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Thursday, October 16, 2008

Mini or Maxi?

Last week I was having computer problems. The hard drive didn't crash, but my friend Michael thinks that it was a warning sign. I want to get a laptop for my travels anyway, so now might be the time to go ahead & buy one.

I've been looking at the Dell Inspiron 1525, which seems reasonably priced, has a pretty big hard drive, & comes in lots of different colors.

But then one of my students came in with a cute little mini laptop. It has a 9" screen, is available with a 120 GB hard drive, & comes in lots of different colors.

I like the mini laptop because it's small, easy to carry, & easy to hide. It's cheaper, with seemingly the same functionality of a regular laptop. But the full-sized laptop might be better for watching DVD's. The smaller screen might get annoying after a while, even with just general internet use.

Does anyone have an opinion?

6 comments:

joe said...

what operating system does the mini run on?

Nancy Lewis said...

The mini has an Intel Atom processor, which my friend Michael says is just like that of a thumb drive. But it's got 120GB of space!

joe said...

If you go with the mini, make sure you get the one with Windows XP, and not Ubuntu Linux. You'll have fewer hassles down the road when you get back from your trip and want to transfer those files to another computer.

Gantry York said...

Which computer you get is completely dependent on what you are going to do with it.

If all you are going to do is use it to check email and casual browsing of the web, then almost any computer will do.

If you are more comfortable with the Windows OS, then pay the extra money for it. However, an Ubuntu-Linux box is very simple to use particularly if all you are doing is using it to surf the web and check email.

I'm considering getting a new laptop also. I've been looking at the Dell 1525 also. Of course, I will use Linux on mine.

Gantry York said...

Oh and with regard to Joe's comment about Linux vs Windows....

I've been working on multiple platforms for years. Currently I'm working in a Windows, Solaris, Linux environment.

By far we have more problems with the Windows machines than any of them.

But then again, we aren't using them to run QuickBooks or play Doom.

Unknown said...

Just to clear up the mis-quote of me :)

The Atom processor is not like a thumb drive. I was trying to explain the 4-16GB solid state drives that come with most of the MIDS (Mobile Internet Devices, aka Mini). I used the proper name mainly to point out what these devices were designed to be used for.