Economy, opportunity seen leading to $599 Apple netbook

AppleInsider ^ | Friday, December 5, 2008 | Aidan Malley

[martin_fierro]

Did you ever get one??

ASUS is really running with the Netbook concept.

Here are some examples of desktop versions that they're now selling:

[mysterio]

Apple is about one good price drop away from seriously cutting into Microsoft’s market share. Their much higher price is the only reason Vista hasn’t been the death of Microsoft. Apple fanboys defend the high price until they are blue in the face. But if Apple cut prices, everyone would be walking out of big box stores with Apples, and the windows machines would be rotting on the shelves.

[SoftballMominVA]

Hey yeah, I did ask about a used ibook for her a while back

What happened was this:

Daughter A hates macs

I gave Daughter A my used HP laptop, and she’s happy

I bought myself a MacBook, and I’m happy

Daughter B ruined her PC by letting it get soaking wet from a spill. It will be 2-3 weeks before her replacement is in (the damage is covered)

After the post here, I recommmended tht she buy a netbook to tide her over during finals and to store her notes from the year that were backed up from the ruined PC. I hold her 100% liable in the spillage and so it was either SHE buy a replacement or she discover the library on campus. Since she had just gotten her check from pep band appearances, she went with option B.

Things happen fast in this household!

[Chet 99]

I've got a 4 year-old PC that is slowing down to a crawl. I've been thinking of making the Mac plunge because I dread Vista... but now I see that Dell is still offering PCs with XP on it.

The thing that is keeping myself (and many other business users, I suspect) from going Mac is not the price, but compatibility issues.

[SunkenCiv]

:’)

[SunkenCiv]

:’) Instead, they’re rotting in millions of homes. ;’D

[SunkenCiv]

That’s interesting, a “net top” box, i.o.w. the guts from the Eee stood on end and put in an attractive box on legs. :’) The original (rev A and rev B, “mezzanine”) iMac used the same motherboards as the iBooks. :’)

[SunkenCiv]

Oops, in answer, no, I don’t really *need* to spend more time computing than I already do. :’) If I felt comfortable hackin’ it, or if the pre-X Intel builds for OS 9.x were floating around the web, I might try it (the Eee, not these desktop units, which do look nice BTW; amusing that the Linux one is more money than the XP Home). (’:

Once I see a sale for one of the current crop, a sale where the net-book is well under $200, I’ll jump. Could be handy to have, especially when out in the country.

[SunkenCiv]

You may need just a little tune up on the crawling PC. One thing to start with is, look at the add/delete screen, see what’s accumulated. A registry cleaner is also a good idea (if it’s a good one). Before doing anything else, disconnect it from the web and see how it runs without being hooked up.

A friend of mine had some problem (hard drive old, flaked out), had the guy come in, haul out the CPU, recover files, replace the drive, reinstall the OS. He couldn’t talk him into reinstalling MS-Office (who wouldn’t believe that my friend “couldn’t find” the disks?), didn’t want to pay for it, so I suggested OpenOffice.org and he tried it, couldn’t have been more pleased. Starts up and runs faster than MS.

[Chet 99]

I actually did a hard drive wipe and re-installed everything a year ago... things were fine for 6 months or slow, but it has been slowing back down again. But it is still chugging along with 512 MB of ram. I’ve read numerous stories of people buying a brand new PC with 4 megs of ram and it running slower with Vista than their old XP box did. I have no idea how Microsoft could have released that monstrosity to the public.

[mysterio]

I've got a 4 year-old PC that is slowing down to a crawl.

Might be able to help you there.

1. Go to your "run" box and type "msconfig." Go to startup and remove the programs you never use from loading automatically.

2. Run Malwarebytes to remove any hidden malware, spyware, etc. from your machine. It is hands down the best free malware remover I have ever used.

3. Free up space on your hard drive by removing unwanted programs, and then defrag.

I did all of this and it sped my computer up significantly.

[SunkenCiv]

:’) It had to be shipped, it was scheduled for release. :’D

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

They should just write a driver so that you can use a Redfly with your iPhone. I use one with my Samsung i760 and it completely changes the phone... In fact, I'm posting this from my Redfly right now.

Looks like a sort of a dock for the cell, seems like a very good idea. I’ve seen those landline home units with Bluetooth which permit users to answer and make calls using their cell phone, obviating the need for any landline, but not preventing it either.

I’d be surprised if no one has been working on a driver as you suggest.

Interesting that Redfly apparently doesn't support Blackberry or iPhone. Surprising - those are the two biggest selling smartphones, AFAIK. And you would think that a full sized keyboard would be quite attractive for iPhone users . . .

[Swordmaker]

I agree with Swordmaker (et al?), it needs a RAM upgrade, then *shut off* virtual memory, it slows down the machine, and they're not that fast anyway.

Uh, Sunk, virtual memory in OSX is not something you can turn off... nor is it at all similar to the virtual memory in OS9 and earlier.

[SunkenCiv]

The advantage of these superduper phones is, they give users the capability but on the go. I think of the old saying, it's not that the dancing bear dances well, it's that he dances at all. :') Great phone, but like all devices that size, the keyboard (or in this case, virtual keyboard) is made for the eyes of youth. :'D

If these Redfly devices (and any others like 'em) were more universal, they could be built in to coffeeshop tables... ;') Just kidding, sort of. Anyway:

$92 BTKeyMini from MacAlly, cited from AValive and Crunchgear, the second of which sez "The BTKEY Mini for the Apple iPhone will not ship until Apple updates the iPhone to accept bluetooth input." A search (two actually) of the MacAlly site doesn't turn it up, and apparently it has been preannounced for almost a year now.

Hacker Attaches Physical Keyboard to iPhone after a jailbreak.

[SunkenCiv]

Another reason for me to dislike it then. :’)

[PugetSoundSoldier]

Well, if you can find a netbook with an 8 hour battery life, a 4 second boot/instant off (yes, really I push the power button, and within 4 seconds I’m synced via Bluetooth and operational), and weighs under 2 pounds, I’d be impressed!

It’s not a full blown computer - just a much bigger screen and a usable keyboard which makes the smartphone 90% of a laptop.

Add in the fact my smartphone has broadband data access and WiFi (I have a Samsung i760) I get great broadband access pretty much anywhere in the US without an extra modem or cable for my phone-to-laptop (which I do need when I use my phone to tether to my laptop for broadband access).

But the nicest thing - 8 hour run time. I charge it about every 4th day when it’s down to 25%. I use it for 1-2 hours a day when mobile. If I go on a business trip for a few days, I don’t even bring my laptop or my charger - it’s fine for 2-3 days of use, checking e-mail on my server, browsing websites, etc.

[SunkenCiv]

Exactly — it’s different. Fits in a pocket too. As cool as these little netbooks are, and some of them are well made apparently, making a phone call with one probably isn’t convenient, and the tradeoff vs a regular computer or laptop brings up the, “I could have had a V8” argument, IOW, just bag it and get a smartphone.

[PugetSoundSoldier]

That’s what I do... Full blown laptop comes out once in a while, but usually it’s the smartphone, my BT earpiece, and if I need e-mail/web/texting/maps (Live search maps with traffic are phenomenal on a 800x480 screen) out comes the Redfly.

The fact it now works with the iPhone is REALLY interesting! They really need to support more devices, I thinnk it’ll really explode the whole market of smartphones. Phone calls or short texting, just use the phone. Anything more, out comes the Redfly.

[SunkenCiv]

The pullout keyboard is a good idea.

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