Brian Jarvis, UMPC Geek

I have been dying to pick up a Netbook from the first moment I put my hands on one. I love the size of the platforms and the promise of ultra mobile computing that comes along with systems that were designed to be taken anywhere. I find myself very hesitant to pull out my Lenovo T61 in cramped places like airplanes and would much rather use my iPod Touch when I am around the house. Even if I am just watching a little TV, I find that I do not pull my laptop out because I find it uncomfortable to work with it on my lap.

My typical computing day consists of a lot of email, web surfing, and note taking followed by a decent amount of spreadsheet work and data analysis (not really data crunching as my datasets are typically quite small). With the exception of some occasional multimedia work (or some even more rare gaming) on my home system, I very rarely do anything that completely taxes my computers. The reality is that I could almost live with the performance my Samsung Q1 and its Celeron processor delivers for almost everything I do.

Put all this together, and yesterday I spent some money on a new computer that should deliver the portability I want with the everyday processing I need. It is a netbook that will be arriving some time next week. A couple of you know which one already, but I am going to wait to disclose the details until I have the device in hand. I will put together a post that chronicles my decision making process later.

I have pretty much settled on purchasing an Acer Asire One, but have been frustrated with the lack of supply.  I have been keeping an eye on Amazon because I have some gift certificates from work for that particular vendor.  This morning I received a notice that they have the Aspire One (XP version) back in stock, but was shocked by the price:  $499. 

You don’t need to be a MBA grad to understand that tight supply lends itself to pricing premiums, but $150 over MSRP???  I am sorry, but I’m not purchasing one of these netbooks for $499 - I would definitely go with the MSI Wind (or heaven forbid a full laptop) for only a few dollars more.  I guess this is a testament to the fact that these netbooks are HOT!

This afternoon I took the comforters off our children’s beds and drove them down to the laundromat for a much needed wash. Of my imaginary list of the top 10 places that could benefit from a wifi connection, laundromats are now number one! It is a place you are guaranteed to wait and the alternatives are poor. Today, all the younger people were texting on cell phones and the older people were watching Judge Joe Brown on a 24 inch television with some of the world’s worst reception.

I recognize that the average laundromat patron has less disposable income than the audience at Starbucks. I bet however, that a good percentage of the people I saw today own a laptop and could have made fairly productive time out of their wait if they had a connection to the internet. Even if they aren’t willing to pay extra for it, a good wifi signal could be a differentiating feature for any business where you have to wait around like that.

I have to begin by saying that I LOVE OneNote. It is a feature rich application that has some phenomenal features. It is a bit difficult to use across multiple systems if they aren’t on the same network (although you can use removable media, it’s a pain). In addition, OneNote mobile is a tragedy and Microsoft doesn’t seem to be doing anything about it. Evernote on the other hand is under extensive development and it seems that every time you turn around, they have added a new feature. I have tried to use it a couple of times in the past, but today I have decided to give it a one month challenge. From now until the end of September, I will only use Evernote for my note taking needs.

The driver behind this decision is in part due to my recent data loss when my laptop died. OneNote has a pretty nifty automatic backup function that saved most of my notes, but I was then out of sync between my different computers. It took me quite some time to get notes moved and reorganized. I love the concept of having the same Evernote data available on all my computers, my phone, and on the web. I feel like this gives me accessibility to my data that OneNote cannot deliver. We’ll see how this goes and I’ll certainly keep everyone updated.

I was talking to one of our mobility marketing managers at work the other day about wanting a small form factor laptop and told him that I was considering buying a Netbook. He suggested that I check out one of our Classmate PC’s from the lab to give the small form factor a test drive. “awesome” was my response and I ran off to the lab before he changed his mind. :^)

I’ve been playing with it today a bit and have some first impressions to share. I’m not going to go into a lot of detail here, but wanted to break down what I have experienced into four buckets: Things I love, things I like, things I’m not crazy about, and things I don’t like.

Things I love

• The portability of the device is phenomenal due to its light weight and compact dimensions
• This may be a sub-point, but this was the first notebook I have ever been able to use in the cramped space an airline seat provides (or doesn’t)
• The screen is wonderfully bright even at its lowest levels

Things I like

• The fact that I can touch type on it
• The keyboard has great travel and makes very little noise
• The performance of the Celeron processor in the Classmate is surprisingly capable
• Battery life is pretty good
• Web cam quality is at least as good as my Thinkpad
• The trackpad is large and very responsive
• The included microphone port is a nice touch
• Speaker quality is pretty darn good (not as good as the Q1, but better than a lot of small notebooks I have used)

Things I’m not crazy about

• The screen resolution is natively 800×480 and that is not high enough (my same gripe with my Samsung Q1)
• The handle is convenient, but a bit goofy

Things I don’t like

• The quotation mark key is in the wrong location
• Smaller shift and backspace keys are tough to get used to
• There is no option for an extended battery

Next steps for me will be to get my children’s impressions (since I am obviously not the primary audience for this particular device), and then to write up a more comprehensive review after a few days with the device. If there is something specific you would like to know about the Classmate, let me know in the next few days before I have to return it.

I have created a photo set for the Classmate on Flickr you can check out here.

When was the last time you backed up your critical data? My laptop hard drive experienced a spectacular failure Thursday night that wiped out most of my data.  I had a few files like PST’s and OneNote data files that were always in use when my backup ran that are now gone forever.  Learn from my mistake and go backup that crtical data today!

When I travel, I carry at least a Smartphone, iPod Touch, and Jawbone headset that all charge over USB (and occasionally several other devices). This translates to me leaving my laptop running all night while I allow these devices to charge . I know it’s a waste of energy, but it’s the only way I have to charge everything without carrying each product’s charger.

While on a layover in the Dallas airport yesterday, one of those crazy gadget vending machines caught my eye. Before I knew what was happening, I was swiping my debit card to purchase one of the Belkin Mini Surge Protectors that I had been wanting for a while. I wanted one not because I want to run my laptop through a surge protector (although I know I should), but because this particular surge protector also features two powered USB ports.

The product operates exactly as promised and gives me the ability to charge my laptop, UMPC, Smartphone, and iPod all off one socket and all at the same time. The fact that I’m protected from power surges is an added benefit. My only gripe is that the device is a little on the thick side, but I have found that it makes for a nice little platform to rest devices on while charging.

If you’re interested in purchasing a Belkin Mini Surge Protector with USB Charger and don’t feel the need to use a gadget vending machine (I have to admit that the novelty was amusing), you can purchase one at Amazon for less than $20 (affiliate link).

We’re not big TV fans in our house, but we have been glued to television watching the Olympics since they started.  Last night I broke out the Q1 to get some other work done while sitting on the couch.  I was able to balance our checkbook, do some online banking, read some gadget reviews during commercials, and check the Olympic stats/back stories.  Sure, I could have done all of this on a standard laptop, but not as comfortably as with the Q1.  As a matter of fact, I had turned on my Lenovo T61, but then shut it down because I didn’t want it on my lap and passing it back and forth to my wife was a pain.

I’ve never been crazy about the term “companion device” when people talk about UMPC’s, but last night the Q1 truly felt like my companion (as much as computer hardware can anyway).

Admittedly, I’m a bit caught up in the whole netbook movement right now.  With HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, Asus, MSI, and unofficially Toshiba all on board (representing more than 70% market share in the U.S.), there is only one major vendor missing.  Yesterday I commented on Gartner forecasting future sales of these very small notebooks, but this morning I came across a statistic that puts that 50 million number into perspective:  the total notebook market in 2008 is forecasted to be  228.8 million units.  If netbooks are incremental sales (which I believe they largely are), that means that netbooks could represent roughly 20% of the notebook market.  That’s something you can’t ignore.

Apple is going to have to join this game soon because they have way too much to lose.  Some might say that they have a lot to lose in average selling price by introducing a small, inexpensive notebook.  By the same logic, you could argue that an iPod shuffle is a threat to the iPod Touch or iPhone - it’s absurd.  The reality is that the Shuffle services a different segment of the market and acts as an expensive exposure to Apple’s MP3 player lineup.  [Raise your hand if you've ever upgraded your iPod to a newer, faster, sleeker model!]  It is only a matter of time before we see an Apple branded netbook on the market where Apple will hope to see the same upgrading consumer behavior.

Here is my prediction of what an Apple netbook will look like:

• Sleeker than everyone else - we’re talking about Apple here
• Available in black or white - they seem to be afraid of other colors
• Included Bluetooth connectivity - for the full lineup of Bluetooth accessories already available
• Solid web cam - expect to see iChat as a marketing angle
• 16 GB flash drive available - I believe this is why they are moving to Snow Leopard
• Intel Atom processor - although they might be talking us into a custom version
• Priced around the $600 mark - they always price at a premium

There you have it - my official prediction of Apple into the netbook market.  Honestly, I could be completely off the mark.  I know nothing more about Steve Job’s plans than he knows about what I’m having for lunch (Steve, it’s leftover stir fry if you would like to trade information).  I think there is some writing on the walls here that can’t be ignored though.  Heaven knows there is enough demand for the thing!

Today, Digitimes quoted Gartner as saying that “mini-notebook” sales could hit 50 million units by 2012.   I tend to take most of what I see from Gartner with a grain of salt, but it appears that I’m not the only person who wants one of these new devices!  I have also read reports from several people speculating that the economic slowdown in the United States could boost sales of netbooks significantly. Perhaps Gartner figured that into the 5.2 million devices they say will be sold this year.  As a secondary or tertiary computer in the home, they’re a great solution.