Friday, May 6, 2011

choosing a light computer for touring

in order to report live from the tour a light and relatively small computer needs to be chosen:

ipads are small and light. unfortunately apple tries to keep it proprietary: no usb, no flash etc.
this does not work for me. hardware needs to be a cheap, standardised commodity. software is free. android pads have more appeal:



the asus ee transformer has a real keyboard that can be attached to the pad. working on a tablet without a keyboard is annoying. after a while even a light panel becomes terribly heavy if you have to hold it with one hand. that is why the asus ee transformer was sold out within minutes. noone knows if and when it will come back.

 alternatives:


toshiba  tablet:



this is definitely a better version of the ipad2 fully industry standard compatible which the ipad is not. as per first week of may 2011 noone knows when it will be available. bestbuy says may 2011.

a little bit heavier by a few grams is this device for about the same price as the ipad:

11.6 inch screen, full keyboard, a little bit over one kg weight. this is a highly mobile device that can be taken on a bike easily

android is a cool os, i use it already in the froyo version on my mobile. having said that, it is not as mature as xp or win7. having struggled as a user of microsoft products for many years when windows was buggy, insecure and unstable, i have to admit that win7 is a very good, advanced and stable os which is highly qualified for business use. android is not there yet. it is more suited for fun applications, gaming, chatting , gps etc but i would not bet my business on it.

i do also feel that tablet prices are too high at the moment. you have to pay 600-700 dollars for a functionality that can easily be covered by most 10 inch netbooks for 250 dollars. there is nothing that an ipad can do or can do better than a 10 inch netbook.

if i can get a superior 11.6 netbook with a fast i5 processor and 500 gigabyte hd, why should i buy a tablet for the same price?