Ideal adventure travel computers
It is amazing how fast PC technology advances. Only two years ago, when trying to come up with a solution to my blogging needs while on a tour around the Himalayas, I had just a few options open. Either carry a regular size laptop (13.3” or 14.1”) or use PCs in Internet cafes. Lugging a 5 or 6 lbs. heavy laptop was too cumbersome and relying on the PC cafes only wasn’t too efficient either, given their underpowered, virus infected machines. Ultra-mobile portables were out of question from the beginning. They were expensive at the time, close to and over $2,000, and fragile. At least for writing my daily reports, I came up with somewhat unique solution: HP iPAQ handheld and a foldable Bluetooth keyboard. Yes, with limited functionality but it allowed me to write anywhere and anytime rather than spending too much time in smoke-filled PC rooms transcribing my notes. In this way, it helped me to save a few bucks, too, as I could upload my reports faster.
Now, look at the same scenario today. With the proliferation of so called mini-notebooks, I can have a light (little over 2 lbs.), cheap (usually under $500) and fully functional Windows XP (or Linux) computer. Not only I can write using fully fledged word processor (I prefer OpenOffice writer) but email, store and organize my photos, too. I’m not even talking about having access to all my usual software and desktop preferences. I can even run Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, my preferred photo software. Although it helps to plug the mini-notebook into a larger external monitor through VGA connection. Seriously, I tried it;) If there is WiFi nearby, I don’t need to juggle any data transfers using cards or external hard drives. All I need is to log in into my Wordpress and Flickr accounts and upload my pictures and stories.
These notebooks are usually extremely power efficient, fairly fast, with small LCD (or LED) screens and cheap too. Personally, I think they are dream computers for long-term vagabonds like myself who cannot afford to carry heavy full size laptops or don’t want spent close to $2,000 for Macbook Air, or similar;) When looking for one I found the most important preferences to be:
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CPU: Intel Atom processors; 1.6GHz, faster than Celerons, draw only 2.5W which translates into smaller and/or longer lasting batteries.
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RAM: 1GB or more, if possible.
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HDD: 8-12GB SSD (solid state disk rather than full-fledged hard disk); no moving parts means less danger of self-destruction at high altitudes, quiet and less power hungry, too. For additional storage and backup, I prefer a light external USB hard drives: WD Passport or LaCie rugged series.
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Screen: 8.9” to 10.0” LED; they are brighter and, again more efficient than LCDs; minimum screen resolution: 1024×600 to allow easier browsing. The 1st generation devices with 7” screens and 800×600 resolution forced users to scroll too much left-to-right.
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Battery: 6-cell, or more; at least 5-6 hours on a full charge.
In today’s market, there are three-four models that look extremely enticing: Just released Dell Inspiron Mini 9 (Dell website), Acer Aspire one (read here, too), MSI Wind and Asus EEE PC 901 (more) or 1000H models. As I’m planning to get one about 3-6 months before the start of my trip (Summer ‘09), I’m sure the above specs will get even better. By the next year, Intel will come up with an updated and faster Atom CPU and SSD capacities will increase to somewhere between 16-32GB, too… Lately, she price wars in the mini-notebook market have been intensifying: ASUS Lowering Eee PC Prices To Keep Up. Competition is always a great thing for consumers;)
