Hi all: I am considering purchasing something like an EeePc or Aspire One for use on the road. There are a few different brands, I was hoping to hear from those of you who use one and what your thoughts on them are. For instance: if you bought a hard drive model, have you had any vibration issues?

This page has 2 links to discussions about the PCs you mentioned.

Ray

i have a msi wind. i haven't messed around with the other brands so much, but spec wise i think it's the best. i am going to be taking it on a small bike trip next week. just get a proper padded case (i am putting the 10" padded case within a larger padded case) and you should be fine.

Haven't carried it on the bike yet but I'm using a Dell mini 9. The keyboard takes some getting used to and the touchpad can be a little squirrely sometimes, other than those things I like it. It has an SSD instead of a hard drive and I like that too.

I have the Asus 900 eee with Linux. I love it. When I bought mine, the Linux model was $50 less than th Windows version. Now the Window version is cheaper, but I would still go Linux.
I was installing a wireless printer the other day. I put the disk in my Windows Vista computer. While it was installing, I got on the Internet to figure out how to install the printer driver on the Linux machine, downloaded the driver, installed it after learning the proper Unix commands and got it running before the Vista computer had finished installing from the DVD drive.

I have the Acer Aspire One with Windows XP, 160 GB, and the 6-cell battery. I've carried it on the bike for short distances to coffee shops and such. I love this mini-laptop. I paid $379 back in December from Amazon. They're now selling them for $329 and free shipping. Amazing deal...
The 6-cell gives me about 4 one-hour wi-fi sessions at Starbucks...

Lot of reviews on netbooks here:

https://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCateg...&name=Netbooks

I've read that some of the EEEs are slow/underpowered. It is challenging to read from a 7" screen and type on a small keyboard. I personally would get the HD version and some sd flash memory, which is cheaper than SSD last time I looked. Cost for these netbooks is nearly the same as a full blown laptop.

I have a 13" toshiba that weighs 4.5 lbs and runs 4+ hrs on battery, cost $650. Its a good compromise. Unfortunately its got Vista. Spend a lot of time doing updates. I recommend XP or if you're proficient with Win OSs, Win 7 beta, which doesn't expire till August,IIRC.

Another idea - HTC Touch Pro - you need good vision + lots of patience to interface with such a small screen.

https://www.htc.com/us/product.aspx?id=74294

Alltel, verizon are providers, as well as others. About the smallest device you could carry on tour. You need to be a hardcore geek to be happy with these devices.

Then there's always the venerable pocketmail

https://www.pocketmail.com/us/products/devices/

And finally, the lowly mead comp. These are rarely stolen from campsites.

https://www.amazon.com/Mead-Compositi...ef=pd_sbs_op_1

I have been using my Eee for 7 months and have not found any of your concerns to actually be true. Mine has a 9 inch screen, not a 7 inch screen. I can read it fine, even at my advanced age. I have very large hands and haven't had any problems with the keyboard after the first hour.
I am not sure what you do with your laptop, but I only use my netbook as a netbook. For web surfing, emailing, light word processing, saving pictures, etc, power is really not a problem. if you are planning on playing World of Warcraft than you definitely don't want a netbook.
The Asus PC 900 is currently selling for $279 at Amazon with free shipping. This is less than 1/2 the price of a low end laptop. It is even cheaper than a 16GB Itouch. Of course, an Itouch has a lot cooler games.
At 2 pounds, without a harddrive, it is toally unobtrusive in your panniers.
Finally, SD cards have gotten incredibly cheap if you want to expand the storage capacity.

An alternative would be the Sony VAIO P series. It's more interesting than other cookie cutter-like netbooks. At 1.4lbs, 2GB RAM, 1.33GHz Atom proc (slower than the usual 1.6GHz...but what would you need the extra speed for when touring, right?), built-in GPS.

The reason that some of the EEE's seemed to slow was because, well, they were. They simply had older processors. The newer ones have the same Atom as the rest, and are quite fine.

I personally own the Acer Aspire One configured with Windows XP, 120gb HDD, 6-cell battery. I really like this computer a lot, it has an excellent blend of portability and utility. Its my only computer now, as I personally desire little more than the internet and the ability to enjoy music, both of which this computer does very well.

There are also 2 other Aspire Ones in the house, both are Linux, 120gb HDD, 3-cell battery. There have been no problems of any sort with any of the 3 netbooks, so from my perspective the Acer models seem fairly well made and reliable.

I own an older Dell Latitude D420/12.1". Comes with a 1.8" hard drive (which is the weakest thing about it), everything else is SOLID. Is made out of some magnesium metal, 2GB ram and a Core Duo processor. A lot faster then any netbook i've tried. You can EASILY swap out the hard drive and put in a FAST CF card (300X) and put windows on that (8GB or bigger). Also has a built in SD card reader and all the ports, including firewire. Does not have a DVD drive, but you can get a base for it with one. Weighs under 3lbs... These notebooks can be found for $300ish used... Once they come out with a DUAL core Atom processor, i'd think about a netbook, until they are just too slow.

+1 on the Acer Aspire One. I have the AAO 150 -- WinXP, 120 (well, 160) gig HDD, 8.9 in screen. I absolutely love it! It's small and light, and remarkably powerful. Right now it's my main computer. It (as well as the Asus eeePC, MSI wind, et al) really is suitable for most day-to-day tasks.

The reason I got the AAO instead of the Asus eeePc is because I like the keyboard on this computer much better. If you have any intention of doing any hardware hacking (upgrading RAM, adding 3G or Internal GPS, etc.) then the Asus is still the way to go. I had no intention of doing any of those things, so I'm quite more than satisfied!

As for HDD vibration issues, unless you have the naked computer strapped to the rack and you ride continuously on washboards, then no. Chances are something else (like the casing or screen) is more prone to any kind of physical shock damage than the HDD.

https://www.engadget.com/2009/02/09/a...eview-roundup/

One thing to keep in mind is that the EEE is the only one which takes a 12v power supply, and can easily be charged from a 12v solar panel, albeit only with the power off if the panel is a smallish 5W or so

like my Asus 1000 Linux model w/40gb SSD - 10" LCD, nearly 7 hours of runtime, provides digital TV viewing (via an Asus U3100 mini USB tuner w/included portable antenna), plays .mp3s, movies, works w/my ipod and digital cameras, includes 1.3mp webcam, sports three USB ports, bluetooth, wifi-a/b/g, and an sdhc port... all i did was replace the 1gb RAM with a 2gb chip

quite the happy camper...

but if i were touring and needed a small 'puter, i'd take my Nokia N800

And 3x the price at about $900+

I have an Asus Eee PC900HD that my wife insisted on getting (it came in PINK) So far I have been impressed with it. If I needed a small laptop for the road I think I would get the solid state and Linux based.

Another option if you will be traveling through populated areas is a standalone hard drive and public library computers/internet cafes. Also you can "buy" computer time at most Fedex Kinko's. I use the Seagate Free Agent to store my personal stuff on at work. I can plug it into any computer with a USB port and internet connection and be good to go.

Aaron

Just bought my 15 year old daughter the same model in pink -- $279 at Best Buy. It's got the "slower" Celeron processor, 1GB RAM, 120GB HD, 8.9" screen, runs XP. She really likes it, it suits her needs. I think I'll stick to my PDA (Palm Treo) for traveling, though.

Judy

I have been utilizing a Crackberry recently, but it has it's limitations. The Asus we have has the Celeron too, but for what my wife needs it is perfect and cheap.

Aaron

True...but cost wasn't stated as a selection criteria...

I too must recommend the Asus EEEPC, though you may wish to go with the 901 model. As an avid Linux user, I must recommend using Linux over any of the Windows options available, for many reasons. First of all, you're going to take a decent performance hit using Windows, even XP without any of the "pretty" stuff turned on. Second, it's easy enough to find FREE alternatives for anything you're likely to do with the EEE. You can use OpenOffice instead of MS Office (or Google Docs, if you need the absolute bare minimum of features in your office suite, but this is of course available to Windows and Mac users as well), Amarok or Rhythmbox for music (both will also sync your iPod to the best of my knowledge), Mozilla Firefox for web browsing (IMO, you should be using this even if you are on Windows or Mac OS) and Gimp Image Editor for photo tweaking (though if you're used to using Photoshop, this little guy does have a bit of a learning curve - that said, even if you do use Windows on an EEE, Photoshop isn't going to run very well on the hardware you've got available).

If you're like me and you don't particularly care for Xandros (the Linux distro that comes with the EEE), you might take a look at EEEBuntu, which is plenty easy for anyone to install. Check it out at https://www.eeebuntu.org.

EEEPC cons: Small keyboard - not a terribly big deal if you've got small hands, but if you're a bigger guy/gal, you might have some trouble. Small screen - I have the 7 inch version and yes, it is a bit hard to read at times, but if you're taking this little guy on a tour, I don't imagine you're spending a TON of time on it anyway. When I purchased mine, the 9 incher was not an option - I'd recommend taking this route if you have the cash. The EEE is also a bit slow, but with a relatively inexpensive RAM upgrade, it isn't a problem. I personally did not upgrade the RAM in my EEE and have found the 512MB to be fine for basic tasks.

EEEPC pros: SSD - solid state disk, which means that unlike normal hard drives, SSDs are not damaged by jarring and bumping. EXCELLENT wireless card - my normal sized laptop (a Lenovo R60e) cannot pick up some of the access points that my EEE can.

LOVING my MSI Wind. As an added bonus, it's the only netbook you can take on the road that'll run Mac OSX as well.

I have recently bought the EEE 901 and very happy with it but haven't taken it on tour yet.
My question is how do you protect your notebooks from knocks/bumps and moisture/humidity?
I've been looking for a case (of reasonable size and weight) for a while with no luck.

Sorry dont mean to highjack the thread.

For vibration I've put it in a thin sleeve but otherwise packed my netbook in my clothes pannier with some clothes surrounding. For moisture, I've packed it in a large ziplock bag and otherwise in a very waterproof (Ortlieb) pannier.

My most recent netbook is an Acer Aspire One. I rode with it on recent ride from Brownsville to Dallas. Prior to there being an explicit netbook category, I took a Sony Vaio across Eurasia in 2007. The Russian roads did a number on rims, racks and other parts of my bike, but the laptop was fine.

Neoprene sleeve and a gallon Ziploc freezer bag.

FWIW I have double padded laptops for years. Usually a padded sleeve and a padded case. I work industrial construction and am hard on laptops. My Compaq Pressario survived 7 years of field use and my Dell D610 is going on 5 years. So I have to assume that the double padding works. In one case I had to gate check my large briefcase/bag. I saw the clowns drop it when they were loading it into the cargo hold. Laptop was fine, ever since then I ALWAYS carry the padded sleeve with the laptop on board.

Aaron

I seems that all the netbooks work well, Asus Acer etc. You have to decide between the 10" and 9" models. Most of the new netbooks are in the 10" form factor which has a slightly larger keyboard for easier typing, but they take up more room and are considerably heavier. The 10" models tend to come with 160MB hard drives and run Windows XP. If you go 10" get the extended battery life versions the Asus 1000HE has 9.5 hrs of battery life, costs around $300 and looks great.

The 9" models haven't had as much recent development, but I like them because they are small and light. You can get them with either xp or linux and solid state drives of 160 MB hard drives. I have the older Asus 900 and it works very well. The SS drive is good for touring because it is fast and robust, no moving parts. I've installed eeeunbutu Linus as it has a few more tools than the Linux that came with the PC.