Comments on: The Netbook Effect

By: Wally

Wally — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:36:55 +0000

You can go to http://www.wallysweb.com/webkinz.html from your netbook, and you are able to use the site. I setup this page for my son who uses webkinz from his netbook. Hope this helps!

By: Tough Notebooks

Tough Notebooks — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:57:29 +0000

Cloud computing and mobility will be huge, and already would be if not for the economic slowdown.

By: GaryB

GaryB — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:20:44 +0000

hmmm..it’s still about the learning.

if netbooks only do net and word processing it’s not enough!

where is the higher order?
internet and word processing are mostly just worksheet schooling, possibly lower cost to stay with the carbon model(paper) rather than go for the facade of electronics.

the macbook has the capacity to create way more than a netbook ever can..
question remains why it’s not being done…testing? lack of understanding( by teachers)?
seems the question is more about the curriculum rather than which current piece of technology to choose…wait a few months there will be another latest thing …maybe even a tablet mac touchbook!! just in time for buying season for new US education year

more of the same is not innovation…

By: Jim Lerman

Jim Lerman — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 04:14:14 +0000

That would be the right shift key, not the left.

By: Jim Lerman

Jim Lerman — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 04:12:55 +0000

I’ve had a Samsung NC10 for about 4 months. It’s a great machine, 10.1″ screen, 6 hr. battery life, 160 gig hard drive, 2 gig memory expandable to 4 (but probably not necessary even though I bought the card) and a 92% full size keyboard with the left shift key in the right place (a problem on many machines.) It weight a little over 3 lbs and definitely makes my bag a lot lighter. It runs XP, which is something I wanted. If Linux is your cup to tea then Asus or the Wind are worth consideration.
At the time I bought it, it was the biggest screen available…I think there’s a 12″ out there somewhere now.
Anyway, it’s a GREAT SECOND LAPTOP.
It’s terrific for traveling, presos, etc…the kind of think you do a great deal of.
However, I don’t think it will every replace a full-size laptop for long term typing and/or complex media work. A big screen and enough room for big fingers just can’t be replaced all the time.
I commented because I didn’t see anyone talk about the Samsung and I think it’s well worth considering. The HP, altho it costs a bit more, is also high on my list. I think it too runs XP.
Just my 2 cents.

By: Atom Netbooks

Atom Netbooks — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:49:13 +0000

Netbooks are great – so small and light.. they are what notebooks wanted to be but couldnt be – easy and portable, light, can access the web and emails wherever you are.

Its taken a few years to get the laptop in to a useable size and netbooks are it!

steven

By: Helen

Helen — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:26:10 +0000

Will, we are looking at using netbooks when we open a new high school here in the district next fall. Trying to decide which one and exactly what “fit” it should have. Currently the student resource is about 3:1 and PC laptops but with the price savings we hope to significantly narrow that gap.

I have been field testing various models and will tell you that one (Dell mini) accompanied me on a business trip to Boston, MA…I will NEVER carried a full-sized laptop with me again. It felt like I had a novel stuck in my briefcase.

Talk about lightening the load!

By: Paul Luke

Paul Luke — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:57:34 +0000

HI Will, like you – I have a 2 year-old bent up Macbook Pro which has given me a great deal of pleasure. My work flow and productivity especially in the area of multimedia utilising the iLife suite has greatly improved. Prior to this I had an ACER Tablet which I loved and used well. I just prefer the OS X environment and also enjoy the freshness of the Web 2.0 world.
I see the dilemma of purchasing a netbook vs highly spec laptop as similar to purchasing a motor vehicle. For around town, I want a vehicle with fuel efficiency and the ability to park in tight spaces, one that takes up minimal garage space and so on…
For weekends and holidays – I need our 4 wheel drive (Toyota Prado) for towing the boat / caravan (trailer), driving on sandy beaches, accommodating up to 8 passengers, bigger engine, storage space and so on ……
I see the netbook as the smaller eco-friendly, portable vehicle for around town and the Macbook Pro with the extra grunt and storage for weekend work.
For me – it’s ‘horses for courses’.
Cheers – Paul

By: Carol Sukoneck

Carol Sukoneck — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:28:45 +0000

I purchased the EeePC 1000 HA. I seem to be collecting laptops. This is my 4th one. I own a custom built Asus, a Dell Inspiron and a Macbook. The performance of this little machine has been great. Quick boot up, good quality on the screen. I have already used it to do some professional development classes with my faculty. Plugged it into the projector and it worked perfectly. My only negative is the placement of the shift key on the right side of the keyboard. The pageup key is next to it and I have to stop and look for the shift key. It is quite a stretch for my hands.

I can really see this in the hands of my middle schoolers. I have already converted 2 faculty members and 1 student. I am working on my head of school on getting the HE model with the 9 hour battery. Having an all day battery is critical. I currently have 40 laptops in the middle school that get 2.5 hours of battery time if I am lucky. Replacing them with netbooks would be not only efficient but cost effective.

We met up at the GFS presentation you just gave. You are always inspiring. Hope to see you at Educon next year.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:35:55 +0000

Hi Will,

Netbooks are awesome. I have tried 3 or 4 different ones and get more and more impressed with each one. My most current (and favorite) is the HP Mini 2140. Granted, it was one of the more expensive ones (~$549) but a deal in my mind when compared to a larger laptop with similar specs. I can’t even begin to say how convenient this little netbook is, especially for traveling. It hooks up to my mini infocus projector creating a seriously portable presentation setup. The keyboard is large (compared with both ASUS netbooks we’ve tried).

I believe we will start to buy these for our teachers and I’m thinking about getting a cart of them for an Elementary School keyboarding program I’m starting next year.

– Jamie

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:17:58 +0000

Will, I had this exact same thought a few months ago, and started researching extensively. I think for as much travel as you do, maybe a netbook would be a good choice. However, in my research, I found that for $100 more (give or take) I could buy a full sized laptop with better specs than a MacBook, which would allow me to keep all of my music, pictures, etc. in one place and still be portable. Until Apple comes out with something I can't live without that only runs on a Mac, I'm back to being a PC guy. My thoughts on it are here.

By: Matt Montagne

Matt Montagne — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 02:33:15 +0000

One of our 10th grade students recently demoed our Aspire One (8.9″) evaluation unit from the good folks at Acer. I interviewed her when she was done with using it at home and at school for 3 days and I posted the recording online here:

http://middleschoolblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/student-review-of-aspire-one.html

By: John Pearce

John Pearce — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:30:47 +0000

Hi Will, A similar question re netbooks was raised on Twitter the other day. A couple of review pages were shared including http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,,25003182-5014119,00.html and http://crave.cnet.co.uk/laptops/0,39029450,49297248-1,00.htm. Though they are not US based the contents of the pages may be of interest to some. BTW looking forward to hearing from you again in Melbourne on 23rd March.

By: David Overcash

David Overcash — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 16:17:06 +0000

It’s interesting that you mention configuring mobile labs with netbooks. I have a friend who works in the Windsor school district in northern Colorado pursuing the same goal. He found several problems, however, keeping him from going through with it:
1 – Battery life. Most netbooks get only 2-3 hours per charge. This might seem good for a single user, but these mobile labs are usually checked out all day, allowing only an hour for charging during lunch. They simply won’t last.
2 – Operating System. My friend is a big fan of FOSS/Linux, and was looking to run Ubuntu on the netbooks. Unfortunately, Ubuntu based netbooks seem to be getting even WORSE battery life than the windows based machines at this point. He only confirmed this as far as his personal testing.
3 – Operating System (Again). You wouldn’t believe the fuss teachers put up once they hear a computer will have Linux on it. The ignorance of school faculty is truly becoming a barrier to FOSS adoption throughout all K12 schools in America. (Need I remind you all of .)

I think Netbooks are completely viable for classroom use though. With the combination of either a lightweight word processor (OpenOffice) or Google Docs (Free for Educational Use), you can save a lot of money and streamline student computing experiences. Keep an eye out on the HP-Mini models. They’re slightly more expensive, but they do offer a nearly fullsize keyboard. I get by fine enough on the Asus EEe keyboard (after some getting used to), but I have several friends who had to switch to HP-Minis just because their hands were hurting so badly.

Cheers,
David

By: Sue King

Sue King — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 14:22:36 +0000

We are only beginning to scratch the surface with the mini-laptops (we started with the 7 1/2″ eePc’s) by having six teachers create a 1-1 environment in the classrooms. We are hoping to move to a true 1-1 environment in the middle school. We had challenges supporting Linux, so have gone back to the Windows environment. The teachers involved have been amazed at how quickly and significantly their instruction and student learning changed. We are looking at how we will expand. The original eePc’s were a bit small – especially for 8th graders, but we have tested a few larger models and they seem better. Power continues to be a challenge, but we are figuring that out also. My daughter tested one out during the summer when she was home from grad school. She loved its portability. I don’t think it would replace her full-size laptop (in the field of journalism), but she would love to have one in addition!