I can't help but feeling a bit like Hannelore from
Questionable Content right now, my HP laptop being Winslow. You see, back in July 2007, Marli generously
donated her Windows-based HP-laptop to
science me, since she was making the transition to Apple and I was in need for something new, but couldn't part with my old and dodgy (but still working) hunk of junk.
I've been thankful ever since; the HP became my new travel companion and my workstation in the living room, and it's still a really great piece of kit, which I use on an almost daily basis.
However, she (I named her Noriko when I got her) has one flaw; she's kind of heavy, weighing in at a hefty 3+ kilo.
Her power adaptor comes in at a few hundred grammes, meaning that I'm lugging 3,5kg of computer hardware around wherever I'm taking her.
Taking into account that my photo gear isn't exactly light weight either and the fact that my shoulder is protesting a bit under the strain of hauling about 15kg of gear when I'm travelling abroad... Well, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that something needs to be done.
Now, last year, Asus presented their Eee-platform in the shape of a miniature laptop (a so-called netbook) running Linux on a tiny processor, a small chunk of memory and an
SSD for storage.
All this miniaturisation meant that these things ought to be very light, and so they are; at 1 to 1,5kg they are every shoulder's dream, and they are relatively cheap to boot.
When the first tests came in and showed that these things also pack some punch, I immediately figured that this would be what I needed. However, I wasn't very keen on the Asus to begin with, so I decided to wait and see what else would be coming our way.
As I figured, more manufacturers jumped on this bandwagon, bringing their version with slightly different features, since the base model had some restrictions forced upon it by Intel. When Samsung presented their version, the NC10, in November last year, it clearly showed promise.
Tests revealed that, while the batteries of the Packard Bell and Acer-netbooks had better longevity, the Samsung wasn't far behind, and its keyboard turned out to be great.
So I bought one a few weeks ago:
I placed an eight cm tall Goomba next to it to give you an estimate of size; it's clear that she's really tiny. :)
Her name is Shinobu, which means "endurance" in Japanese. Why? Because she allows me to do all sorts of things on a battery which lasts somewhere in between of five to eight hours.
Furthermore, since I have an extensive network at home, I need to name my machines. Random names are stupid; might as well give them proper names while I'm at it. ;)
So that's why I'm feeling a little like Hanners; I'm still very grateful to Marli for the HP, it is great and works fine, but I needed something light for my travels and the NC10 is exactly that. If it wasn't for her low price tag, Shinobu wouldn't have made it into my house anyway.
Why now? Well, in two weeks, I'll be going to Osaka again for a short visit, and I intend to travel lighter, this time. ;)
Cheers, K.