Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:58:55 -0400 From: Jerry McAllister <jerrymc@msu.edu> To: Michael David Crawford <mdc@prgmr.com> Cc: FreeBSD Mailing List <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: What I'd Like To See In A Netbook Message-ID: <20090910175854.GA27659@gizmo.acns.msu.edu> In-Reply-To: <4AA93D6A.2050704@prgmr.com> References: <20090909210833.GA23467@thought.org> <20090910102925.1ea9ffd3.freebsd@edvax.de> <20090910165129.GA20641@kokopelli.hydra> <4AA93D6A.2050704@prgmr.com>
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On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 10:54:50AM -0700, Michael David Crawford wrote: > Just in case there are any netbook manufacturers listening in, or > employees of such manufacturers: > > What I'd really like to see is a netbook with a regular size screen. > I've been shopping around some, and have so far been unable to find what > I desire. > > What I mean by that is that I want a notebook with a low-power, > inexpensive processor and modest memory. That will work fine if one > runs an operating system such as FreeBSD. > > But I want at least a fourteen inch screen, preferably fifteen inch. That ain't a netbook. That is a fullsize laptop. ////jerry > > The best advice anyone has been able to give me is to buy a "budget" > laptop, or an older model, perhaps used. The older Apple PowerPC > laptops are the closest to what I want. > > What I want to do with this "big netbook" is to troll community websites > while hanging out at cafes, as well as working on my own websites, > which are predominantly text - lots of essays and articles. > > I used to have a twelve inch Apple iBook, and it did work for me, but I > now vastly prefer my fifteen inch MacBook Pro. The problem with the > MacBook Pro is that it is a very expensive unit, it is the main source > of my livelihood, and I fear it being damaged or stolen if I use it to > troll all those community websites using the WiFi at Starbucks. > > So what I want is a second notebook just for cafe use, so I can leave my > MacBook Pro at home. This "big netbook" needs to be inexpensive enough > that it wouldn't be that big a deal if it were stolen, or seriously damaged. > > Just viewing web pages or writing in a text editor shouldn't require a > lot of CPU power or memory. It wouldn't need CD/DVD or floppy drives. > It wouldn't need Bluetooth, just 802.11 networking. It wouldn't need a > webcam built into the lid. It wouldn't need a very big hard drive. > Because the electronics would be low-power, it wouldn't need a fan. > > An Atom or ARM processor would be just fine for such a unit. If it were > running FreeBSD or Linux, I expect that 512 MB would be *far* more than > enough memory. > > I'm pretty sure that if someone were to actually produce such a "big > netbook", there would be lots more potential customers than just myself. > I have actually considered purchasing one of the netbooks of today, > but after looking them over, I have to say that their tiny screens would > be very disruptive to my writing Muse. > > Thank You All For Humouring Me On This. > > Mike > -- > Michael David Crawford > mdc@prgmr.com > > prgmr.com - We Don't Assume You Are Stupid. > > Xen-Powered Virtual Private Servers: http://prgmr.com/xen > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.org"
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