HP Mini1000tv Vivienne Tam - Hot Edition

There was I transfixed with Sony's latest but ultimately expensive offering. When closed, the Sony Vaio P netbook or lifestyle computer is just a beauty to behold. But open it up and it's the ugh - silver muck that just makes me so want to procrastinate. I had a look at another netbook. The Mini Note 1000 and it's a gorgeous black netbook but with XP running on it. Something about it just seems ordinary. Well, step in Vivienne Tam, who I have never heard of until now. She was responsible for this absolutely gorgeous looking redesign or repaintwork of the HP Mini Note. Just look at the wild, ferocious red paint! It's just a shame that the lid looks like someone barfed on it.

Anti-Virus Software a Reality? - Apple Mac

Wanting to buy a Mac, this is one thing I thought I would never have to worry. It's not about the security, it's not about the dangers of viruses, and it's nothing to do with having something that's better than a PC. It's the bloat that is going to come with these sort of programs.

First it's the anti-virus program, then it's going to be the spyware program, then it's going to be the firewall and finally it's going to be all those mandatory updates. This means upgrading memory, upgrading hardware to keep up with the bloat and turning a lovely machine into a PC.

Bruce Lee - PC or Mac?

Imagine what would happen if you applied the Bruce Lee's quote to Apple Macs.

1. Hack away at the unessential.

Definately a Mac. It has nothing but the essentials.

2. As you think, so you shall become.

Definately a Mac guy.

3. If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done.

No wonder I'm never able to switch to a Mac. I keep thinking about switching and...

4. To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person

I need to swap office files with someone at work who uses a PC. So, therefore I'm a PC?

5. Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against.

This is not going to help me buy a mac.

6. Showing off is the fool’s idea of glory.

Well, part of getting shiny, smooth, all aluminium macbook is to ...

I guess Bruce Lee doesn't like computers.

Acer c100/c110 - Cheap Netbook Tablet PC

When it was first released it was a bargain for a tablet PC. However, tablet PC's have never really taken off and so the model was discontinued and replaced with a newer version.

In order to make way for the new version, the old version could be found at bargain prices. In fact it was sold at a price similar to today's netbooks. Some of course could be found on Ebay.

What made the Acer c100 different to today's netbooks was of course the fact that you could use a pen and twist it's screen and transform it into a tablet PC. Tablet PC has many features that are usually more fun than they are productive.

It was fun to draw things with the pen and it was fun to highlight data in excel spreadsheets. It did have a feature which was amazing and that was the ability to transform handwritten cursory text into normal text.

The text were easy to read on the 10.2 inch screen but sometimes when not running on AC the screen will dim, making it difficult to read in bright areas.

Inside the Acer, there didn't seem to be a fan and so it was very quiet. However, it could also get quite hot when using demanding apps.

Being based on a Mobile Pentium, Windows XP Tablet, various touchscreen apps and video players performed minimally and the boot up and resume from hard disk was slow over time.

Old technology such as the Acer C100 seemed to look and feel like today's netbooks. due ito it's size and operating system. However, more often than not you will find that it is much heavier and less adequate compared to current netbooks.

HP Mini1000 - Black Stallion of Netbooks.

Just look at that shiny black keyboard. It just begs to be typed on. It's hard to look anywhere else. The price is good and the size is good too. The screen is good and although the glossy finish can be a nightmare outside, a matte screen is just so dull and feels like work. The battery is life is reasonable lasting just under 3 hours of constant use. But what on earth are those buttons doing on the side of the trackpad?

Amstrad PPC - Monster of a Netbook!

Users who like to use those minimalistic word processors need to look no further. Just look at this beast of a machine. This hunk of junk has enough power to boot a seriously minimalistic version of linux or dos and barely lasts a few minutes on those big C cell batteries, all 10 of them!

9 inch screen
10 cell batteries
Intel Processor
Less than 1GB of ram.
Boots in less than 30 seconds.
Runs Microsoft OS
Built in twin compact swappable backup media.
Built in internet capable communication device.( More than 2000bps! )

I'm sure someone can find a text editor and put this machine to good use. Just look at that awesome keyboard. It even comes with a handle so you can take it to the coffeeshop and take up as much space as you possibly can.

iWork.com - Something New?

This sounds good. So I can actually use those beautiful apps to compose my documents and spreadsheets without actually buying a Mac. What a great idea!

Well, it turns out much to my disappointment. That's all it is. A great idea.In fact, you still need to buy a Mac, a copy of iWorks and the only thing you can do is share documents online.

Still, I guess it does have it's uses in the 'business world'. I mean, once you've composed your beautiful presentation on Keynote, instilled into your head that your Steve Jobs and honed his presentation quirks and skills, you can just use a PC to view keynote files online without using a Mac. Or do I still need a Mac for that?

Oh dear! So animations in Keynote can't be viewed on iWork.com. I'm suddenly having trouble figuring out what on earth is the purpose of iWork? Sharing files online is... what? Something new?

The Problem with Linux today - A Modern Tragedy.

Let's face it, the computer has now become a lifestyle. Take the recent explosion of netbooks.

Netbooks are for women who like to type a blog, email or upload photos on their dainty computer and shove it into their ever increasing size handbags.

Netbooks are for men who just want to own a new toy and challenge themselves to see if they can do exactly what they can do on their normal laptops, but on tiny keyboards and underpowered chipsets.

Netbooks are for students who like to believe they need a computer to type notes on the go, but secretly they are buying one because their best friend announced they got one in pink through their twitter account. I mean, who is going to bring their old Dell laptop if everyone is using a netbook?

So where does Linux fit into all of this? It doesn't. That's the problem.

Sony Vaio Type P - Sony's New Netbook computer.

So Sony has finally released a netbook to the public. Yet time and time again, I can't help but think that Sony just loses the plot.

They lost the plot with the PS3 when they made it so expensive. When it was launched people didn't flock to it even when it was launched in better economic surroundings. Now, with the economy gloom looming over everyone, it's just not plausible to buy a PS3.

Same principle is applied to their new netbooks. Their netbook type P is equipped with a slow Atom 1.33ghz processor and although it does come with a decent 2gb of ram, they decided to just to use Vista instead of XP. It's like putting a burger into a chocolate cake. It's edible, but the burger belongs in a bun.

Netbooks are for the budget conscious! No one actually does any serious work on them! They are just for fun! I'm definitely not going to buy.....


What the devil?! I'm so getting one. Look how small and thin it is! It looks so cool. I guess Sony do know what they are doing. Now I know why so many people buy Apple Macs...

Apple iWork 09 - Coming Soon.

I am very much looking forward to Apple's latest offering. I absolutely abore office work. Yet Apple iWork 08 seemed to make everything I do look good and the experience was such a good one that I nearly bought an iMac.

Well, nearly that is. For one, it just had too many flaws that I'm just not happy with. The spreadsheet while absolutely simple and beautiful but it was terrible when managing medium sized spreadsheets. What's worse is the fact that it just simply didn't open excel spreadsheets properly. Simple ones are fine, but the ones where invoices and macros are involved and it chokes and splutters.

Still, these must be issues that other users have faced and now with the new iWork 09 coming out soon, I hope these problems are addressed. I just don't want to buy an Apple Mac and have to use Microsoft Office for it. Not that I don't like it, but a PC can do that cheaply.