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Drooling Over A Cheap Subnotebook

September 7th, 2008

I’m a big Apple fan but there are times when I do drool over PC hardware / software, and recently two “subnotebooks” at a really affordable price crossed my line of sight. Enough so that I’m considering buying one – lack of OS X be damned.

First is the Dell “Mini” which with XP, runs $399. Also intriguing is the 8GB “solid state” drive which means chips usually used for RAM – no traditional hard drive.

Second is this Asus Eee PC that is equally compact and affordable.

It’d be cool to have a cheap computer that was really portable and could do basic things like email, writing, surfing the web, image editing, and watching a movie. Right now I’m lugging a MacBook around, which frankly, is overkill for some of these tasks.

I haven’t found the iPhone adequate for much of the above. The keyboard is still hard for me to use for anything over a paragraph, and it lacks cut and paste, and image editing software.

But what’s really appealing to me with these PC subnotebooks is the price. Apple’s cheapest Mac is the Mac Mini at $599 (I have one). Their “ultraportable” option in terms of form factor and weight is the MacBook Air, which is actually more expensive than the cheapest MacBook.

I’d really love to see a “MacBook Mini” at $499 – I’d be all over it in a heartbeat. Until then I’m woefully tempted by these PC subnotebooks. Drool.

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  • Keep up with the times man, they're netbooks! :P All kidding aside, I've been tempted to get one too. Dell mini is kinda interesting but am leaning more towards an Eee PC. Getting either <= $500 really makes it hard to resist. But yes, if Apple releases a netbook around $500 I wouldn't think twice.
  • Thanks for the new word - "netbooks" - yep it makes sense. If you get an Eee
    PC I'd be interested to hear what you think about it.
  • Interesting. Personally I've found the iPhone to fill the gap for me as a great ultra portable data device. I'm enjoying it for email, news reading, portable gaming and instant data (muni arrivals, weather, yelp etc). But my portable needs sound like they're a lot more lightweight than yours (e.g. I don't do image editing on my iphone).

    If you're lusting after one, you should make the jump. I'd be curious to see what your experience is (and it would make for good blog fodder). For me, the 2 Wintel machines I've purchased have been disappointments. Price was great, but once I'd use the machines I'd find myself pining for my more familiar Mac OS. So ultimately the alternate machines would be a bust (productivity-wise). But as always, that's just me. Your mileage could vary a lot.
  • Yeah - I think the specific use I'm thinking of that you may not have is
    writing longer articles - specifically, blog posts. For that I really prefer
    a word processor (even if it's as simple as simple text or notepad) with a
    keyboard, and cut and paste (typing urls manually on the iPhone I've found
    very frustrating).

    But anyhow - I'm also kind of intrigued by the Linux option (which I haven't
    ever used) which might be a fun experiment in itself - I wouldn't
    necesarially be using XP. I'm hoping with this third option, combined with
    the iPhone, I'll be able to leave the MacBook at home.

    Check out this green one... $260 at Amazon
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001150JQ8
  • I love my MBP but I'm not sure I'd bring it with me on trips anymore. I couldn't use it on a plane ride and that's about the only negative for me. 'Course I could've gotten a regular Macbook. >_> Anyway, I just got this feed. The Asus Eee PC 901 is going for $499. I think I might go for it (impulse shopping! Argh!). http://is.gd/2now

    Linux is pretty cool, and was a lot of fun back in the day to play with. :)
  • Sweet, that $499 one looks pretty cool. I'm definitely tempted. I'm
    oscillating between being saving money and getting the cheapest one or
    something a little better. I wonder if they have these at Fry's so I
    can check 'em out in the flesh...?
  • Have you checked out the incredibly active community of "hackintoshers" who have successfully transmongrified inexpensive netbooks into OS X machines? Amazing stuff.

    See http://www.tuaw.com/2008/07/15/cool-hack-runnin... or http://www.modaco.com/content/asus-eee-pc-http-...
  • Yeah! Those instructions make me more eager to get a netbook. Here's another link I found: http://cultofmac.com/get-a-slick-mac-netbook-fo...
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