That Time I Bought a Netbook and then Never Really Mentioned It

I’m sitting online at Paciugo right now, across the street from the Midas where they may or may not be able to check out my check engine light before tomorrow morning, despite the fact that I left work early to get it there by 5 because they told me if I did, they’d have it looked at this evening. But instead of dwelling on the fact that they are morons, I decided that instead I would pull out my trusty netbook and write a blog post! Ya know, since as far as I’m aware, the internet is still broken at my house.

And then it occurred to me, as I noticed the kink in this plan that was my complete lack of an idea for a post, that I never really mentioned the purchase of said netbook on this blog. And that perhaps there are others of you out there considering the purchase of just such a device I might be able offer some insight. Or maybe not, but we’re gonna go with it.

I purchased this Acer Aspire One netbook from Amazon (in blue, because I like to buy things in blue…like my car) back in early December. I did a lot of research and had pretty much narrowed it down to an Acer or an ee. They were the most reasonable, price-wise, and after reading approximately eighty gazillion reviews for netbooks of every brand, they stood out as the most bang for your buck. In fact, a netbook appealed to me over a standard laptop because it was 1) cheaper and 2) easier to tote around. I actually purchased a monitor and external mouse/keyboard as well, so I can plug it in at my desk and it’s like I’m using any old PC. The only thing it’s missing is a CD drive.

I really love it. Admittedly the screen size is sometimes kind of annoying, as not much fits on a page before you need to scroll, but it is well worth the portability in my opinion. I bought a sleeve for it and can stick it in my purse or backpack and barely notice the extra weight. The keyboard is slightly smaller, but I’ve had no problem with that (although I do have tiny hands…). Some of the reviews I read complained about the trackpad, but it doesn’t bother me…I don’t use the “multi-gesture” feature though, so I suppose if that was important to you it might be an issue. I did go ahead and max out the RAM and I already owned an external hard drive, so I only keep what I need to on the actual machine to avoid slowing it down. So far it’s been very durable, enduring constant attention from my cats, who are very jealous of that new thing in my lap, how about they sit there instead?

Overall I’m very pleased. It’s perfect for taking to a coffee shop or a friend’s place to read or write on the fly. Also? It’s super cute (and blue!) and perfectly functional at my desk when that’s a better environment. I think it was well worth the $350 I paid for it.

How about you guys? Do any of you own netbooks? Are you considering purchasing one? What are your thoughts on this new category of laptop?