Mark Parolisi

Like most people, I was very excited about the iPad…before it was presented.

I’m not going to go into the details why I’m not a fan (that’s already been done to death by everyone else on the internet). I’m just going to say one thing: multi-tasking.

I really needed wanted a travel-sized device so I could read blogs, watch videos, and do some break-fix web work, but my iPhone, though essential and powerful as it may be, wasn’t cutting it. I was considering picking up a 13″ MacBook Pro but the price tag was a little much for something that would just be for an auxiliary work tool and temporary travel luxury. Then I remembered about netbooks. You know, those devices that were the cool cutting edge thing after and now before tablets (that makes sense right?). They had just about everything I wanted.

• Portability
• Low Entry Cost
• Large Community
• Lots of Linux Options (more on that next)

The model I chose was the sort-of flagship standard netbook; the Asus EeePC 1005 HA. Sure, the hardware isnt the greatest; 2 gb max memory and a graphics card that can handle no more than standard resolution video, but remember, this is a supplement, not my primary workstation.

The netbook came with windows XP installed, so I quickly formatted that right off of it. I was considering having it as a secondary partition, but seeing as how little I launch Windows Parallels on my iMac I decided it would just be a waste of space. I briefly considered running OSX, but decided it’d be too much of a hassle and ultimately not as flexible as a Linux disto.

A quick Google search returned Eeebuntu; a custom mod of Ubuntu 9 optimized for EeePc’s. I downloaded the beta of the new version (eb4). It took me a couple of tries to get the install right and I encountered some other problems like the GUI update manager crashing and network card not reconnecting on wake (common problem of this beta), but overall I’m happy with the OS.

I’ve got everything I need on it now: Chrome, FF, NetBeans, Pidgin, TweetDeck, Thunderbird, and a few other utilities. And there’s always the terminal. Working in command line is a nice break from heavy interfaces and keeps that knowledge fresh in your memory.

So, though I was pretty excited about the prospects of the iPad, I’m more than satisfied with my netbook. I may not get to play the innovative games that the new Apple device will make available, but I was able to comfortably type this entire post, while listening to music, checking Twitter, and instant messaging all at once.