Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:54:50 -0700 From: Michael David Crawford <mdc@prgmr.com> To: FreeBSD Mailing List <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: What I'd Like To See In A Netbook Message-ID: <4AA93D6A.2050704@prgmr.com> In-Reply-To: <20090910165129.GA20641@kokopelli.hydra> References: <20090909210833.GA23467@thought.org> <20090910102925.1ea9ffd3.freebsd@edvax.de> <20090910165129.GA20641@kokopelli.hydra>
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Just in case there are any netbook manufacturers listening in, or
employees of such manufacturers:
What I'd really like to see is a netbook with a regular size screen.
I've been shopping around some, and have so far been unable to find what
I desire.
What I mean by that is that I want a notebook with a low-power,
inexpensive processor and modest memory. That will work fine if one
runs an operating system such as FreeBSD.
But I want at least a fourteen inch screen, preferably fifteen inch.
The best advice anyone has been able to give me is to buy a "budget"
laptop, or an older model, perhaps used. The older Apple PowerPC
laptops are the closest to what I want.
What I want to do with this "big netbook" is to troll community websites
while hanging out at cafes, as well as working on my own websites,
which are predominantly text - lots of essays and articles.
I used to have a twelve inch Apple iBook, and it did work for me, but I
now vastly prefer my fifteen inch MacBook Pro. The problem with the
MacBook Pro is that it is a very expensive unit, it is the main source
of my livelihood, and I fear it being damaged or stolen if I use it to
troll all those community websites using the WiFi at Starbucks.
So what I want is a second notebook just for cafe use, so I can leave my
MacBook Pro at home. This "big netbook" needs to be inexpensive enough
that it wouldn't be that big a deal if it were stolen, or seriously damaged.
Just viewing web pages or writing in a text editor shouldn't require a
lot of CPU power or memory. It wouldn't need CD/DVD or floppy drives.
It wouldn't need Bluetooth, just 802.11 networking. It wouldn't need a
webcam built into the lid. It wouldn't need a very big hard drive.
Because the electronics would be low-power, it wouldn't need a fan.
An Atom or ARM processor would be just fine for such a unit. If it were
running FreeBSD or Linux, I expect that 512 MB would be *far* more than
enough memory.
I'm pretty sure that if someone were to actually produce such a "big
netbook", there would be lots more potential customers than just myself.
I have actually considered purchasing one of the netbooks of today,
but after looking them over, I have to say that their tiny screens would
be very disruptive to my writing Muse.
Thank You All For Humouring Me On This.
Mike
--
Michael David Crawford
mdc@prgmr.com
prgmr.com - We Don't Assume You Are Stupid.
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