Posts tagged as:

Netbooks

ThinkFree Office for Netbooks – Giving Away Free Copies

by Robin on October 22, 2008

I hope I’m not too late with this article, but it was just recently brought to my attention. ThinkFree is offering a free copy of their office suite built specifically for netbooks.  ThinkFree Office is a suite of low-disc consumption office products that play nice with Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, so you will have no problem opening or sending docs to Microsoft Office users.  The light build is not taxing on the operating system - which is perfect for not-so-powerful netbooks.

FYI…Founders’ Blog recently covered netbooks as they relate to writers.  If any of our readers have made the leap and purchased a netbook, you have only until October 31, 2008 to fill out the survey and pick up your free copy of ThinkFree Office.  Otherwise, the cost is $49.00. 
 

via: Gottabemobile 

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Netbooks – Good Geek’dm for Writers

by Robin on August 28, 2008

Lenovo IdeaPad S10 

Netbooks are the latest piece of hardware to target the geek scene.  Every manufacturer worth its salt is rushing to get their version of the netbook on the market. Not to be confused with laptops/notebooks, netbooks are optimized for light computing tasks like word processing and heavy internet usage - hence the term “net”.  They are the latest craze in computing and are spreading like wildfire.  I’ve been watching the netbook craze since Intel introduced the Atom in the spring of 08’.  And while the netbook truly has benefits for writers, I believe its greatest purpose will be in offering the ultimate low-cost web portal to the world at large. Mark my words, these things will soon inhabit the Amazon jungle.

One of the most attractive benefits of netbooks is the price tag – as low as $250. Why so cheap? Netbooks are not high performers when compared to their big brother notebooks/laptops.  They have slower processors (i.e. Intel’s Atom and Celeron M) and smaller, slower hard drives.  Hard drive capacity can be as small as 2 GB (the size of my very first Pentium desktop) or as large as 250 GB.  Some use solid-state disks (SSDs). However, with slower processing speed, storage space becomes a tertiary matter because you are not going to get the speed you need to run bloated software programs.

What, less performance!!

Aren’t we headed in the wrong direction?  Not quite and here’s why: Cloud computing (internet based programming) is everywhere and giants like Google, Apple, and Microsoft are leading the pack. The more we access applications on the web to complete our day-to-day tasks, the less desktop performance we need.  Netbooks are designed primarily for web-based computing.  They carry all the bells-and-whistles when it comes to USB ports, WiFi, WAN and Bluetooth connections. 

No multitasking, gaming or heavy software programs ALLOWED!
Now think about it… For writers that’s not such a bad thing.  More than ever before scribblers find themselves mobile, as the coffee houses have become the home office and working vacations are common  - as is writing your novel during a lunch break or polishing that blockbuster script poolside.  You simply need a machine that catches your brain droppings no matter your location and a software program that pulls it all together in a nice neat format. 

Photos, games, IM – that’s called DISTRACTION.  Notice I didn’t include music. Select a model with descent HD capacity so there’s plenty of room for tunes - a godsend when you need to drown out those inconsiderate types who dare frequent the coffee shop to socialize. Blasphemy!  Can’t you see I’m spinning gold at the tips of my fingers here!

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