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Fox
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Joined: 01 Feb 2006
Posts: 2630
Location: Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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 Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 12:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Brian wrote: | | That sounds like a good idea Fox. I think a great number of Mac mini and Cube owners are attracted to other small-form-factor PCs and Netbooks. I'll add something in this group of forums after our next DB backup. That should be tomorrow or Wednesday night. Maybe we'll even start a photo gallery.... |
You guys are the best! If I can figure out how to do it, I would contribute a picture of my Wind running Ubuntu (personalized to look a lot like OSX).
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Mini 1: 2.3 ghz Core i5; 8 gb RAM, Corsair 240gb SSD, 500 gb Seagate XT
Mini 2: 2.26 ghz Core 2 duo, 8 gb RAM, 500 gb Seagate
Also a Cube, 13" MacBook Air, 20" 2.66 ghz iMac & 11.6" Acer 1810TZ running Ubuntu, Mint & openSuse |
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iMav
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Joined: 13 Feb 2005
Posts: 2171
Location: Columbus, WI
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| Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 12:05 pm Post subject: |
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I'll certainly add some pics of my Aspire One as well. 
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http://geekhack.org |
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Fox
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Joined: 01 Feb 2006
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Location: Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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| Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 12:21 pm Post subject: |
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So you actually bought a mini laptop as well, iMav. (Which colour?) I'm not surprised, as I recall you being less Mac-centric than some of us. It was the Acer Aspire One that started me seriously thinking about buying a mini laptop. Our local Staples store got them in two weeks ago and was selling the Linux version for $349 CDN. They had the HP model there as well, so I got to play with both. The version of Linux they had on the Aspire One was OK, but I would have either modified its appearance and operation or just put a different version on it. I would have liked to save the $200 but I didn't think I'd be happy with anything less than a 10" display, as my close-up vision isn't very good. In fact, I would have preferred a larger display, but I didn't want something that weighed more than 3 lb. and I definitely didn't want to pay through the nose for it (think MacBook Air).
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Mini 1: 2.3 ghz Core i5; 8 gb RAM, Corsair 240gb SSD, 500 gb Seagate XT
Mini 2: 2.26 ghz Core 2 duo, 8 gb RAM, 500 gb Seagate
Also a Cube, 13" MacBook Air, 20" 2.66 ghz iMac & 11.6" Acer 1810TZ running Ubuntu, Mint & openSuse |
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pmcd
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Joined: 19 Jul 2007
Posts: 116
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| Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 5:09 am Post subject: Re: bought MSI Wind |
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| Fox wrote: | A computer store near Toronto had one of these, and it was black, not pink. I stopped in to see it on my way to do another errand, and I surprised myself by buying it. It was more than $200 more than the Acer Aspire, but I thought the larger display, more RAM and larger keypad would be worth it. The $579 costs seemed like nothing compared to the cost of any mac.
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The Wind is really nice. The 6-cell battery version will give you 5 hours or so. I bought the Asus EEE PC 6 months or so ago and really liked it for a while but the screen size and keyboard has made it less appealing. The Wind would appear to address those issues. The EEE PC is still useful though and the weight is great.
Gigabyte has this M912 8.9" convertible (can be used as a Tablet PC) which seems really neat. Unfortunately they don't seem to want to sell it in North America.
I bought an HP 2710p Tablet PC which weighs 3.5 lbs and gives me around 5 hours of battery life. Small (12.1" screen), no DVD and just a great system for presenting my lectures. Half the price of a Modbook and way better in my opinion. Wish Apple would produce a tablet but I suspect they feel handwriting is fading away. Perhaps they are right. Do students even learn handwriting now (I mean cursive)?
How does the Wind's keyboard compare to the HP's (the HP netbook)?
Finally, has anyone seen the EEE Box? This is a very inexpensive system that could almost replace a Mac Mini.
philip |
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Fox
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Location: Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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| Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 6:07 am Post subject: Re: bought MSI Wind |
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| pmcd wrote: | | The Wind is really nice. The 6-cell battery version will give you 5 hours or so. I bought the Asus EEE PC 6 months or so ago and really liked it for a while but the screen size and keyboard has made it less appealing. The Wind would appear to address those issues. The EEE PC is still useful though and the weight is great. |
I agree with you about screen size. There is a big difference between 9" and 10" in usability (at least to my eyes). I wasn't even considering anything smaller than 10"; otherwise the eeepc 900 or the Acer Aspire One would have been high on my list.
| pmcd wrote: | ...
How does the Wind's keyboard compare to the HP's (the HP netbook)? |
The evaluations give Wind good marks for the keyboard, except for the placement of the right-side shift key. I agree on both points. I did try the HP in the store; I think its keyboard was nice as well. Note that I don't have long or sausage fingers - people with large fingers may not be happy with either machine.
| pmcd wrote: | | Finally, has anyone seen the EEE Box? This is a very inexpensive system that could almost replace a Mac Mini. |
I just saw a picture and evaluation of the EEE Box here. It's specs are pretty close to the mini, although the mini processor is slightly more capable than the Atom. It comes with a keyboard and mouse, and costs slightly more than half of what we pay for a similarly equipped mini. Looks aren't bad either; I would buy one if I was in the market for a PC.
As a Mac user, I don't think the case for a mini PC desktop is as compelling as for a mini-laptop. The Mac:PC price ratio is about the same (roughly 1.8:1) if you compare mini to eee desktop or Macbook to MSI Wind, but Apple doesn't make a true mini-laptop. The MacBook Air is pretty close, but I wouldn't spend that kind of money for an occasional use machine. If the price of a MacBook Air were to come down to $1500 and more ports were added to it, I might be tempted to buy it and use it for everything I now use the PowerBook plus Wind.
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Mini 1: 2.3 ghz Core i5; 8 gb RAM, Corsair 240gb SSD, 500 gb Seagate XT
Mini 2: 2.26 ghz Core 2 duo, 8 gb RAM, 500 gb Seagate
Also a Cube, 13" MacBook Air, 20" 2.66 ghz iMac & 11.6" Acer 1810TZ running Ubuntu, Mint & openSuse |
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Mac daddy
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Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 137
Location: Tennessee
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| Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 4:59 am Post subject: |
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| Brian wrote: | | Fox wrote: | Charles, Brian - you might want to consider a netbook forum category, or one called something like "All things small and beautiful".
I don't think it's an accident that mac mini owners are attracted to these mini laptops. Same principle - good design in a small package. |
That sounds like a good idea Fox. I think a great number of Mac mini and Cube owners are attracted to other small-form-factor PCs and Netbooks. I'll add something in this group of forums after our next DB backup. That should be tomorrow or Wednesday night. Maybe we'll even start a photo gallery.... |
Yeah, great idea Fox,and a thanks to Brian for making it happen.
I bought both the Wind,and the eeepc 1000h. I liked the keyboard better on the Wind,but hated the clicker. I wound up selling the Wind only because of the 3 cell battery.......I would've been happy with either one really.
I'm not sure why,but I've really gotten tired of large computers that take up so much space. |
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Bandit Bill
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Joined: 07 Jun 2005
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Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:57 pm Post subject: |
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I think Apple is missing an opportunity in this category as well. I'm almost willing to be that Apple will come out with a sub-notebook that will put all of these units to shame.
I might look at putting Liniux (dual boot) on my Eee 1000h. Windows has already given crashed and given me more error messages in 3 days than 3 year of using my Mac mini. |
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JohnnyBoy
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Location: West Sussex, South-East England
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| Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:19 pm Post subject: |
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| Bandit Bill wrote: | | Windows has already given crashed and given me more error messages in 3 days than 3 year of using my Mac mini. |
Is there any other industry where a company could get away with making so much money for so long by pedalling such utter crap?
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Intel Mini 2.0GHz C2D (4GB/120GB/SuperDrive/10.5.8 ), 120GB WD Passport, Logitech ergo k/b
iPod Touch (32GB, 3rd gen), iPod Shuffle (512MB, 1st gen) |
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Bandit Bill
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Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 2:09 pm Post subject: |
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| JohnnyBoy wrote: | | Bandit Bill wrote: | | Windows has already given crashed and given me more error messages in 3 days than 3 year of using my Mac mini. |
Is there any other industry where a company could get away with making so much money for so long by pedalling such utter crap? |
It's really pathetic. Traces of images remain on the scene once in a while (video issues). eg. an error pop up window may have appeared. After closing the box the entire message doesn't disappear etc.
I've been quite aware of these types of issues with Windows for quite some time. It amazes me that I can buy a brand new machine and without installing any additional software it already acts up.
I'll have to give Linux a shot. Given these sub-notebooks don't have a lot of jam they should perform better with Linux.
Anyhow my expectations aren't too high from a $500 Windows laptop, so I guess in my case, the industry will once again "get away with it". |
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scooper
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Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 988
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| Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 4:33 pm Post subject: |
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| JohnnyBoy wrote: | | That's great news, Fox. I believe that Scooper is still waiting for his after ordering from Amazon some weeks ago. |
I actually canceled my order before leaving for Japan. They could never give me a firm ship date. Boy, I really wanted to bring it over here. 
I think that I'm going to order the Lenovo S10 when I get back home now. It's pretty much the same as the Wind for less money. Lenovo should also provide better support over the long run. |
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Fox
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Joined: 01 Feb 2006
Posts: 2630
Location: Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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| Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 6:33 am Post subject: |
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| Bandit Bill wrote: | It's really pathetic. Traces of images remain on the scene once in a while (video issues). eg. an error pop up window may have appeared. After closing the box the entire message doesn't disappear etc.
I've been quite aware of these types of issues with Windows for quite some time. It amazes me that I can buy a brand new machine and without installing any additional software it already acts up.
I'll have to give Linux a shot. Given these sub-notebooks don't have a lot of jam they should perform better with Linux.
... |
I haven't noticed any really annoying issues with Windows xp Home on my MSI, but startup is very slow. Ubuntu is much faster, and apps open pretty quickly with it, too. Bill, I recommend that you try Linux on your eeePC. You can install it alongside of Windows without wiping your drive. You can also customize it so it looks a lot like MacOSX, although that might take more research than you're prepared to give. I run a program called Wine on the Linux side, which gives allows me to run Windows programs without running Windows itself. If I need one of these (I haven't yet), I can get it without rebooting into Windows.
_________________
Mini 1: 2.3 ghz Core i5; 8 gb RAM, Corsair 240gb SSD, 500 gb Seagate XT
Mini 2: 2.26 ghz Core 2 duo, 8 gb RAM, 500 gb Seagate
Also a Cube, 13" MacBook Air, 20" 2.66 ghz iMac & 11.6" Acer 1810TZ running Ubuntu, Mint & openSuse |
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Fox
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Joined: 01 Feb 2006
Posts: 2630
Location: Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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| Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 6:36 am Post subject: |
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| scooper wrote: | | I think that I'm going to order the Lenovo S10 when I get back home now. It's pretty much the same as the Wind for less money. Lenovo should also provide better support over the long run. |
Good; we'll have another mini-laptop to compare in this forum.
_________________
Mini 1: 2.3 ghz Core i5; 8 gb RAM, Corsair 240gb SSD, 500 gb Seagate XT
Mini 2: 2.26 ghz Core 2 duo, 8 gb RAM, 500 gb Seagate
Also a Cube, 13" MacBook Air, 20" 2.66 ghz iMac & 11.6" Acer 1810TZ running Ubuntu, Mint & openSuse |
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scooper
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Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 988
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| Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 6:04 am Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: | | Good; we'll have another mini-laptop to compare in this forum. |
My luck has gone from bad to worse. Lenovo is sold out of the IdeaPad S10. 
| Quote: | | Due to high demand for the new IdeaPad S10 netbooks, we are currently unable to take new orders. Be the first to learn when IdeaPad S10 netbooks are back in stock. |
Now, how am I going to talk myself back into getting a Wind? I just noticed that Newegg has them in stock with a 120GB for $499. Thing is, I might like the S10 better now. For one it has two mouse buttons. Good lord, I am so bad at making decisions. |
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Aargh-a-Knot
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Joined: 24 Jan 2008
Posts: 806
Location: Ozark Mountains
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| Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 2:11 pm Post subject: |
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In a strange twist of events, I am now waiting on an MSI wind, instead of the macbook or macbook pro that I have been anticipating for the last month.
I was planning on picking up a couple of the new macbooks when they came out, one for me and one for my wife. Then Apple did the unthinkable, and ditched the firewire port.
After reading some more reviews on the glossy screens, we decided we were going to pick up a couple last season's 15" MBPs instead, as they are having a pretty good sale on Amazon. But, due to some recent car problems, we are a little short on money. My wife is wearing the graphic design pants in the family right now, as I am busy with Nursing School, so we ordered her the MBP, and I decided to just get a netbook instead. With our recent financial difficulties, I couldn't rationalize spending $1500 on a computer that will mostly be used for email, internet, and word processing.
After reading a bunch of reviews, I went with the MSI Wind. My reasons for picking the MSI were the larger screen and keyboard, and ease of upgrading the components. Oh, that, and the availability of an OS X version specifically tailored for the Wind!  More on that when I have some good news to report. |
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Fox
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Joined: 01 Feb 2006
Posts: 2630
Location: Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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| Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 4:58 pm Post subject: |
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Congrats, opensky; I'm sure you'll like the Wind. I've had mine for a few months now. I use it exclusively with Ubuntu (Ubuntu Netbook Remix for the last month) and I really like it. I use it mostly for mail and web browsing; occasionally for working with MS Word or Excel files created on a Mac. I also listen to music on it (speakers acceptable but not great). I can honestly say that I don't miss MacOSX on the netbook. Try Linux on your Wind; you may like it enough to not install MacOSX on it.
_________________
Mini 1: 2.3 ghz Core i5; 8 gb RAM, Corsair 240gb SSD, 500 gb Seagate XT
Mini 2: 2.26 ghz Core 2 duo, 8 gb RAM, 500 gb Seagate
Also a Cube, 13" MacBook Air, 20" 2.66 ghz iMac & 11.6" Acer 1810TZ running Ubuntu, Mint & openSuse |
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