Possible Replacement Laptop

I did my usual circuit of the local pawn shops this morning to see what might be available. Yeah, it sounds odd but that's how I've purchased most of my laptops in the past 15+ years and have found some great deals. Alas, not today.

Side note: In one pawn shop, I stood in a line for a while and was the only person shopping for rather than pawning equipment. That's a sign the economy Is Not In Good Condition. Another pawn shop has closed --that may be a sign things are even worse than I thought.

At Best Buy (of all places), I found a good candidate: the Asus EEE netbook (model EPC1000HD-BKBB1). It's only 3lbs, has a 10" screen, 10/100 Mpbs port, 802.11/g wireless, 1 GB of RAM, a 120 GB of hard drive space and an Intel Celeron 900 MHz CPU, for $350 new. No CD-ROM or DVD but USB versions of such could be added. It's not enough for a complete workstation but I believe it would be more than enough for my work-on-the-go and even my square dance calling.

Anyone have experience with or opinions on Asus' netbooks? What do folks think about the Atom processor available in other models?

Possible Replacement Laptop

I did my usual circuit of the local pawn shops this morning to see what might be available. Yeah, it sounds odd but that's how I've purchased most of my laptops in the past 15+ years and have found some great deals. Alas, not today.

Side note: In one pawn shop, I stood in a line for a while and was the only person shopping for rather than pawning equipment. That's a sign the economy Is Not In Good Condition. Another pawn shop has closed --that may be a sign things are even worse than I thought.

At Best Buy (of all places), I found a good candidate: the Asus EEE netbook (model EPC1000HD-BKBB1). It's only 3lbs, has a 10" screen, 10/100 Mpbs port, 802.11/g wireless, 1 GB of RAM, a 120 GB of hard drive space and an Intel Celeron 900 MHz CPU, for $350 new. No CD-ROM or DVD but USB versions of such could be added. It's not enough for a complete workstation but I believe it would be more than enough for my work-on-the-go and even my square dance calling.

Anyone have experience with or opinions on Asus' netbooks? What do folks think about the Atom processor available in other models?

Bzzzt.

UBS has informed me via snail-mail that my 84 options to purchase Fannie Mae stock at the bargain price of $69.525 per share expires March 19, 2009.

The stock is currently trading at $0.78. I think I'll pass.

Bzzzt.

UBS has informed me via snail-mail that my 84 options to purchase Fannie Mae stock at the bargain price of $69.525 per share expires March 19, 2009.

The stock is currently trading at $0.78. I think I'll pass.

Adding to the Shopping List...

My home office also needs a vastly larger LCD monitor. My largest is only 14" or so... life would be much easier if I could have multiple windows open side-by-side.

Adding to the Shopping List...

My home office also needs a vastly larger LCD monitor. My largest is only 14" or so... life would be much easier if I could have multiple windows open side-by-side.