great for everything but lugging around… so what should I do?

Then I came across this little baby; an Asus EEEPC701. It is a tiny laptop, the size of a hardback book, weighing less than a kilo, and here is the big thing, it is available from under £200! For those of you who remember, this is a bit like the grandchild of the old Psion. It is linux based, and has a 4gb solid state disk, has wifi & Bluetooth, even a little webcam.

Now, I have no idea how well I will cope with the non-windows environment. For almost double the price I could have got a similar sized conventional PC from Belinea (Belinea Laptop VIA C7-M ULV), but I thought that this one was worth a try.

After all, it is a radical change and it has already got a big swell of underground interest and loads of geeky support¹ for nothing, if you scan the web. So my fantasy is that I’ll take this with me down to the café, and sit tapping away whilst sipping my espresso, watching the world go by. I’ll let you know how it works out, and of course if you have one already let me know how you are getting on with it.

 

1. http://www.eeeuser.com/

The Full Spec:

Measuring just 22.5 x 16.4 x  2.15~3.5 cm and weighing a mere 920g, the ASUS Processor –

• Intel Celeron Mobile CPU Chipset – Intel
  
• Integrated Network
  
• Form Factor – Notebook  
  
• Memory (Maximum) – 512MB (512×1)DDR2  
  
• Hard Disk – 4GB
  
• Monitor – 7ins (800×480)
  
• Sound Device – Integrated Intel High Definition Audio compliant audio chip  
  
• Speakers – Built-in Stereo Speakers (1.5W)
  
• Audio Features – SoundBlaster Pro Compatible  
  
• Wireless – IEEE 802.11g
  
• Modem – Intel High Definition Audio Modem Integrated  
  
• Operation System – Linux
  
• Camera Resolution – 0.3 Megapixels
  
• Card reader – SD/MMC
  
• VGA Port – 1
  
• Headphone/Audio Line Out – 1 x Headphone-out jack  
  
• Microphone In Port – 1  
  
• RJ-45 Ports – 1 x RJ-45  
  
• USB Ports – 3 x USB 2.0  
  
• Software Included – Open Office 2.0 Security – BIOS Booting / HDD User Password Protection and security lock Kensington lock hole Trusted Platform Module
  
• Battery – Lithium-Ion (3Cells) 2400mAH  
  
• Security Locking Mechanics – Kensington Lock Slot
  
• Dimensions – 22.5 x 16.4 x  2.15~3.5 cm
  
• Warranty – 24 months UK warranty(6 months warranty in Battery), collect and return within UK
  

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 12th, 2008 at 12:36 and is filed under Gadgets & Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.