Into the Void

HP Netbook

New toy! It’s an HP Netbook PC. A Netbook is a tiny laptop suitable for everyday use. Email, online banking, writing letters. It’s so small you can carry it in that duffel bag you call a purse, and it can connect anywhere. Most models I investigated had integrated wireless (WiFi). AT&T and Verizon both offered Netbooks with 3G broadband wireless capability. Some models had Bluetooth for mouse or headphones.

I purchased the HP1035NA and really put it through its paces. YouTube videos played without a glitch. I will try Netflix videos in a day for two and edit this… Web browsing, email, and document editing were more than adequate, though if you normally run a high speed machine for engineering apps you’ll notice a difference. I didn’t do any tweaks to speed up the netbook, things like disabling indexing or windows animations.

The downside of the HP 1035NA Netbook is that it has less hard drive capacity and is slightly more expensive than some of its competitors, including the ASUS Eee PC 900. However, the slightly larger 10.2-inch display and the nearly full-size tactile keyboard are what sold me on the HP.

Specs:
OS:Windows XP Home SP3
Productivity: Microsoft Works
Display: 10.2-Inch
Processor: 1.60 GHz Intel Atom Processor N270 with 512KB L2 Cache
Graphics: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (shared) with up to 128MB Total Available Graphics Memory
RAM: 1GB DDR2 System Memory (1 Dimm)
Storage: 60GB (4200RPM) Hard Drive
Connectivity: 802.11b/g WLAN & Bluetooth.
Dimensions: 6.56 (W) x 10.3 (D) x 0.99 (H) approx.,
Weight: 2.38 lbs.

Santa wasn’t very good to me this year. I suspect that he heard me accidentally call him Satan the week before Christmas. Or maybe he figured out that I’m a [tag]techno-Pagan[/tag].
I bought myself a toy instead. It’s better that way… I got exactly what I wanted and I didn’t have to be a good girl to get it.
My latest toy is a [tag]Siemens SX66[/tag] PDA phone. I needed this phone, really I did. My old Toshiba e310 is still in great shape, but it doesn’t have enough RAM. My old cell phone was one of Cingular’s freebies.
It’s not cutting edge, but the
SX66 is still an impressive little device. It runs the [tag]Windows Mobile 2003[/tag] OS, so I didn’t have to RTFM.
Yeah, ok, you want some more details. 400MHz [tag]X-Scale[/tag] processor, 128M of RAM and 64M of flash. For reference, my spare computer is only marginally faster and originally had less RAM. 128M of RAM doesn’t hold much in the way of fun, but the SX66 has an SD slot so I can carry around videos and photos on SD or MMC cards.
I have Cingular, and they have this silly thing called MEdiaNET. It’s expensive, a penny per kbyte. Fortunately the SX66 also has [tag]WiFi[/tag], and I set it up to check for WiFi first. It also has bluetooth – and of course the first thing I did was make it talk to my husband’s Motorola Razr. Hmmm, Santa was pretty good to him this year. The second thing was to have a great bluetooth group grope at work. Engineers…
As an aside, there are variations on this PDA for other phone systems. The Audiovox XV6600 PDA Phone works with Verizon and seems to have a bonus – a camera.
The SX66 connects to my PC with ActivSync via USB, just like my old Toshiba. It shares the calendar, notes and contact list with Outlook. I don’t use Outlook for anything but to keep all that stuff backed up.
And if that’s not good enough, it also has an Irda port. I had a universal TV remote on the Toshiba, which came in handy more than once. I love a good practical joke.
And of course, I had to get some accessories:

• Logitech Mobile Freedom -Bluetooth Headset
• Krusell Handit Multidapt Case
• ClearTouch Crystal Screen Protector
• Ballpoint Pen – Stylus Replacement