To Tech As Jesus Did

…since I have written a post, and a VERY long time since I’ve written about my personal passion, the net book.

Without being too cocky I do believe that I called this one right.  The net book (or as they call it on BuzzOutLoud the not-book) has taken the market by storm and is quickly populating Starbucks everywhere.

I’ve been asked by several teachers and parents to recommend a netbook.  Though I don’t feel comfortable recommending a specific product, I want to write a scenic overview from which you can take whatever you want.

Though several companies make these machines (I am waiting for the Fisher-Price netbook any day – the Pampers netbook?) i think there are three main players and two alternates in the field. Here are the big three in no particular order:

1.  The Asus eee PC

Asus was first to the game and have developed the form to where it is now.  The most confusing thing about the eee is that they have released SO MANY MODELS!  One needs to look at the stats very carefully when ordering in order to get what you want.

The eee is available at Amazon, where you can probably find the best selection and good prices.  If you are impatient, it is also available at Target, though they will only have one or two models

2.  The Acer Aspire One

Acer Aspire One

Full disclosure here, I have not yet touched an Aspire.  I have included it in this discussion based primarily on reviews I have read and the general reputation of the machine. Depending on model, the Acer is probably the least expensive for a quality product. The Acer can be purchased online and at Walmart stores as well as all the usual online sources.

3.  The Dell Latitude Mini

Dell Inspiron Mini

Dell was later into the netbook field, but they have entered with a strong machine.  The keyboard is probably the most comfortable of the three.  It is slightly more expensive than the others, but still a great deal.  I haven’t seen this machine available anywhere but directly through Dell, so you can’t try before you buy (of course we have one here if you want to look at it).

There are two other names in the field, the MSI Wind and the HP Mini-note. I

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Overheard in the LeVecke center:

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I follow several technology sites which help me to keep up with the latest developments in hardware and software.  Much of it is just noise, but once in a while I see something that seems to be important both in what it does and what it means in the world of tech development.

This week Google released the first significant new browser in some time.  The new browser called CHROME is currently only available for Windows, though versions for Mac and Linux are expected soon.  I downloaded the beta release and installed it on several machines including my office computer, my home computer and a few of the Eee PCs.

In a few words…I LOVE it.  It’s simple, and fast Fast FAST.  It seems very compatible with most pages and web applications (Acceditation Plus won’t load on it…which probably speaks in its favor).  It works with a tab design similar to Firefox, but the tabs run as independent programs, so if a web page or app. won’t load or crashes, you can close that tab and the others continue running.

I don’t want to take too much time describing and analyzing Chrome, so I’m including two links.

This first link is to a short (5 minute) video demonstrating the key features of the program:

http://demogirl.com/2008/09/02/screencast-tour-of-google-chrome/

This second link will take you to the Chrome download site:

http://www.google.com/chrome/

Why is this important?  The fact that Google is releasing its own browser emphasizes its committment to “cloud computing.”  In this model, the browser takes the place of the operating system, and applications run on web pages rather than on local machines.  This further supports the development of new UMPC’s (or “netbooks” as they seem to be called now).  

Give Chrome a try.

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