.TXT Files - Great! Oh, wait, no alarms.

Having recently been relying on technology for most things, I find myself not adjusting to it in a savvy way. I  use a desktop, pda  and now finally a netbook. There lies the problem. Syncing all the machines. They all use different operating systems. 

Since, I don't really have time or want to spend the time at the moment to search for the apps that can do it, although it can be fun, I have resorted to text files that contains todo lists, notes, and a planner with templates for quick entry. It was great until I started to rely on alarms. 

I realized I needed to sync all the alarms on all three platforms. You may wonder why I don't just choose the PDA as the main platform for alarms since it is the most convenient. Unfortunately, the only convenient thing about it is the size. Compared to the desktop, entry is slow and laborious. Adding notes on the small tiny keys are just tiresome. Viewing all the entries often involve a lot of scrolling, and the amount of information is limited on the small screen. 

Some days, my schedules have to overhauled and on a PDA this is painful. There are also other days when I have to change the schedule on the desktop, sync with the PDA, only to find out I have to overhaul the schedule when I'm out with my netbook. 

Then there is the interface. Don't you hate going from touch screen (pda) to mouse (desktop) to trackpad (netbook)?

What I really need is a really small clamshell PDA that runs the same operating system as the desktop, fits in the pocket and can instantly resume and have at least two working days of battery life, in case I forget to charge daily. Unfortunately, companies nowadays seems to purposely provide only four out of the five things I need.

Netbooks - Too big for comfort.

When the first netbook came out, the price was a big factor. It was so cheap that we could forgive the small keyboard, the small screen screen and the paltry battery life.

Now the netbooks are getting better battery life, bigger keyboards and screens. The latter had to be forthcoming, but the bigger keyboards has also made the overall size of the netbook large enough to think, why shouldn't I just get a notebook computer.

The price of the netbooks are also getting close to the notebook range. The notebooks have bigger screens which, after prolonged use, it is hard to adjust to the 8.9 to 10 inch screens and the economized trackpads.

Netbooks used to be cheap and fun. Now, it's just feels slightly smaller than a notebook, with less performance and slightly less in price.

Fujitsu LifeBook N7010 - Nice touch.

Whether it is changing the wallpaper, using themes or using fancy looking launchers, I heart gimmicks.

The 4 inch touch screen is an nice one! Videos in the background, launch programs, webcam and other programs can be dragged into that small touchscreen.

It also has a removable dust filter and I hate dust.



Things I want to do on the 4 inch touch screen.

• Play trailers in the background.
• Webcam.
• Instant Messaging.
• Email Alerts
• Feeds
• Music.

Things I won't use much.

• Surprisingly, the touch screen application launcher.

Multitasking

I never really gave much thought about the specs on the computers. If they can load the office suite and access the internet, then it's sufficient. However, there are days when I want / need to do 10 things at the same time under a deadline and I wished I had a computer/os that worked.

Here are the things that I needed to do in 20 minutes.

1. Burn a catalogue on cd.
2. Confirmation emails.
3. Final checks on documents.
4. Print documents.
5. Internet for sending packages.
6. Back up information before powering down for the day.
7. Photo upload from camera
8. Touching up / processing photos / while being uploaded from camera.
9. Final adjustments on website using a lightweight application
10. Update information on a database.

I completed 9 of the above tasks.

It wasn't the CD burning that let me down, it was printing the documents which seemed to take forever, when under normal circumstances, there was no problem whatsoever.

I don't mind the disk activity, or the pauses between the application, or the crammed look on my desktop, I just want something that works.

Things I have pondered.

• Switch to a mac - Not possible. since some of the applications / net services require a pc / iexplorer.
  
• Bootcamp - Not possible, since I would be running into the same problems.
• Parallels - Cutting and pasting between the two os? Sharing data?
  
• RAM/CPU. Started with 512mb, then 1gb and now 2gb - dual core. I refuse to believe I need 4gb of ram for general office duties!
• Have a second PC / Laptop - Do I have to fire up 2 computers just to do my general office duties?
• Linux - See switch to a mac. Oh and which version or flavor! The manuals gave me a headache.
  

Libretto - Size matters. Not what you can do with it.

Toshiba has recently launched their new netbook. As usual, it looks quite similar to other netbooks and being Toshiba, it's a little bit more expensive.

I appreciate the fact that the standard size of netbooks seems to accommodate a usable keyboard, but I prefer the ones that are really small.

More than ten years ago, Toshiba released this fantastic Libretto 50, a small mini notebook. The keyboard was too small to touch type and the screen is very small.

If it was released today, with specs updated to run XP and priced in the same range as the Asus, I would buy it within a heart beat.

Specs to ponder.

• Pentium 75 Mhz
• 16MB Ram
• 6.1" screen
• 810MB HDD

Sharp PC6200 - Netbook?

The netbooks remind me of similar sized notebook that Sharp came out with a long time ago. My mother used to upload her blogs to a local BBS.

Specs to ponder over.

• MS DOS
• Intel 80286
• 12MHz
• 1 MB RAM
• 20MB Hard disk
• VGA Graphics - Mono

Asus Eee PC S101 - Gorgeous, Quirky and Overpriced

When the first Asus netbook came out, it was fantastic. What was fantastic? The price. Cheap enough to buy on impulse. You can really throw the small thing into your bag and type something at the coffee shop.

With the S101, it just makes me think about the macbook air.

Gorgeous points to ponder.

• Less than 1 inch thick.
• Shiny body.
• Luxurious mocha-copper brown coating.

Quirky points to ponder.

• The logo is somewhat cheap looking.
• XP almost makes anything gorgeous look dull.
• Bigger than 901.

Overpriced pointed to ponder.

• The original Asus was so cheap, it made netbooks fun.
• The price for the S101 is not fun.
• 20GBs of included online storage floating somewhere.