Woz buys a Netbook !

[wozofoz]

Palm has officially announced there will never be a Nova TX-ish (NovaX ?) PDA so a Netbook is now top of my list.
I think I may have found a good deal

Acer Aspire One A150-B ZG5
I can't find any specs listed on the web but the Acer Aspire One A150- 1126 has the same specs so here they are;

8.9" Netbook
Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz
1GB, 160GB HD
6 Cell Battery (big plus for me)
802.11b/g
Webcam
Microsoft Windows XP Home
I can choose any color I like as long as it is Pink
It's quite a lovely lite Coral Pink actually
Acer Netbook Price: US$420

The Acer is from a Harvey Norman Store and I can get an extra 4 years warranty (5 years in total)
During the extra 4 years I would have to take the Acer back to any Harvey Norman store for repairs and pick it up when ready but this is not a major inconvenience as there are stores reasonably close.
Extra 4 year Warranty Price: US$60

Total price is US$480 with 5 years warranty.
What do you think, is this an ok deal ?
Is everyone still happy with their Acer Netbook ?
Should I just "stop umming and ahhing and buy the thing" (as I have been told before)

Also, since the Acer will be my only form of Computer (not counting TriX) I think I should get an External HardDrive, is that correct?
The Acer is 160 GB, what size External HardDrive do you think would be adequate or should I aim at more than adequate ?
I guess I would end up putting lots of music, movies etc on the Acer and/or HardDrive.
Also I would be doing a lot of Web browsing and I believe I can backup the Acer to the External HardDrive and Restore from there if I get a problem/virus, much like NVBackup and BackupMan.
Is that correct ?

Thanks for any and all, ideas, encouragement, warnings plus the inevitable fun and frivolity

All the best, woz of oz

[hal]

1. I have never owned an Acer laptop, or netbook. Here, Acer laptops are very popular cause they follow the trend to be sturdy, streetwise if you know what I mean. I'd say go for it, as long as it ain't pink (reminds me of some source of scorn around here, believe her name is Babette )

2. Being your only regular source of computing a Palm TX, I believe you are over reacting before you get the grip on it. OK, second and external HDD backup is a very wise option. But actually, even it's a netbook (so, net oriented in apps and storage), it has a 160 GB HDD, so my advice here would be to carefully choose the storage habits you develop, for 160 GB is a lot of space for somebody who lived with a TX for years. Decide over net storage, HDD storage, backup HDD storage, and even CDs storage, so to have all your info conveniently protected. If you decide to use an external HDD for straight backup, wiser it would be to purchase an identical model to the one installed into such netbook, and get an external box for it, with IDE/USB interface, and develop some "mirror" backup so to switch it like clips in a pistol in case of a HDD failure. But you gotta speak with the PalmGeek to get that one into specifics. As for media, yes, better keep the bulk in an external HDD, that may be another one, or get such media into CDs.

3. IMVHO, the specs are good. Especially over the OS. In this household, one Windows Vista has arrived and after it, Windows Vista is FORBIDDEN, even in visitors' devices (j/k ). Windows XP is a good OS, lots of programs exist for it, lots of enhancements and lot of interoperability with lots of devices.

4. Yes, stop umming and ahhing and buy the thing. Come on pal, do it while you still got the money. And for the size, it's no "clunky computer"

[holvoetn]

I think hal pretty much summed up my thoughts
Especially on the Vista thing

I would like to emphasize the need to spend sufficient time to assure your backup plan is worked out and properly tested once you get the new thing into your hands. Especially make sure there are possibilities to get your data stored securely AWAY from your device (even when thinking about external HDD).

My take on the external HDD: knowing you travel a lot, keep in mind these things have moveable parts hence they are a bit less forgiving towards shocks/vibrations then your current TX with SD card memory. Just a thought ...

[raspabalsa]

Looks like a good option, woz. More so because it comes with XP.

About the external drive, my personal opinion is to go for as large a drive as I can afford. There's no such thing as too much drive space. My portable disk has steadily and quickly grown from 80GB to 500GB (4 disks in 2 years), and I'm already considering going to 1TB (I'm down to 50GB free on the 500GB disk). So better toss in a few more dollars and get the largest drive, especially if you're going to store music and movies.

The external drive can be a great backup/sync/restore tool. You can keep an image of your netbook drive on your external one, so you can restore it if needed. Also, you can sync or backup your info between netbook and drive using SyncBack or another similar program. Of course, as H said, the external drive should be backed up elsewhere, just in case.

[jigwashere]

I still love my Acer netbook, but I did have a bit of an incident the other day: it bricked on me. Acer was no help -- they told me to take it to Best Buy. Best Buy Geek Squad said it was the battery. Idiots.

Here's what happened. I needed to do a restart and while it was turning off and rebooting, I wandered away to work on tasks to get ready for my trip. I came back, and nothing. Nada. Zip. The power light was on, but nobody was home. No HD activity, no flicker of life on the screen.

After giving up on Acer and Best Buy, I checked a couple of websites and found that I wasn't alone with this little glitch. While I don't pretend to understand what happened or why, I ended up flashing the BIOS and within minutes, all was well with the world. Whew!

Okay, that story probably doesn't give you a lot of confidence with Acer. Sorry about that.

Another problem with Acer netbooks: they don't give you the install disks and don't let you create them yourself. There's a hidden partition on the HD and you can restore to factory settings if need be, but that won't help if you're HD bites the dust and you need a new one. With a 5 year warranty, you probably shouldn't worry about it.

So, what about a backup plan? I only backup my data. Not my settings and not my applications. Well, that's not completely true. I do have an image of everything, but I don't expect to ever use it. When disaster hits, I plan to reinstall everything from scratch and then restore my data. That's it.

For data backup, you could get by with an SD card. 2GB. Maybe 4GB. Share it with your TX. Okay, get your netbook an SDHC card. 8GB. And maybe a flash drive. Keep it simple. Keep it small. Keep it mobile.

[lelisa13p]

Bob has what jig recommended, an 8 GB SDHC card and a 4 GB flash drive (data backup only.) All pix, movies & tunes are residing on the SDHC card as well, leaving the HD free. The built-in card reader is great, too. My battery is 3-hour so I think that you'll be very happy with the 6-hour version. (Poor, poor Babette. )

woz, spend the $$$ if you can afford it.

jig, how did you image the HD?

[NetBrakr]

*shaking his fist* DARN YOU ACER ASPIRE ONE PEOPLE!!

SIGH!

[berylrb]

whoa 5 year warranty, is that industry standard or a gimme to attract sales?

Woz, just want you to know that you helped me decide between a netbook and a MBAir! The weight, I never before checked on the weight of the netbooks, about .5 pounds less than the MBAir. Of course the Acer comes with a CD yes? ... wait,

DVD/CD Drive
Because of its size, the Aspire One does not come with an integrated optical drive, but optional CD/DVD read/write drives can be connected to the laptop via one of the three USB ports, enabling you to create your music mixes, burn movies to DVD, and more.

So Intel vs Atom and price are the real differences. Hmm ...

[wozofoz]

A quick note to say I am on my way to buy it, I am so excited

I will have to wait for it to charge and of course read the manual then I'm thinking:
AVG free Virus control thing
Browser, FireFox or Opera ?
I know there are fans of both here, is there a real difference?
I've never used Opera on a Computer only FireFox and speed, simplicity, ad blockers etc are what I crave the most.

After writing this I realise I am a total mess with so many questions running through my head, I need to calm down (did I mention this is my first Computer ?)

So I guess the answer is try both browsers and pick the one I like, simple really

Sorry, I'm soooooo excited and out the door

All the best, woz of oz

[lelisa13p]

FWIW, Bob drives Opera down the Internet Highway. (I'm running v.9.52, not the latest version, however.)