Having had my laptop fail, and having thought about the advantages of something small and light to carry around rather than a full-size laptop, I popped to my favourite supplier of crossover photographic/computer equipment (that'll be Staples - there are cheaper sources, but it's local) and bought one of these. For now, it's just first impressions - I'll post a follow-up in a few weeks.
So, why this particular model? Well, because it seemed a decent compromise to me.
I wanted one running Win Xp, so that I would be completely familiar with it, and for photo work wouldn't have to use the Gimp - for all that it's impressive, I just can't get on with it. It had to have respectable battery life, a reasonable hard disk, at least 1 gig of memory (well, it has to run Windows!). This model uses the chassis of the 1000, so it's a bit bigger than the smallest ones, but only has an 8.9" screen. OTOH, it has a much bigger keyboard than the smaller models. It has a relatively high capacity battery. It has a low-spec processor, a 900MHz Celeron
A few other specs: 80GB hard drive (partitioned into two 40 GB "drives"), weighs 1.36 kg, has bluetooth and 802.11 b/g wireless capability, three USB ports, a webcam and a VGA connector.
In terms of software, it comes with Works, Star Office 8, WinDVD (a little odd, as it has no optical drive!), Skype, an antivirus package and something for the webcam. It also has Eeestore, which allows 2GB of net storage. Oh, and it's got a nice glossy black cover - which shows every fingerprint. Still, at least it's not white.
So there you have the spec - it all adds up to a reasonably compact and capable package on paper, ideal for occasional use at home but absolutely perfect for travelling - well, that's the theory.
What's it like to use, then?
Well, it starts up fairly quickly. The screen is small, but clear. I had no problem connecting it to my wireless network. Because of the small size of the screen, I installed Google Chrome as a browser, which leaves more screen real estate available than most in standard configuration. I also installed Lightroom 2, which actually seems to work pretty well on it despite the small screen and low spec of the machine. The keyboard is really very good for a small machine, although I'm not yet used to the position of the RHS shift key. The wireless card seems to do an excellent job, making the most of the signal. Even the sound seems OK for a laptop. And on the subject of sound, it's pretty quiet, although clearly the HD generates a level of noise. In fact it all seems sweetness and light - EXCEPT FOR THE TRACKPAD! Now I like trackpads, but I've not got the hang of this one yet. Double tapping only works when it feels like it, I can't suss out the scrolling option, and I keep magnifying (or shrinking) the text without meaning to. I'm sure if I tinker with the settings it'll improve, and I'm sure I'll get more used to it, but it's the least good aspect of the machine. And the associated buttons feel quite horrible to use, too. Still, I suppose I could plug a mouse in if I had to.
I plugged in my latest portable hard disk (which requires 2 USB ports to power it) and a card reader, and the data transfer from one to another was gratifyingly quick, as was the Lightroom import from the portable HD.
All in all, I'm pretty pleased with it so far - it's not perfect, but as it sells for between approximately £200-240 I wasn't expecting perfection. It's a bundle of compromises, but for me, they're mostly the right compromises.
There's a review of a clone at The Register, which I had used as part of my decision-making process.
EDIT: Thanks to Roger, I've gone back and checked, and yes, you can get a better resolution on an external monitor. As a result of a bit of R-ing TFM, I've also resolved most of the trackpad issues. Finally, I had missed the SD card reader of the spec, a potentially important thing for some (not me, only my pink Ixus takes SD cards).
Reply With Quote
