New Laptop

[bjarvis]

My old Asus EEE PC netbook is still working well, but it's gradually showing its age (four years). Being a netbook, it was always a tiny, light-weight little worker: the screen was unusually small (600x1024), the keyboard reduced enough to make typing a challenge and it has only 2GB of RAM and a 900MHz CPU running Windows XP. At home, I connected it to an external monitor to make it a bit easier on my eyes.

The greatest thing of this little beast is that it travels like a dream: it's so much smaller than any other laptop I've ever had. For my regular trips to/from the data center and occasional trip to the corporate overlords in California, it's been fantastic.

The new machine is an Asus X501A. 15.6" screen, a full keyboard, 2.3 GHz CPU, 4GB of RAM, 320 GB hard drive. It's not a top-of-the-line model by any stretch but it's the same weight as my old netbook while three times more powerful. And it cost about $300, more or less the same as my netbook four years ago, a price point at which I consider the machine to be essentially disposable.

The new beast is running Windows 8, which has been a bit of a pain. The OS itself isn't too bad --it feels a lot like Windows 7-- but they've slapped on this top-coat of pain called "Metro," their user interface which replaces the old Start button & menu. Flipping between apps & screens is an enormous pain compared to the old stalwart versions of Windows but I'm gradually (and grudgingly) getting used to the interface changes. The extra hardware speed has helped persuade me to keep plodding through the Win8 suckage.

All of my regular apps have been successfully transferred to the new laptop, including Vic Ceder's CSDS application used for my square dance calling, including Winamp and Pacemaker, the plugins which control MP3 playing. My VPN to the office is working well so I can travel with the new machine as needed. Printing is working as it should too.

The only thing left to tackle is some form or version of MS Office, although I'm probably going to go with some Office clone rather than experiment with the latest cloud-based or subscription-based versions of the original package. I'm open to suggestions!

Comments

[theoctothorpe.livejournal.com]

LOL freudian slip "top-coat of pain"

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

I spotted the typo just after I posted it, and almost went back to make a fix. Then I thought, Gee, I think my subconscious is trying to make me a more honest person, so I left it.

[abqdan.livejournal.com]

I thought you meant exactly what you wrote - indeed, it made complete sense when I read it.

[book-of-daniel.livejournal.com]

My little 3 year old Asus is dying too. They keyboard acts like it's gummed up with something. (No. No that.) It's also getting slower all the time. I've been looking around for something new myself. I want to keep the screen small....like around 11 or so...because it's more or less my couch PC for when I don't want to hold onto my iPad for long periods of time.

[excessor.livejournal.com]

I'm open to suggestions!

Come back and visit!

[trawnapanda.livejournal.com]

I recently had my old laptop get *quite* cranky, and asked the IT people at my workplace for assistance in choosing replacements (what brand? now or later?, those kinda questions).

They came up with suggestions for the one that I got in late November and I'm quite happy.

I post now to quote the IT advice on timing: "If you buy now, you can get it with Win7. If you wait much longer you'll be forced into Windows 8 and you don't want that".

reading your comments, I think my advisers were wise.

[abqdan.livejournal.com]

So glad to read this. Haven't had to deal with Win8 yet, but I'm planning to apply it to a machine and see how that goes. Found some great 'cheat sheets' online that purport to simplify the transition, and add back the missing start button etc. My biggest concern is whether existing apps will really run under Win8 - your post confirms that so far for you, they do. Good news!

Oh - and I've used OpenOffice a lot, and it works pretty well. The interface can be clunky compared to Office, but I certainly don't ever plan to 'upgrade' from a standalone package to a subscription, cloud based package - why would I want to buy office again and again every year?