Cheap, lightweight connectivity with a keyboard
Netbooks fill two needs for me. First, I
need to access the Internet when I’m on the road. Most of the
information I need to earn a living is somewhere in the cloud and for
all practical purposes my office is my browser of business. I do,
however, need to write and read. I am writing this on the X101 in Google
Docs. A tablet is not working for me, I must have a keyboard.
I also have to write when I’m not
connected to the Internet – something that happens quite often. This
means that I also need a word processor.
To keep me connected and writing,
writing, or simply when not connected, I want a disposable machine
starts and stops quickly. A disposable, I mean something that I could
ruin by letting in the rain without feeling I experienced a financial
loss. The quick start is so that I do not have to leave the thing in
standby mode all day to avoid the pain of the restart. I did not need
much computing power or storage. I do not use power-hungry applications
or retain the information that interests me on netbooks.
After a weekend with the Asus X101 with Meego, I have the following observations.
Internet: All is well here. The Chrome
browser works well and the screen is bright. Videos, images, PDF files
and other display easily. The Wi-Fi connects painlessly.
Applications and Office Word Processor:
The X101 comes with Asus, and OpenOffice a very basic text editor. I use
OpenOffice in my office and it’s natural in this context. OpenOffice,
however, is large and acts a bit awkward on the X101. It opens slowly
and sometimes X101 low power struggles with it. Something like Jarte – a
little more sophisticated than a simple text editor, but less than a
full office suite – should appear on the site of application Asus.
Keyboard: It has a chiclet keyboard is
not as comfortable as a full-size keyboard, but it is not bad. My hands
that can palm a basketball, and I’ve been typing speed after a full hour
or to get the feel of it. One thing I like is that the touchpad is easy
to disable if you do not accidentally hit when typing.
Meego: boots Meego OS in fifteen
seconds. It’s better than Windows on a low power machine, but not great.
He stops almost instantly. I found the setup and then navigate Meego a
bit confusing at first, but I finally got an office that works for me. I
can now navigate through multiple applications without having to think
too much about the operating system. It’s a good thing.
Applications Meego: There is a Meego App
Store that comes with the computer, but the shelves are almost empty. I
have not seen everything I wanted, but, other than a middle of the road
for word processing, there is not much I need that is not included.
Battery life and weight: batteries are
heavy and this thing is not. It is very thin and light. You pay for it
in the life of the battery. I got three to four hours on one charge, a
short time compared to Asus netbooks heavy, but not bad compared to many
laptops full size. He has a record of reasonable size, and no bulky
power supply.
I only got the X101 a few days, but I
consider it a keeper. He made a number of things well and happen to be
things I need to do. I’m looking for the machine that does everything.
The X101 provides connectivity cheap lighter, keyboard use, and some
basic stand alone applications. If you need a lot more than that, I
would look elsewhere.
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