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dragos240
November 4th, 2009, 05:51 PM
This is the comment I get when someone sees my netbook in school. Everyone loves it. Especially me. Anyone have a similar experience?

Pasdar
November 4th, 2009, 05:54 PM
This is the comment I get when someone sees my netbook in school. Everyone loves it. Especially me. Anyone have a similar experience?

so many people have a laptop or netbook in my area that no one cares... but they will look if it looks exceptionally nice... (e.g. Apple, Sony, and some other).

lukjad
November 4th, 2009, 05:57 PM
Nope. I like towers more.

Tristam Green
November 4th, 2009, 05:59 PM
I get asked "can it handle large spreadsheets" more often.

To which I reply, "I wouldn't do heavy financial calculations with this thing..."

note32
November 4th, 2009, 06:03 PM
ALL THE TIME i go to collage i just bust it out is class and everyone is like OMG thats so adorable and cute:lolflag: love my netbook with UNR it has god like powers;)

Skripka
November 4th, 2009, 06:03 PM
Nope. I like towers more.

Towers for work-work. Netbooks for the light stuff-i.e. word processing/surfing/researching.

Mornedhel
November 4th, 2009, 06:07 PM
Towers for work-work. Netbooks for the light stuff-i.e. word processing/surfing/researching.

No, netbooks for remote shell into tower for work-work...

You get best of both worlds.

The Funkbomb
November 4th, 2009, 06:09 PM
I hate my netbook so much.

My netbook is soooo slow. I'm using 9.04 UNR I think. I've been spoiled by my desktop. Maybe Xubuntu would be better?

note32
November 4th, 2009, 06:10 PM
Towers for work-work. Netbooks for the light stuff-i.e. word processing/surfing/researching.

can do way more than just that.......

Berk
November 4th, 2009, 06:20 PM
Well, mine isn't that cute, but it did get some attention.
Now a couple of the girls on my course have got themselves netbooks too (after seeing mine), but theirs are shiny and sleek and curvy. :(
I win though, as mine is tinier than theirs!
I love my eee 701SD though. It's small, useful and looks suitably solid and functional in my eyes, no eye candy for me. :p

suitedaces
November 4th, 2009, 06:52 PM
My other half's sisters gave the exact same reaction to the netbook I bought her. Was pink too!

Saved me a fortune on a full sized laptop and got me extra brownie points! Win win!

Warpnow
November 4th, 2009, 07:05 PM
I get asked "can it handle large spreadsheets" more often.

To which I reply, "I wouldn't do heavy financial calculations with this thing..."

I have an econometrics professors that uses an acer aspire one to teach regression and statistics for economics.

Spreadhseet software is not that heavy, in general.

Tristam Green
November 4th, 2009, 07:10 PM
I have an econometrics professors that uses an acer aspire one to teach regression and statistics for economics.

Spreadhseet software is not that heavy, in general.

Our executives and top accountants were given business-class Dell Latitude D420s and D430s (1.20 GHz Core Processors, 2gb DDR2, 80gb hdd) in 2007; they experienced extreme slowness.

We "upgraded" them to Dell Latitude D620s (2.0 GHz, 2gb DDR2, 80gb) which although bigger, are substantially faster on the calculations.

With as many different pieces of software that are loaded on these laptops for international accounting, I just wouldn't recommend that the heavier users get netbooks.

I say "using Excel" since that's effectively where the bulk of their work sits, and it's easier for the user to understand that versus "well, if you load TaxStream, use it for our Web-based ERP system, our content server system, a VPN connection, your massive Outlook offline cache, etc etc etc".


Now, a 1.20GHz processor and a 1.6GHz Atom or equivalent are different animals either way, so it might be ok. We haven't tested it in our environment yet, and I'm about to pony up my personal AspireOne for that purpose ;)

ZankerH
November 4th, 2009, 07:14 PM
This is the comment I get when someone sees my netbook in school. Everyone loves it. Especially me. Anyone have a similar experience?

Damnit, I swear I get that all the time on buses and trains. Not so much on the uni as most people have laptops or netbooks there, but it's still annoying to get talked to by random strangers.

solitaire
November 4th, 2009, 07:19 PM
I get asked "can it handle large spreadsheets" more often.

To which I reply, "I wouldn't do heavy financial calculations with this thing..."
That's why
ssh <ip-to-your-home-quad-core-ubuntu-server> -X
is a great tool when you need heavy processing on a netbook! lol

(Hope I got that ssh code right ) >_< lol

Tristam Green
November 4th, 2009, 07:27 PM
But that would mean we would actually have to have an Ubuntu server on our network (taking literally what you said about your-home-ubuntu-server), which just isn't going to happen.

Also, my company is going away from terminal services and more towards browser-based applications....why? I don't know, I don't like them, but I don't make the decisions.

Suiname
November 4th, 2009, 07:29 PM
I think it's

ssh -x <ip>

also my problem with the netbooks is they keyboard is usually too small and my hands get cramped from typing. I can't handle it. That's been my experience with the EEE PC and the acer netbook.

ZankerH
November 4th, 2009, 07:34 PM
Actually, it's ssh -x user@host .

Edit:


also my problem with the netbooks is they keyboard is usually too small and my hands get cramped from typing. I can't handle it. That's been my experience with the EEE PC and the acer netbook.



I've had the same problem with the eee pc 901 initially, but after a few days using it for around five hours a day at uni, I got used to touch-typing on it.

Chronon
November 4th, 2009, 07:52 PM
No, netbooks for remote shell into tower for work-work...

You get best of both worlds.

This!

Chronon
November 4th, 2009, 07:55 PM
Actually, it's ssh -x user@host .

Edit:



I've had the same problem with the eee pc 901 initially, but after a few days using it for around five hours a day at uni, I got used to touch-typing on it.

I believe you need the x to be capitalized for X11 tunneling. (Some versions of ssh use -Y too, I think.)


ssh -X user@host
This is the command I have been using extensively for the last few weeks to ssh to my tower and run graphical programs.

dragos240
November 4th, 2009, 08:09 PM
I hate my netbook so much.

My netbook is soooo slow. I'm using 9.04 UNR I think. I've been spoiled by my desktop. Maybe Xubuntu would be better?

I'm running kde. 1 gb of ram. What memory do you have?

PurposeOfReason
November 4th, 2009, 08:10 PM
I get more awe out of my computer builds when they're up. My current one is just a motherboard on a box. :D

Soon to be much more epic of course.

pwnst*r
November 4th, 2009, 08:17 PM
awesome thread.

MoneyTopList
November 4th, 2009, 09:28 PM
I have a small notebook (like A4 format) and many people like it. Especially when I travel and people carry 3kg laptops :)

juancarlospaco
November 4th, 2009, 09:30 PM
Yes,
and they think that my netbook is slower than they Vista notebook,
and say:

What a cute laptop It's so tiny!,
but i think its slower than my... [9 second karmic boot goes here]
ermmm... weeell but seems my Vista is... [Compiz awesomeness goes here]
but i got MS Office starter student and... [Openoffice, Evolution, U1 sync goes here]
anyways you can't chat becauuu... [Empathy videoconference with desktop sharing goes here]
...
...whaat
...whats the website of this OS?, got a CD for me?
:)

lukjad
November 4th, 2009, 09:33 PM
Towers for work-work. Netbooks for the light stuff-i.e. word processing/surfing/researching.
No, towers are for home. Computers should be at one end or the other, not in the middle. :)

aysiu
November 4th, 2009, 09:50 PM
I have had people ogle my netbook when I'm out, but the truth is out I don't take it out very often.

It's very convenient to have when I'm traveling and have to fly (much better than a heavy and bulky real laptop). I don't travel often, though.

If I were to do it over again, I think I'd have gotten a proper laptop, since I do most of my computing at home (a desktop is too involved).

The Funkbomb
November 4th, 2009, 11:28 PM
I'm running kde. 1 gb of ram. What memory do you have?

I either have 512 or 1gb. I can't remember. I do know it's the Z520 processor. I go into the system monitor and the whole thing is maxed out.

Right now, I'm putting Damn Small Linux on a thumb drive and I'll see how that works. I just tried Xubuntu and while it was better, it was still pretty heavy for the little guy.

Actually, I can't get DSL on a thumb... o.O

Keyper7
November 4th, 2009, 11:59 PM
I win though, as mine is tinier than theirs!

Now that's a sentence I don't usually hear.

Cowchip7
November 5th, 2009, 12:58 AM
I get the "cute computer" comment all the time. I have a white mini 9. To avoid being emasculated, I explain how it runs on Linux and not Windows. :razz::razz:

Cowchip7
November 5th, 2009, 01:01 AM
I win though, as mine is tinier than theirs!



Now that's a sentence I don't usually hear.

:lolflag::lolflag::lolflag::lolflag::lolflag:

3rdalbum
November 5th, 2009, 03:54 AM
I must admit, I wish people paid more attention to my netbook. I do sometimes get the "That's so cute" and "I wish mine was as portable as that", and even "That must have been expensive". But it would be nice if it got more attention; there are some people I know who have never commented on the machine.

pwnst*r
November 5th, 2009, 04:24 AM
But it would be nice if it got more attention; there are some people I know who have never commented on the machine.

lol, are you for real? it's not like it's your g/f

Tipped OuT
November 5th, 2009, 04:27 AM
I win though, as mine is tinier than theirs!


Comic gold. :lolflag:

3rdalbum
November 5th, 2009, 05:10 AM
lol, are you for real? it's not like it's your g/f

I don't have a girlfriend, and my face ain't nice to look at, so I need people to comment that SOMETHING I have is cute :-)

synicalx
November 5th, 2009, 05:21 AM
I've had a couple of comments at uni about my MSI Wind, one was "Haha it looks like a cheap Mac" and another was "Does it run Crysis".

Actually had more favourable comments at my favorite cafe, the staff seem to like my little netbook!

Redache
November 5th, 2009, 05:22 AM
I don't have a Netbook but I see plenty in Lectures. I tend to focus on laughing at the Macbooks that have cases that act like Faraday cages and have VERY poor wireless signal if we have a lecture in the bowels of the University.

earthpigg
November 5th, 2009, 05:24 AM
yeah, i get the 'cute' comments all the time :D


But that would mean we would actually have to have an Ubuntu server on our network (taking literally what you said about your-home-ubuntu-server), which just isn't going to happen.

any ubuntu machine with the ssh metapackage installed & configured can serve that purpose. the word 'server' is a lot more flexible than most folks think. it doesn't need to be a command line only ubuntu server install. my 'server' is actually my mother's computer at her house, with Masonux installed (offsite backup ftw).

if connected via wired (not wireless) connection, no one needs to be logged in... turned on and permanently at the login screen is fine.

if someone logs in? that is fine, too. it will not interfere.

ndefontenay
November 5th, 2009, 05:26 AM
I got 3 netbooks:

1) old VAIO inherited from my girlfriend when she moved with me. It's now the proud house of Ubuntu Karmic Koala working flawlessly since saturday. It's old so kind of heavy too. Never gets out of the house.

2) A MacBook Pro 17", Large yet thin, heavy but not so for its size (lighter than the VAIO). This one is the main station. we watch movie and works on pictures with it. Not to mention ipod and iphone sync made easy. We DO NOT buy music on itunes however. Proprietary crap.

3) A Dell Latitude E4300 from work. This one is the tiniest,ligthest one but pack an amazing 2.4 GHz Dual core proc and 4Gb ram. I can't install ubuntu on it and it has the nasty habit of encrypting any storage device I would plug in its usb port. It's kind of the decepticon of the band. Powerful and mean.

pwnst*r
November 5th, 2009, 05:31 AM
I don't have a girlfriend, and my face ain't nice to look at, so I need people to comment that SOMETHING I have is cute :-)

lol

beastrace91
November 5th, 2009, 05:36 AM
I got 3 netbooks:

1) old VAIO inherited from my girlfriend when she moved with me. It's now the proud house of Ubuntu Karmic Koala working flawlessly since saturday. It's old so kind of heavy too. Never gets out of the house.

2) A MacBook Pro 17", Large yet thin, heavy but not so for its size (lighter than the VAIO). This one is the main station. we watch movie and works on pictures with it. Not to mention ipod and iphone sync made easy. We DO NOT buy music on itunes however. Proprietary crap.

3) A Dell Latitude E4300 from work. This one is the tiniest,ligthest one but pack an amazing 2.4 GHz Dual core proc and 4Gb ram. I can't install ubuntu on it and it has the nasty habit of encrypting any storage device I would plug in its usb port. It's kind of the decepticon of the band. Powerful and mean.

By netbook they are referring to the type of laptops that are typically sub-11 inches in size and lack a disc drive internally thus being primarily for "net" usage.

That being said I have an 8.9 inch Asus EEE PC and it gets comments ALL the time. Mostly from women at that... In fact its a good conversation starters haha

~Jeff

phrostbyte
November 5th, 2009, 05:37 AM
My girlfriend bought her netbook on an impulse because it was "cute". Unfortunately it came preloaded with Windows XP, but I fixed that. :wink:

Tipped OuT
November 5th, 2009, 05:40 AM
My girlfriend bought her netbook on an impulse because it was "cute". Unfortunately it came preloaded with Windows XP, but I fixed that. :wink:

Poor girl, probably can't even use the damn thing now. :lolflag:

phrostbyte
November 5th, 2009, 05:46 AM
Poor girl, probably can't even use the damn thing now. :lolflag:

She asked me to do it! She has been using Linux for years (it's on our desktop). :D

SushiR
November 5th, 2009, 06:08 AM
I hate my netbook so much.

My netbook is soooo slow. I'm using 9.04 UNR I think. I've been spoiled by my desktop. Maybe Xubuntu would be better?
Try Crunchbang...

earthpigg
November 5th, 2009, 06:13 AM
Try Crunchbang...

or anything with something similar to LXDE's netbook-oriented lxlauncher if your eyesight is less than 20/20.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3166/2820550385_cc9f9e0345.jpg

it aint that pretty, but Unlike UNR's interface it does not bring your netbook's speed to a crawl.

granted, i am biased... (forum sig comes now)

Warpnow
November 5th, 2009, 06:27 AM
or anything with something similar to LXDE's netbook-oriented lxlauncher if your eyesight is less than 20/20.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3166/2820550385_cc9f9e0345.jpg

it aint that pretty, but Unlike UNR's interface it does not bring your netbook's speed to a crawl.

granted, i am biased... (forum sig comes now)

Its colors can be changed, forget how, but its in a config file. The real issue for me was that it used different app classifications for menu last time I installed it. I had to write a custom config file so it would work with ubuntu, and have since lost it.

LoseTheGame
November 5th, 2009, 08:25 AM
I use my aspire one stock as my main machine dual booting xp with Karmic, and people are always amazed at how little it is and the ask me what it can do, I always say everything I want, loll. It's fast and I got some pretty cool effects with compiz. It's great because i can take it with me whenever I hitchhike everywhere, and it runs for hours and hours on end. It's actually funny to watch my girlfriend and I with our laptops, she has a 15" toshiba and it's huge compared to my tiny aspire one loll.

earthpigg
November 5th, 2009, 08:32 AM
Its colors can be changed, forget how, but its in a config file. The real issue for me was that it used different app classifications for menu last time I installed it. I had to write a custom config file so it would work with ubuntu, and have since lost it.

meh. lxlauncher sucks when it comes to system administration, but i thought it was fine for system use.

all of the userland non-sysadmin/run-as-root apps i wanted to run where put in reasonable places.

mivo
November 5th, 2009, 08:43 AM
Maybe Xubuntu would be better?

Xubuntu is bloated and almost as heavy as Ubuntu. If you want something significantly lighter, the best approach is to do it yourself (start with a minimal Ubuntu install - the ISO is only 12 MB -, or pick another distro that lets you start from scratch) and use LXDE or, my preference, xfce4.

If your netbook is an Eee, there is also a special distro just for the Eee which works well: http://www.geteasypeasy.com/ (it is Ubuntu-based).

The Funkbomb
November 5th, 2009, 08:50 AM
I'm trying Masonux now. If I don't like it, I'll try Crunchbang.

mivo
November 5th, 2009, 08:58 AM
I got 3 netbooks:

None of the three machines are netbooks. ;) Regular laptops. (The Dell's really nice.)

earthpigg
November 5th, 2009, 08:59 AM
I'm trying Masonux now. If I don't like it, I'll try Crunchbang.

Crunchbang Lite (http://www.crunchbanglinux.org/wiki/downloads#lite_edition_-_32-bit) is closer to Masonux than Crunchbang, if that's the kind of thing you are looking for - unless you really dislike my project's lack of preinstalled apps (and many do, especially those that do not discover this (http://sites.google.com/site/masonux/home/ease-of-use) page), in which case Crunchbang 'standard' would be the next natural step.

mivo
November 5th, 2009, 09:00 AM
I'm trying Masonux now. If I don't like it, I'll try Crunchbang.

Puppy Linux is surprisingly good, too. Comes with a lot of apps, runs on just about everything, and is very light and small.

earthpigg
November 5th, 2009, 09:03 AM
Puppy Linux is surprisingly good, too. Comes with a lot of apps, runs on just about everything, and is very light and small.

Puppy is indeed lighter than anything ubuntu-based, if that is the priority.

The Funkbomb
November 5th, 2009, 09:15 AM
Crunchbang Lite (http://www.crunchbanglinux.org/wiki/downloads#lite_edition_-_32-bit) is closer to Masonux than Crunchbang, if that's the kind of thing you are looking for - unless you really dislike my project's lack of preinstalled apps (and many do, especially those that do not discover this (http://sites.google.com/site/masonux/home/ease-of-use) page), in which case Crunchbang 'standard' would be the next natural step.

I rather like this. It seems pretty quick and nimble. One issue is that it is not allowing me to install other packages. Not even through terminal.


Puppy Linux is surprisingly good, too. Comes with a lot of apps, runs on just about everything, and is very light and small.

I highly dislike puppy linux.

The Funkbomb
November 5th, 2009, 09:16 AM
I take that back. I picked the best server and reloaded. Things seem better now.

Tristam Green
November 5th, 2009, 02:42 PM
any ubuntu machine with the ssh metapackage installed & configured can serve that purpose. the word 'server' is a lot more flexible than most folks think. it doesn't need to be a command line only ubuntu server install. my 'server' is actually my mother's computer at her house, with Masonux installed (offsite backup ftw).

if connected via wired (not wireless) connection, no one needs to be logged in... turned on and permanently at the login screen is fine.

if someone logs in? that is fine, too. it will not interfere.

lol ep, I can see your temple veins throbbing already :)

I didn't say "I would never do this" (I wouldn't, actually, I'd use a different distro than any *buntu for a production server), I said "it wouldn't happen" - forces above me dictate what goes on the network, and I abide strictly by those rules. We're a Windows environment, and the only non-Windows systems we have are in our DC or are the VMWare OS's installed on our boxes, which have their numerous Windows VMs on them.

postaldude
November 5th, 2009, 03:04 PM
I've an eeePC 1005HA (2x1.6GHz, 1GB RAM), and to be honest, the most common reply is "that laptop's so small, how do you manage to type on it?", and it can be a bit of a pain. Perhaps it's being used to 1920x1080 resolution and a full keyboard/mouse, but the eeePC is often a bit too compact for me. I've had no performance issues, running openSUSE or ubuntu on it.. but it was a bit of a pain trying to get linux to recognize some of the hardware in it (lan, wlan). Got there in the end though. Let's hope future netbook remixes are better.

dragos240
November 5th, 2009, 03:19 PM
Crunchbang Lite (http://www.crunchbanglinux.org/wiki/downloads#lite_edition_-_32-bit) is closer to Masonux than Crunchbang, if that's the kind of thing you are looking for - unless you really dislike my project's lack of preinstalled apps (and many do, especially those that do not discover this (http://sites.google.com/site/masonux/home/ease-of-use) page), in which case Crunchbang 'standard' would be the next natural step.

Lite? I thought crunchbang was lite enough? :lolflag:

earthpigg
November 6th, 2009, 12:34 AM
Lite? I thought crunchbang was lite enough? :lolflag:

their 'lite' version doesn't come preinstalled with common userland apps (word processor, video player, audio editor, etc)... which i prefer. i know my video player of choice, tyvm, don't need anyone else to attempt to choose it for me, thus making me go through the very minor hassle of uninstalling it. :D

though a bunch of preinstalled apps, of course, is ideal if the target audience of a release is non-geeks.

i really like that crunchbang gives the choice by having both editions.

Megrimn
November 6th, 2009, 05:36 AM
was more like "you found a backpack that your laptop fits into?!" and "I had to get this sleeve on ebay, but my laptop fits inside it."

-from a discussion between me and a friend. We both have 17" HP dv9000 laptops... for the numeric keypad built into the laptop, of course. no need to hog another usb port.