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On the weekend I bought myself netbook – specifically an HP Mini 2140. I chose this one because of the keyboard. There were cheaper options with a similar spec, but as I will use this to write during my two and a half hours of train travel each day the keyboard was important and I thought the HP 2140 was the best in this regard.

So far I have been very happy. While it is strange going back to Windows XP after OS X, it is not as painful as I expected (except for all the useless bubbles that pop out of the system tray). My intension was to run Ubuntu Remix, but as yet have been unable to get the sound working, which is unacceptable given I want to use my netbook with Skype while travelling. So, given my unexpected happiness with Windows XP, I have decided to stick with it for the time being.

So far I have decked it out with free software, and this has prompted me to get rid of my paid for Mobile Me service.

• Chrome is the best browser for a netbook as it provides the greatest amount of viewing space on the small netbook screen. This is one of the main reasons I am not jumping to the Ubuntu ship (and will probably end up jumping straight to Chome OS when it arrives).
• Like my colleagues, I am becoming more and more dependent on Google applications. My current vices are Google Mail and Google Reader. For new mail notification I am using Google Talk.
• Going back to Windows brings with it the need for anti-virus protection, for which I am using the free Grisoft AVG.
• Given I am primarily using my netbook for work I will want to open Microsoft Office documents, without paying for Microsoft Office. Thus OpenOffice.
• Skype has become my de facto phone service provider. I have it on my mobile, and want to be able to use it when I travel.
• VLC plays every audio and video format known to man. At least every video I’ve ever wanted to listen to or watch.

But the gold star goes to Dropbox, for their ingeniously simple solution for keeping the files in sync between my desktop, work laptop and netbook. Previously I was using Apple’s Mobile Me iDisk, but have found this to be clucky for the price you have to pay, especially when I want to add a Window/Ubuntu machine to the mix. My three day experience of Dropbox showns that when I save a file on my desktop it is up-to-date on my netbook within seconds.

Using Dropbox made me reflect on my Mobile Me account and I have resolved not to renew my subscription. I opened my account when I bought my first Mac in 2006.

• I used iWeb the webhosting feature for my blog until I became frustrated at not being able to update my blog while I was on holiday, so I moved to WordPress.
• Next to fall was email. I have a verement dislike for Lotus Notes, so like many of my colleagues decided to use Google Mail instead. It made email so much easier, so I now use it for my personal email too.
• As I have already said, I gave up my iDisk for Dropbox, because it just works.

Now I only have three Mobile Me services left – photo galleries, calendar and bookmark sharing. As you can see I am moving my photos directly onto this site. I have been thinking about using Google Calendar anyway. And while I am not a big fan will use delicious for bookmarks as paying the Mobile Me fees for this service is ridiculous.

I am still looking for a text editing and firewall software that I am completely happy with. Any suggestions?

Tags: Dropbox, HP 2140, Mobile Me

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 at 17:09 and is filed under Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.